Mindful Eating!
Become more in tune with your body.
Healthier food choices become more attractive as you spend more time appreciating your food.
It becomes easier to stick with diet changes such as reducing sugar.
You can build a healthy relationship with food as you break bad habits and build new, good ones.
Eating stops being a chore and becomes fun and enjoyable again.
Practicing mindfulness reduces overall stress, a leading cause of overeating and bingeing.
By eating slower and more carefully, you often eat less, bringing your weight loss goals closer.
You may have seen our recent social media posts over the past week highlighting our time with Newport Academy . There were a number of presenters who shared their experience with music therapy, attachment based therapy and mental health benefits of nature. However, it was Executive Chef Travis Darling who caught our eye. His presentation was a bit out of the ordinary. In that, the attendees were going to make their own lunches! But, before we all became a chef for 15 minutes, he discussed his philosophy on mindful eating.
Are mental health and nutrition related?
Nutrition might be one of the most under-appreciated factors in the discussion on mental health. This idea of the mind-body connection has not traditionally been a western mode of thought. However, the brain is a physical entity in the body; an organ that requires nutrients, water, and oxygen to thrive.
Research has shown that physical health directly affects mental health and vice versa.[1;4] Children who consume a diet high in fast food, sugar and soft drinks have been found to have a higher incident of being diagnosed with ADHD. Further, another study found that one third of depressed adults who received only nutrition coaching, experienced remission of their depression. [2] Making better choices and eating “right” is difficult. Mindful eating helps bring us closer to healthy choices and an improved relationship with food.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness, simply put, is increasing awareness of what is happening both inside and outside of yourself. It is the practice of noticing without passing judgment. For instance, if we were eating, we would be striving to recognize sensations and thoughts that come up without saying this like: “I love this burger but I really shouldn’t be eating it.”.
Mindful eating is done by paying full attention to the experience of eating and drinking. That includes everything from the smells, textures, flavors, temperatures, and sounds of the food--all the way to what hunger feels like? Are you satisfied? Half full?
Pay attention to the mind. How many of you find yourself sitting down for lunch or dinner and easily get distracted checking emails, texting, or catching up on work? We want to notice those impulses and gently return ourselves to just eating or drinking without passing judgement.
Where do I start?
Chef Darling, in his work with Newport Academy, focuses on including everyone in the meal prep process. This included growing, cooking, and serving the food. After everyone had received their plate of food, he encouraged everyone to sit in 2 minutes of silent meditation. This practice can be a wonderful experience if you are someone who feels they are “always on the go”. This slows us down and encourages us to be present in the moment. Mindfulness is a skill and must be practiced.
Here are some mindfulness techniques you can start implementing into your meals!
1) Try sucking on a mint in silence and notice the texture, flavor, scents, sensations.
(2) If you are reading and eating, try alternating these activities, not doing both at once? Read a page, then put the book down and eat a few bites, savoring the tastes, then read another page, and so on.
(3) At family meals, you might ask everyone to eat in silence for the first five minutes, thinking about the many people who brought the food to your plate.
(4) Eat without distractions such as the television or computer. Have them put down their fork in between bites.
(5)Wait 15 minutes after eating to decide if they are still hungry for seconds (it takes about 15 minutes for your brain to register if you’re full or not).
(6)Get everyone more involved in the process of making a meal. Try starting a garden or growing herbs. Involve the family in planting the seeds, harvesting the vegetables, washing them, or helping to cook them.
Don't try to make drastic changes. Lasting change takes time, and is built on many small changes.
Don’t forget to like and share on Instagram and Facebook!
[1]https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-relationship-between-mental-and-physical-health/
[2]https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/09/food-mental-health
[3] http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/this-is-your-brain-on-sugar-ucla-233992
[4] http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/viewpoint/mentalphysicalhealth.aspx
[5] http://www.positivepsychol\ogy.com