Feb28Benefits of Mindful Eating Habits
Mindful eating is a powerful tool when trying to build sustainable, healthy habits. Most people though are unaware of mindful eating, the benefits, and even how to do it. First, I’ll go over what I think are two of the biggest benefits, then I’ll show you some ways you can implement mindful eating into your own routine.
Two Big Benefits of Mindful Eating
1. Helps with weight loss
I think the biggest benefit that being more mindful while eating helps with is weight loss. While it doesn’t directly help you lose weight, it does so indirectly. For example: Pretend you take an extra five to ten minutes to eat your food. What happens? You slow down obviously, but usually you eat less as well. You chew more, which in turn makes eating more work, and you allow yourself to feel fullness compared to if you were eating too fast. So you end up eating less, which means less calories, which means a caloric deficit which is necessary for weight loss. It is an easy strategy to implement that can help you lose a few pounds without doing anything drastic.
2. Allows you to enjoy your food more
As you eat slower, you learn to enjoy your food more. You savor the texture, the taste, the smell. You build a better relationship with food and learn to appreciate where it comes from and the importance of it. Maybe you’ll start to research the process it takes to get to your plate. Maybe you’ll start enjoying cooking more, and you make even more delicious meals. Who knows what doing such a small thing could lead to?
Different Ways You Can Implement it
There are multiple ways to implement mindful eating. Some of the easiest ways:
Take 5 extra minutes to eat.
Doing this is easy, just eat slower and chew slower. Easy and simple to do! The reason why this helps is because it allows you to tune into your full/hungry cues. If you eat too fast, you might not give yourself time to think about whether you’re actually full or just overeating. So, take your time and thoroughly enjoy your meal!
No distractions.
Put the phone down, turn off the TV, and focus on the food on your plate. One thing I would say you could do: Read. Read the paper, a book, article, etc. Reading something while you eat can help you slow down on speed eating, which ties back into the ‘5 extra minutes’ tip.
Add some color to your plate.
Adding some fruits and vegetables require more chewing and take a bit longer to digest because of how fibrous they are, so in turn you’ll eat slower and get fuller faster. Imagine how easy it is to drink a sugary latte or eat a bowl of ice cream. Eating foods that physically take longer to eat will help you eat more slowly.
Well there you have it. Two big benefits of mindful eating and three easy ways to implement it. Try it out for yourselves and see the benefits!