Have you ever heard the saying: you are what you eat.
That means your eating actually defines how you look at your own health.
In this article, we will talk about mindful eating. This is a way in which you actually hold onto how you gain control over your eating habits.
This is a trend which has been quickly rising as it has many benefits.
One of the major ones being it helps to promote weight loss and encourages a wholesome lifestyle.
How it works, its benefits and its long-term usage will all be discussed in this article.
This is one of the most trending topics and we will be talking about how mindful eating works in complete detail.
So let’s get on with it:
What is Mindful Eating?
When it comes to eating with a conscious, the concept syncs with and completely relates to an ancient Buddhist concept.
In Buddhism, the act of being aware and conscious of your surroundings has always served in the long way.
In this kind of existence, meditation is an integral part of living. This means mindful eating is when you are making use of your emotions and sensations to understand what you are consuming.
Consume with a cautious frame of mind.
This kind of tactic is used to treat various kinds of conditions and how it actually varies from other kinds of eating.
You are aware of your surroundings; you know the kind of food you are putting into your mouth.
This means there are certain standards you are following when you are doing mindful eating. Let’s see what these are:
What Mindful Eating Involves?
There are a few set principles to adhere to when following mindful eating.
When you say you are using mindful eating and adapting its ways for a meaningful experience, there are a few practices that have come into play.
These include:
- You are eating slow and chewing every morsel of food with undivided attention and without distraction.
- You are committing to making your health your priority. This means you are focused on taking in food which is beneficial to your health.
- You are clear and focused to know the difference between when you are really hungry and what is actually non-hunger triggers.
- Sometimes all you need is water. When you become mindful, you realize when are you really hungry and when you just need a glass of water.
- Becoming mindful means you become highly aware of all the experiences as your senses become awakened.
- This means you engage your senses and focus on the colors, smells , sounds and flavors. This makes your experience wholesome and more engaging as well as fulfilling.
- You become highly focused on ways to cope with the guilt and anxiety that comes with indulging food.
- It becomes essential as part of your diet to eat well and maintain overall health and well-being.
- Mindful eating allows you to exercise your access to healthy, clean eating. Something which you wouldn’t be doing otherwise.
- Adapting this technique allows you to realize how your feelings change and are directly relating to the food you are consuming.
- You become conscious of the good food which is increasing your feel-good hormones and happy feelings.
- It allows you to dump and restrict the intake of food items which unleash negative feelings within you.
- Having this kind of awakening allows you to realize and ensure you are appreciating the good food in life.
- You are able to make better, healthier choices and this allows you to feel more content and satisfied with your overall well-being.
So now that we have seen how mindful eating leaves a huge impact on the way your mind and body works.
I wanted to shed light on how simple tactics will make you realize how its mechanism really works and how it is a smart choice in these very confusing and hectic times.
Adapting Mindful Eating- How it Works
So basically we need to be on our toes all the time. To make a mark in this world, we are always on the run.
This leaves little to no room for us in making good, selective choices to our food choices.
In fact we are spoiled for choice as there is so much too indulge in.
This becomes an overwhelming experience as it is. Also we are so engulfed in this extremely fast paced world of social media.
We are absolutely not giving ourselves the time and focus to eat in mindfulness.
It has become a mantra where people are holding onto their phones and eyes are glued to the screen, not looking and savoring into the food.
This is what we call a mindless act. It is done in a rushed manner and this is where the problem comes.
Did you know that your brain needs about 20minutes or so to consider it is actually full and does not need to consume more?
When you are eating in a hurried state and not indulging in or enjoying the experience, you are actually pushing your brain in a rush state.
This signal that the body is full will not arrive till you have actually consumed more than you actually need.
So this leads to a trail of issues- overeating, gaining weight and feeling extremely tired and having fatigue curl over you.
You need mindful eating for your own good. It allows you many advantages with the main one being, allowing you to recognize what is physical hunger and what is actually emotional and true, physical hunger.
When you become mindful of these triggers and can recognize the kind of triggers, it allows you to take complete control of your body and make wise and sound decisions.
Now I want to talk about the link between mindful eating and losing weight:
Weight-loss and Mindful Eating
So now we now how weight loss is one of the most important elements and makes people curious as they take on different ways to shed those extra pounds.
But when it comes to losing weight, there are also some fad diets which are done but do they give actual results?
Not really. In fact some nutritionists have also pointed how these crazy, unhealthy diets end up doing more harm than good to your body.
Weight-loss can work but according to statistics, these are just short-term.
Did you know that almost 85% who are obese, will be coming back to their original weight within a few years of dieting endlessly.
That is worrisome right?
But here’s the good news- you can keep that weight off when you are consuming food with a cautious state of mind.
When you are involved in things like binge eating and giving in too food cravings, these are all linked to you gaining weight indefinitely.
It all comes down to how you view food as a source of energy.
You need a clear source of energy- this means healthy food on your table which will not give you negative side effects.
Realizing how your views, feelings and perspective on food defines what you eat and consume, will allow you to understand the emotions that come with it.
Example energy drinks come with plenty of side effects- realize your emotions and how it makes you feel long-term to avoid it.
Mindful Eating vs. Binge Eating
Now, before we move forward, it is important to understand how do these two techniques differ and how are they connected.
Binge eating is an unhealthy way of life in which you are consuming a lot of food in a very short amount of time. You are also doing so without any control.
This kind links to different eating disorders and is known to make you gain weight.
Mindful eating falls in complete contrast to this. It means you are completely aware of what you are putting into your mouth. Two major things mindful eating actually curbs and controls :
Emotional Eating
This is consuming food which is triggered by your emotions. You are not actually hungry, but you might be upset or angry, which is leading you to consume food just to try to fill that void.
External Eating
It is when you are actually consuming food which is actually directly relating to environmental and food-related cues. This includes our preference over sight and smells of food- we are basically going by the appearance of the food.
So let’s now conclude this topic on how you can adapt mindful eating in your daily practice.
Practical Ways to Adapt Mindful Eating
The good thing about this practice is that it isn’t so hard to adapt in your lifestyle.
In fact there are just a few basic ways in which you can ensure mindful eating regime. These include:
- Eat slowly and savor every morsel of food
- Don’t rush through your meals. Indulge and take pleasure in every bite
- When you chew, chew in circular slow motions
- Eat in silence and without distractions. This is really important. Make the most of your experience and know what you are eating.
- Focus on how is the food making you feel. Realize the kind of emotions it is stirring within you.
- When you are feeling you have eaten enough, stop eating. It is as simple as that.
- Recognize your food needs and situation to know when you are full and when you should just stop eating.
Remember this practice will serve you in a long way. Realize how food is an integral part of your life and consume it in conscious ways.
