If you want to lose those extra pounds from your body or tone it up, it is not always about stopping yourself from relishing that piece of chocolate or any other mouthwatering food banned by your dietician. The goal can be achieved even after letting your taste buds win, provided you practice mindful eating, that is being fully mindful of whatever you are eating and the benefits or drawbacks associated with that food.
Mindful Eating
Mindful eating means investing all your physical senses to experiencing the food you are eating, moment by moment, without judgement. It is focusing on the sensual experience of food. It is not about calories, proteins, carbohydrates or fats. It is about becoming aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food selection and preparation. It is also about acknowledging your response to the food without judgement; the physical sensations, thoughts and feelings it invokes. Mindful eating is becoming in touch with the hunger and its satiety cues your body and mind feels in order to decide when to begin and when to stop eating.
Purpose of eating mindfully
Mindful eating is to become aware and conscious of the source of your food as also the interconnectedness between earth, living beings and the impact on eco systems. It is to acknowledge that being fully aware of the experience of food will help you get full nourishment from it. It is also to realize that your eating experience is unique and to becoming conscious of the choice you have made to enjoy your food on a moment to moment basis. Eating mindfully also aims to being aware of the nourishment to you body and soul you will get from eating the particular food. And it also aims at ultimately making the right food choices as a consequence of realizing the significance of food and nourishment. You can lose weight even while not shunning junk food completely but by eating slowly and mindfully and relishing your eating experience.
How to practice mindful eating
Make a shopping list of healthy foods and stick to your list. Prepare your meal or if you are to eat raw, wash it thoroughly. Come to the table when you are hungry but not ravenously so. Look at your meal and employ all your senses. Look at it as if you are seeing it for the first time and its a strange object before you. Imagine its journey from its source and be thankful that you are going to relish it. Notice the colors, the textures, the aroma, even the sounds the food makes while preparing and serving it. Put a small morsel in your mouth and feel its texture and taste on your tongue. When you chew your food, do so slowly and thoroughly. Ascertain the various ingredients used to prepare the food. Acknowledge the flavors you experience.
In a nutshell
Mindful eating is becoming aware of your food and to realize the significance of your eating it. Are you consuming it because it is nutritionally healthy or is it emotionally comforting? It involves trusting yourself and having patience and non judgemental acceptance of the act of eating food and appreciating its importance. It is also the letting go of any resentment towards a piece of chocolate or a morsel of pizza, but actually relishing it in the present moment. Hence, satiety is faster and better, and so are the food choices you are going to make unhindered by any past negative experience.