Sunday, September 9, 2018

8 Mindful Eating Tips To Help You Eat Better

Mindful eating is the practice of being aware of all your senses in the present moment. It helps us to develop a positive and a truly healthy relationship with the food.


Mindless Eating

Mindless eating means eating food without paying attention to what and how much is eaten.

Mindful Eating

Mindful Eating means being aware of your own body and food cravings. It's about paying full attention to what you are eat and drink. Eating mindfully is the practice of being aware of all your senses in the present moment. It helps us to develop a positive and a truly healthy relationship with the food.

Make peace with your mind and try these 8 simple mindful eating tips and get real results.


1. Keep a food journal

Food journal is a smart way to track of what you eat each day. You can document everything of what you plan to eat before eating it. This will put back you on track towards the goals you hope to fulfil and hence help you to look at your eating habits and making healthy changes. A regular practice of journaling can evoke mindfulness, increase self-awareness and nurture self-growth.

2. Practice Intuitive eating

Intuitive eating is all about trusting your own body when making decisions about food without feeling guilty. It's a non-diet approach that addresses the importance of rejecting the dieting mentality, respecting your body and helps you in coping with emotional eating.

- Eat when you are hungry.
- Stop eating when you’re feeling tired, sad or stressed.
- Eat things that make you feel good.
- Do not eat when you are full.
- Pay attention to what you are eating.
- Know your body’s personal hunger signals.

3. Move your body

It's not about going to the gym or going to the run every single day but it's about bringing small changes in your life. A walk, jog, dance or doing the simple household chores also counts.

Meditation : Meditation is the most effective way to jumpstart mindfulness. Practice meditation for the sense of ease in your life. It improves mental health and general well-being. It reduces stress, anxiety and depression, improves focus and concentration and increase empathy and compassion.

4. Develop healthy eating habits

Eating a small, healthy snack in between meals can prevent you from overeating. Snacking on fruits, granola bars or handful of almonds is a good way to fulfill daily nutritional requirements of the body.

5. Compose smart cheat meals

It's good to eat a cheat meal that is well balanced and higher in both calories and carbs than your normal meal. Rethink them as your weekly rewards. Just make sure to keep the record of your cheat meal and not go overboard. Everything in moderation always works. If you're eating healthy and exercising every day, indulge in a sugary treat from time to time but avoid nutrient poor foods that can ruin a week's worth of progress.

For example try our Dry-fruit custard recipe - you're going to love it! ๐Ÿ˜‹

There is nothing more pleasurable than digging into a bowl of chilled vanilla dry fruit custard.
Indulge in a sweet treat - dig in a bowl of vanilla dry fruit custard 

If you are always eating a low-carb diet and exercising most days of the week, you are likely to burn more calories than what your consuming, but after a point of time, your body will get used to this and you won't be able to burn as many calories. By incorporating a 'Cheat Day' to your diet, you can increase your calories-intake and burn more calories and reset your metabolism.


6. Change your eating habits

- Eat in a relaxed environment and focus on eating. Just eating.
- Eat very far away from your bedtime.
- Try eating clean through the day.
- Focus on the textures, flavors and savor every bite you take.
- Focus on how you feel - hungry, satisfied, relaxed
- Pay close attention to your food and and how it makes you feel.
- Chew : The way you eat has a large impact on how your digestive system works. Chew 20-25 times and break down your food properly into smaller digestible particles, that can easily pass through digestive tract. This will help to avoid bloating and other GI symptoms.
- Use small plates and serve yourself small portions : Reducing the amount of food you serve to yourself can make a significant difference to the amount of calories you consume. One easy way to reduce portion sizes is to use smaller plates. It’s a great way to delude yourself into eating less.
- Eliminate the distractions : Turn off the tv, turn off the computer, turn off the phone and eat your food peacefully in an electronic-free zone. Distraction while eating can lead to overeating and disrupt our digestion. Mindful eating is about savoring your food and eating slowly without distraction.
- Do not overeat : Do not overeat unless your hunger is genuine and strong enough. Limit how often you eat foods that are high in fat, salt, sugar or calories. When you eat mindfully, you will be able to recognize when you are starting to get full so you can stop before you overeat.

7. Do not starve the whole day

Don't go more than five hours during the day without eating. Eat at the regular intervals. Eat healthy, low fat snacks in between if you are going to go more than five hours of eating. Do not starve the whole day as this will only lead to binge. All you need to put is mindfulness, discipline, moderation and balance!

8. Express Gratitude

Acknowledge your food and appreciate everyone who gave their time and effort to prepare it. Think about where your food comes from and be thankful! This will help you control your hunger pangs!


8 Simple Ways To Practice Mindful Eating And Get Real Results

I hope you find this information useful! Do let me know in the comments below! I'd love to hear from you guys! Oh before I sign off, I want to thank you all to follow me on facebook, pinterest, twitter, google+ and instagram! ๐Ÿ’“ Keep the love coming!

Happy weekend and stop by again as next few weeks are shaping up to be good with few posts in a pipeline!

Much love
x

19 comments:

  1. These tips for healthy eating habits should be used a reminder as people tend to overlook these little yet important things. Good sharing!

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  2. Great piece Anshika. iOS and Android both have some excellent food journal apps that may come in handy too.

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  3. These are great tips! I need to get better at paying attention when I am eating. If we are eating as a family we have a no electronics rule. But if I am eating by myself I tend to grab my book or phone and I don't think about the food as much.

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  4. A few months ago I found I was eating a lot of junk and/or mostly snacking throughout the day. I started keeping a food journal and stopped buying snacky items, and now I feel heaps better. People underestimate the power of a food journal, but it is eye-opening to see what you consume in a day.

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  5. These are great mindful tips for a healthy lifestyle. This year I have particularly become more careful of the things I eat and it has been quite rewarding. Intuitive eating has been the biggest area of growth for me.

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  6. These are great tips! I have a bad habit of getting distracted with my work, not eating regular meals and then just eating one big meal at the end of the day. I think I need to do a better job making time for meals and eating more slowly.

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  7. These are great. I have never been a diet type person anyway. I tend to get so busy I starve all day then eat a huge dinner. I try to eat as healthy as I can but I really stopped caring about the whole diet things a long time ago.

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  8. These are wonderful tips and suggestions. We might try to eat healthy and take our food serious, but every now and then we forget to keep our promises. At least I am trying to eat only when I am hungry.

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  9. This is an excellent list of tips. Very practical and sensible to implement. Maybe not easy, as it would take commitment, but worth it in the long run.

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  10. I love the idea of a smart cheat sheet list! That way I won't feel as bad. Hahah! I really love the idea of the food journal. Sometimes I forget what I eat and the journal would be a good way for me to be accountable.

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  11. These tips are fantastic! I have always been quite a mindful eater about when how much to eat, I didn't do it on purpose it came naturally for me. However, For the past few years I've been making terrible food choices, I did not have much time for cooking and I grabbed already made stuff that was low in nutrients and high in rubbish. Now I've started to eat better especially in terms of QUALITY!

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  12. Love these tips. I do need to practice more mindful eating. Great post

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  13. Wow.. That's a great take on eating food. Never thought about mindful eating ever but this makes so much sense. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. Yyyyaaassssss....somebody mentioned "not starving the whole day"! That's some truth there.

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  15. I have always been a healthy eater, well at least since I was like 13 or 14 when I was diagnosed with my issues. But since then, I started studying healthy nutrition and now also have my masters in nutrition, so I do and eat what works for me :)

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  16. Yes, keeping a food journal is SOOOO important. I stopped and um...let's just say I had too many slices of pizza last night. I am going to start my food journal/calculator again. Thanks for the reminder!

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  17. Love all the tips, I follow a low- carb diet and can well connect with all the points listed here!! Sensible eating goes a long way in healthy living!

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  18. I love the tips . Its all are looking wonder and lovely. Thanks for the post

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  19. Really great post. I visit your site for the first time and will definitely be back to search more contents like this.
    Thanks
    Dr. Sameera Gupta

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