You may be hearing the word “mindful” lately. There is research going on around becoming more aware (mindful) and the impact of doing so on our stress levels and our eating habits. Sounds good to me, especially since stress and eating can lead to higher blood glucose levels, which can lead to serious health problems.
An article about mindful eating caught my eye because it said this practice is more about how we eat than what we eat. My platform these days is all about the importance of attitude. I think our attitude is more important than the food we put in our mouths. If we are eating salad and really angry about it, how does that help our health? Seems to me that being angry about food just creates more stress, which can lead to high blood glucose and things like heart disease.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Mindful eating is simply listening to your body and being in tune with hunger, fullness, satiety and the other cues it gives you. This involves a few tactics:
- Eating away from distractions such as television, the computer or the car
- Being aware of your hunger and fullness cues, and using them to decide when to begin and end your meals, instead of following a schedule, set amount to eat or diet plan
- Choosing food that is pleasing and nourishing, and using your senses to pick and enjoy
- Slowing down the pace of your eating, taking breaks between bites, chewing slowly and assessing your fullness along the way
- Becoming aware of the reasons you eat—boredom, sadness or anything that isn’t mindful
- Meditating on, or practicing, experiencing food with all your senses and listening to your body
And here’s an article about mindful eating and weight loss. There’s even a Center for Mindful Eating in New Hampshire (and probably other places too). How awesome!
From personal experience I know that mindful eating works. Just like everything else in life, it’s a matter of putting it into practice and sticking with it. Tomorrow I’m going to use some mindfulness techniques during the carb fest that is Thanksgiving dinner. We’ll see how it goes! Happy Thanksgiving!