In a culture where food is readily available every second of every day, where food advertisement and billboards push you to consume and eat at any moment of the day, we almost never stop eating.
On top of that, our culture is obsessed with dieting, so pleasurable food is almost always associated with guilt, which is almost worse than any pleasurable food you might have consumed.
In that context, what is mindful eating?
- Mindful eating is eating while paying attention to the food you are eating, how it is nourishing your body and how it will be providing you with the energy to go through the day.
- Mindful eating is also noticing the hunger cues that tell you when you are really hungry and when you are really full and listening to them.
- Mindful eating is choosing the food that will bring your energy levels up and not make you lazy and tired.
- Mindful eating is eating without any distractions like TVs and phones.
Why is it good for you?
- It will help you lose weight by eating only when you are actually hungry.
- It will help you avoid emotional eating.
- By doing the above, it will heal your relationship with food.
- It will also remove the guilt out of eating.
- It will help you chew your food and ease in its digestion.
- It will help you appreciate the flavor, the crunch, the temperature… of your food.
So whenever you find yourself reaching for food, start by taking a moment and asking yourself “Am I really hungry?”. Repeating the pattern of asking yourself this question will put you on the right track to break the habituation of eating at certain times or locations and only eating when hungry.