Do you pay attention when you are eating? I mean REALLY pay attention to your food, your meal, your snack? You may not realize how much stress this puts on your body when you don't pay attention.
Do you ever suffer from heartburn or other stomach ailments?
Have you been gaining weight?
Do you finish eating, and look with surprise at the empty plate?
How about this one---you eat a treat so quickly that you don't even enjoy it?
We have to eat to live, so why not enjoy it? Why not make this something special instead of something we do in a hurry?
Eating in a mindful way will lend itself to healthier eating, a healthy weight, and feeling really, really good. Less Stress will always make you happier!
10 Tips for Mindful Eating
(From my book, Reduce Your Stress Month by Month Stress Reducing Strategies.)
1) Slow down. Savor. Enjoy. Put your fork or spoon down after every bite you take. (Really.) Chew slowly. Give yourself time to taste what you are eating and for your body to give you the proper signals when it is full.
2) Use really nice dishes. What are you saving the china for? Use it and enjoy eating from something special. (I have been doing this lately--it is so much fun!)
3) Use smaller plates. Many of you have heard this advice, but have you tried it? Try. The results may surprise you.
4) TURN OFF THE T.V. Nothing good can come of eating and watching television at the same time.
5) Put down the book, newspaper, or magazine. I know. I am a person who wants to read every chance I get. But this can be just as bad as watching television if you are not paying attention to your food.
6) Put snacks into bowls. Reaching into a bag or box can only lead to trouble because you will be totally unaware of the amount you are consuming. (Find some interesting or pretty bowls to use.)
7) Take a day to write down what you eat without judging yourself at all. At the end of the day, look at your list. What do you think?
8) Leave your desk for lunch. If you absolutely cannot, turn the computer around, clear the area in front of you, and don't answer the phone. Enjoy your meal.
9) Eat dinner with your family or significant other at least a couple of nights a week. Eat slowly and talk.
10) Go for a walk before dessert. This will give you time to truly enjoy what you already ate, and help you decide it you really want any more food
"Everything you do should be worth of your full attention. If it seems worthy of only partial attention, ask yourself if it is really worth doing."
-Eknath Easwaran
joe said "Really good information and facts! Thanks for that awesome posting."
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