Mindful Eating by Ashley Haug

Summer is the perfect time to take a closer look at not only what we are eating but how we eat, in order to help us from falling into the trap of over indulging at all those upcoming parties and barbeques. Research shows that practicing more mindful eating can help you stay healthier, and even lose weight!

What is mindful eating? It’s simply slowing down and taking more time to really savor your food and avoid multi-tasking; paying more attention to enjoying the food and listening to your body’s cue to tell you when you should start and stop.

Often times eating becomes more of an automatic behavior than it should. In order to break this habit it is important to evaluate your personal eating habits and find ways you can become more mindful of what you are putting in. Follow these 5 steps to become more mindful in your eating habits.

1. Ask yourself if you are really hungry. It is important to determine if you are eating because you are truly hungry or if you are trying to satisfy another need. Taking time to assess your hunger and making sure it is not simply emotionally-driven can help you curb habits of automatically snacking and lower your risk for overeating. Try rating your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is ravenous and 10 is full and try to eat when you are at a 4 or 5 so you can make smart choices. Begin to slow down when you reach a 7 and re-assess to determine if you should push your plate away.

2. Spend more time at each meal. This should be a little easier during the summer where we may not be as rushed as we are throughout the rest of the year. This is the perfect opportunity to plan more relaxed, sit-down meals where you can take time to give your full attention to the task at hand, eating! This will give your brain the proper amount of time to recognize you have reached satiety. This can also help reduce your risk of binge eating and lower your risk for high cholesterol and cardiovascular-disease risk factors, as well as decrease stress.

3. Use all five senses when eating. Take time to sit at the table instead of your computer desk or counter and engage each of the five senses when you eat. Just as a child inspects his or her food you should let your eyes indulge on what you are about to eat, smell it, taste it, enjoy the unique texture and enjoy listening to those you are eating with compliment you on your culinary skills. Try even putting your fork down in between bites to really savor each item.

4. Turn off that TV, radio or computer; put down your newspaper or book. Go ahead and Tivo your favorite show, you have a date with your plate waiting for you. Limit your time spent doing these multi-tasking activities and you will be able to pay better attention to what is going on in your mouth and more importantly, you will be able to hear and recognize those visual and mental cues of fullness.

5. Enjoy your dessert. Work on leaving the diet mentality behind and give yourself permission to have that piece of chocolate, or your favorite dessert. Simply set some initial boundaries. For example, try reaching for single-wrapped pieces of chocolate or save half of your piece of cake for another indulge-session later in the day or week. By allowing yourself to enjoy, you can help offset those intense cravings and avoid binging on every sweet in sight.
By becoming more mindful this summer and breaking the cycle of restricting our eating, binging and then feeling guilty, we can truly enjoy our food and all of the benefits it can bring us. Before you eat, ask yourself how you want to feel when you get done, determine your intention, and then use these five tips along the way to make your summer more relaxed and to improve your mind-body connection.

Ashley Haug, CPT CMT has a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She specializes in Pre/Post-natal Exercise and Nutrition, Post-Rehabilitation and Sports-Specific Training and Nutrition. She can be reached at Ashley@ConditioningSpecialists.com for more information and nutritional advice.