Ever eat a whole bag of chips only to reach the crumbs and not remember actually eating all of those chips?
Or… you eat so fast that you don’t really taste your food and then you’re hungry shortly after.
Cue “Mindful Eating”. Meaning, “to Eat In the Moment”. In today’s society, we are so used to multitasking, eating while we work, checking our phones and simply not enjoying the present moment. But, if we could just pause and truly be present for a moment… what do you think would happen?
We might actually know exactly what our body is craving.
We might actually notice the scent, texture, and flavour of the food we are eating.
We might actually enjoy the food we are eating.
We might actually feel satisfied and lose interest in whatever we’re eating.
We might even naturally choose healthier foods over the highly processed foods we’re used to.
There is an amazing connection of the Body and Mind comes to play when we are enjoying a meal, and also listening to our body and eating when its hungry, savouring our food, slowing down and actually chewing.
One obvious benefit of eating more slowly is that you will taste your food more. If you double the amount of time it takes you to eat a meal, you’ll experience more of the flavours, textures, and smells of the food you eat. Your food will become more interesting.
If you want to stop the diet-binge cycle, stop obsessing over food and start eating intuitively, then you first must start eating in the present moment Connect with your body. Pay attention to how your body feels physically. While you are eating take time to pause and check in with yourself to notice if you are actually hungry or satisfied. Do you still feel hungry or are you simply continuing to eat because it tastes good or as a form of comfort?
Savouring your food means taking time to choose food you really like and food that would satisfy you right now. To truly savour your food, you choose food that honours your taste buds and your body.
Choose foods that you can really savour by taking the time to eat them. Even for the fast eaters amongst us, these foods have to be consumed slowly by nature – and that’s a good thing:
- Citrus fruits
- Edamame
- Pomegranates
- Artichokes
- Nuts in their shells
- Corn on the cobb
- Even a wrapped piece of dark chocolate…..even try eating with chopsticks.
