Mindful Eating
I thought it’s an appropriate time to bring back mindful eating as our focus this month.
Sometimes we can be holding more stress then we realise. It can be a low underlying stress that we can get used to and not even notice. Especially now days with the effects of COVID.
If we allow it, our body can feel the stresses from watching the news, not being able to see loved ones, being in lockdown and or having activities we enjoy taken away from us.
If we eat when we are feeling stressed, this can have a big effect on our digestion.
Often when we’re busy we tend to eat on the run. Or eat while multi tasking like when we’re messaging or using the phone, reading or watching tv, or we just eat too fast and forget to chew properly.
This means we’re eating mindlessly, not really paying attention to how we eat , or the food we are eating.
Mindful eating is the opposite. It means we’re totally focused on the food we are eating as we eat it. We’re in the here and now, not multi tasking, thinking about the past or future. It means we’re more connected to the food we are eating. We are then calmer, and even feeling grateful for the food.
I sometimes catch myself either rushing, so I’m not chewing enough, multi – tasking, like watching tv or texting, and just not really savoring the food and taste long enough.
So I make an effort in this area, as much as I can, as it’s easy to slip into habits of being unconscious when we eat.
If we’re not focused on our food we are unable to digest properly and it can lead to stomach ache or indigestion.
Ideally we look at our food before we even eat it, and this helps the body to produce saliva. The saliva helps to breakdown the food in our mouth, before it even reaches the stomach.
It’s recommended to chew our food 10 – 20 times before swallowing it, to help it break down.
One other thing I’ve noticed with my body, is that when I text or use my phone for social media, or reading, I often catch myself holding my breath. So if I’m using the phone while I eat, it can cause indigestion.
Do you multi task when you eat? Do you use your phone?
Pay attention when you’re on your phone. Do you hold your breath?
When you eat your food, do you chew for long time before you swallow it?
Putting your knife and fork down while you chew is a really good way to take your time and chew properly in between mouthfuls.
When we eat too fast, we maybe finished eating our meal, but the brain still thinks we’re hungry.
It takes approx 20 mins for the stomach to tell the brain when it’s full. So slowing down our eating will help us to regulate how much we actually eat.
Let me know if you practice mindful eating or if this is something new for you?
Hit reply in the comments below, or post in the Facebook group and tell me what steps can you take to improve your eating habits?
Lots of love
Em x
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