 Hi everyone! Week 7 here! If you have been following
this program every week, great! If not, you can start now!
This week I am going to talk
about something called Mindfulness and Mindful Eating.
What does this mean? It means being present in what you are
doing. If you are eating and watching tv
or doing work and eating you are not practicing mindfulness. In fact, you might even eat more because you
are not paying attention to the fact that you are eating!
“How do I eat mindfully”, you
ask? Here is my advice. In order to eat mindfully, you must first always ask yourself before
eating, “Am I hungry right now?” Pay
attention to how your body feels. Are you emotionally hungry, or hungry for a
meal?
If you are truly hungry, sit
down and eat your meal. Portion your
meal out on a plate. Enjoy every bite of
what you are eating. Try and eat
slowly. Stop halfway through your meal and check in
with yourself, "do I feel satisfied now"?
Stop eating before you are stuffed.
It will still take your stomach about 20 minutes to feel full.
Notice how you feel after
your meal. I advise you to check in with
yourself every time before you eat. Ask
yourself if you are truly experiencing regular hunger or emotional hunger. If you just ate a big meal and go into the
pantry to snack shortly after the meal you are probably emotionally
hungry. Tip: Start journaling and recording
your feelings.
Remember to eat slow, portion out your foods,
notice what you are eating, and stop before you are stuffed. You can use the
hunger scale to determine your level of fullness. 1 is extreme hunger, 7 is eating to
satisfaction, 10 is overstuffed (can’t keep pants buttoned- you don’t want to
go there!) Try and stop at a 7. Journal any thoughts and feelings that come up
related to food.
And most importantly, ENJOY
your food! |
