What Is Mindful Eating?

If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ve probably suffered through endless diets and consumed food you couldn’t stand. You’ve deprived yourself for what seems like forever. Many people in Calgary, Canada, find that mindful eating helps them. It’s not a diet, although you can’t keep a diet consisting of only junk food. You do have to include healthy food. That doesn’t mean you can’t indulge yourself occasionally. It’s similar to healthy eating with a twist.

Appreciate the food on your plate.

The key to mindful eating is to enjoy the experience of eating. It’s about using all your senses when you eat. When you create a plate of brilliantly colored food, like a mix of vegetables and meat, it can look artistic. It’s why great chefs focus on presentation. Once you put the food in your mouth, appreciate its texture. Is it soft and comforting like mashed potatoes or crisp and invigorating like a fresh salad? Taste the flavors and enjoy the smell. The more you appreciate the food and savor it. The more quickly it will satisfy you.

Eat slower and chew your food longer.

You’ll get sensual pleasure by appreciating every bite and not wolfing down your food. You’ll also do something else. You’ll eat slower because you chew your food longer when eating mindfully. It does more than help you enjoy all the flavors. It helps your digestive system. Digestion starts in the mouth with chewing. The saliva mixes with the food to help break it down. The more it’s broken down, the less work your stomach has to do. Eating mindfully also slows down. When you eat rapidly, you fill up before your stomach messages to the brain that it’s full. That makes you overeat and feel miserable for a few hours after a meal.

Focusing on every bite helps you realize when you’re eating mindlessly.

Have you ever walked past a candy dish or eaten the last spoonful of mashed potatoes before rinsing the bowl without even thinking about it? Maybe you’ve opened a bag of chips and continued eating them long after you were satisfied. Eating mindfully helps you decide whether the food will give you pleasure. You begin to realize that stuffing yourself as quickly as possible doesn’t offer the same satisfaction and causes you to gain weight.

• Mindful eating is about being present in the moment. Focusing on the taste, texture, and appearance of food can extend to other areas of life. It can be a valuable asset for the rest of your life away from the table.
• Often overweight people are taught to be ashamed of eating, so they eat rapidly so no one will notice. That can make the problem worse. Mindful eating takes the stigma out of food consumption.
• Tracking the food you eat also helps with weight loss. When you appreciate every bite you take and write it down, you’ll eat less.
• Studies show mindful eating helps people lose weight. One study found that people who used it for six months lost an average of 26 pounds without trying and didn’t regain it after the study ended.

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