Take Time to Smell your Coffee (Along with the Roses!)

Have you ever been to a buffet restaurant, and taken off like a rabbit to the food line-up? You manage to squeeze in a couple of plates of food, and surprisingly find that you have to uncomfortably roll yourself away from the table less than half an hour later. There’s a good, scientific reason for this…

…research shows that it takes our brains approximately 20 minutes to realize we’re full. When we eat too fast, the signal telling us that we’re full doesn’t arrive until after we’ve eaten too much. This is the cause for that uncomfortable feeling so many of us experience at buffet dinners.

We’re all extremely busy; our quick lifestyles have caused eating to become a rushed, mindless act. This is problematic because it can lead to overeating as stated above. Mindful eating uses mindfulness to reach state of full attention to your experiences, cravings and physical cues while eating. It’s about being completely aware of our actions & being ‘in the moment’ during all eating occasions. It has successfully helped treat many conditions including eating disorders, depression, anxiety and a variety of other food-related behaviors.

Eating mindfully restores our attention and slows our eating down; it makes eating an intentional vs an automatic act. It helps us recognize physical hunger and fullness cues and helps us distinguish between emotional vs physical hunger thus helping us gain more control over our eating.

To become a more mindful eater, try one of these tactics today:
1. Sit down and relax. Don’t eat on the go, you’re less likely to appreciate your food and it’s difficult to keep track of how much you’re eating.
2. Eat slowly and without distractions. Make all of your meals last 20 minutes. Try one of the following ideas to slow yourself down:
*Chew every mouthful 20 times
*Put down your utensils after each bite
*Use your non dominant hand to eat
*Eat with smaller utensils
*Drink lots of water during meals
*If you feel you have to watch TV while eating, choose a 20–30 minute show & make your meal last the whole time
3. Listen to physical hunger cues and eat only until you’re slightly full. Eat your veggies first to ensure you’re getting the most nutrients and fibre to fill you up.

There’s no denying it, we live in a fast-paced society where we’re faced with hundreds of food choices everyday. Eating meals is often a rushed, mindless act. Make sure that you don’t get caught up in this fast eating society; take the time to smell the coffee, along with the roses!

Please connect with me if you have any comments or questions.