Mindful eating is based on a form of meditation called mindfulness. This technique helps you recognize and cope with your emotions and physical sensations. It can be used in other aspects of life, but it is incredibly important in regard to eating. To put it simply, it’s being fully aware in the moment when you’re eating and eliminating distractions. As a personal trainer, we know that eliminating distractions will help you focus on how much food you’re truly consuming and helps you to not overeat.
Often time when we eat, we’re on our phones or laptops, watching TV, at our desks multitasking, or even driving. This pulls our attention away from our meal, and before we know it, our food is all gone, and we are left feeling unsatisfied or still hungry. It can be a shock to look down at your food and realize that you consumed a lot more than you intended. But are we still hungry? Or did we just scarf down our food without realizing it and not give enough time for our body to catch up to our brains? As a personal trainer in Rhode Island, we understand the importance of eliminating distractions and focusing more on your food as it is the best way to get yourself back in control!
Mindful Eating and Weight Loss
When we’re not fully aware of the food we’re eating–how it tastes, smells, and makes us feel–we tend to start to overeat. This, paired with a lack of exercise can lead to weight gain over time. As a personal trainer in RI, nutrition is one of the biggest parts of weight loss and leading a healthy life, and overeating can cause all of your hard work at the gym to be for nothing. There is growing research that suggests incorporating mindful eating can help with weight problems.
However, it’s not to be confused with a diet. Mindful eating is not about restricting certain foods or calorie intake, and it doesn’t mean you can’t get chips and salsa with your friends or enjoy popcorn during a movie. It is simply a tool you can use that requires you to be more present and enjoy the experience of eating food. Let’s face it, in the world we live in today, we could all use fewer distractions and more time living in the moment.
How to Eat More Mindfully
Experts suggest starting gradually with mindful eating to help get used to it and make it a habit. The best way to do this is to use the technique is to eat in a more attentive way for one meal a day or a week. As a personal trainer, we recommend focusing on your chewing and making sure that you break down your food for better consumption of vitamins and minerals when it goes through the intestines. This also helps you gain a better understanding of your personal hunger cues, help with distractions, and see how the food you’re eating actually makes your body feel.
Listen to Your Body’s Hunger Cues
This is a game-changer! Tuning in to your physical hunger is the main key to mindful eating. Sometimes, our bodies make us feel hungry when we aren’t actually hungry. Before you make the conscious decision to eat, ask yourself, “how hungry am I right now? Am I eating out of hunger, emotion, or boredom?” Pay close attention because sometimes dehydration can be confused with hunger. Try drinking a full bottle of water before eating your next meal and see if you feel less hungry.
Everyone’s bodies are different and you need to listen to your body and your emotions. Many people eat to deal with stress, frustration, sadness, or boredom. These emotions trigger our brain into wanting food, so when we feel them we eat even when we’re not hungry. Mindful eating is about learning what these emotional triggers are in you, avoiding them, and learning your body’s actual signs of hunger. As a personal trainer, we know that learning this will help stop overeating and lead you to a healthier lifestyle.
Eat Slower and Without Distraction
Eating slower gives you the chance to enjoy each bite and keeping you aware of your satiety levels. This gives humans a sense of food gratification and is a direct contract to the feeling of hunger. Basically, it is determining whether you are full or not based on the way you enjoyed your meal. To do this, you should observe the smells, textures, and flavors of your food. How does it taste? How was your food produced? Are you satisfying a craving? If so, enjoy every little bit of it!
Pay Attention to the Way the Food You’re Eating Makes You Feel
Different kinds of foods give us different feelings after eating them. As a personal trainer, we know how important it is that we take note of how foods make us feel after we eat them. This helps when choosing foods because it can lead you to make healthier choices on daily basis. What we normally call junk food, can cause us to feel sluggish and tired after eating them. Other foods such as vegetables and fruits help make us feel refueled and energized after eating them. After eating, take some time to see how your body feels after eating. This can help you make healthier choices and is a key aspect of mindful eating.
The Takeaway
Mindful eating can help you become more attuned with your body and help regain control of your eating habits. As a personal trainer in Rhode Island, we recommend focusing on being present and enjoying the experience of eating when you can. We all have busy days and are on the go, but regularly incorporating this powerful principle into your daily life could change the way you eat and even your entire relationship with food.
Looking to get healthy and become the best version of you? Revival Fitness has many personal trainers in Rhode Island that will help you by creating personalized training and diet programs!
