If you live in Phoenix, AZ, you might have found yourself eating everything in the house during the lockdown. Often, people who stay at home all day, fill in those gaps of activity with a snack, a smoke or a cup of coffee. Whether it’s habit, giving your hands something to do or frustration. Eating without thinking is one of the biggest problems faced by people who are home and have access to food all day. Learning to eat mindfully when you’re at home all day can help you stay healthier and even lose weight.
Exactly what does eating mindfully mean?
You probably can recognize when you’re eating mindlessly. You pass a candy bowl and grab a few pieces and stuff them in your mouth as you pass or eat the last bit of potatoes out of the bowl before you wash it. Mindful eating is the opposite. You think about each bite and make sure when you eat, that’s all you’re focusing on and all you’re doing. When you’re mindful, before you eat, you think about why you’re eating and as you eat, you savor the pleasure of each bite. You eat slowly when you’re mindful and appreciate each bite.
Mindful eating takes the shame out of eating.
While you do identify whether you’re really physically hungry before you eat, you look upon the act of eating as guilt free and truly appreciate the food. You learn to view food as a way to be healthier and good for your well-being, while also noticing whether there triggers that made you eat or if it created emotional feelings when you ate. Mindful eating also teaches you to stop eating when you’re full.
Mindful eating helps you lose weight and eat healthier.
Food seems to be everywhere. It’s at the checkout line at almost every large store. Many people no longer sit down and eat, but snack away as they sit in front of the television, on their cell phones or on the computer. In today’s busy world we all try to get more done in less time, often doing two things at once is part of the program. Unfortunately, you eat too fast and don’t appreciate the food that way and don’t give your body the time to let your brain know you’re full, so you tend to overeat. It takes about twenty minutes for your brain to realize your stomach is full. Eating mindfully, helps you slow down so you can recognize that and eat less.
- Not only will mindful eating help you identify whether you’re eating for emotional reasons or eating because you’re hungry, it helps you identify those emotional issues you may have buried.
- Once you know what triggers eating, you can identify those times and find a better response than eating. Eventually, instead of grabbing a pint of ice cream, you’ll be working on the real problem and react appropriately.
- One study found that a six-month seminar in mindful eating caused the average participant not only to lose 26 pounds, but also saw that weight loss last long after the seminar ended.
- If traditional eating programs for weight loss have left you hungry, try combining it with mindful eating and you’ll probably be more successful.
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