[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Mindful eating is a great tool to help with weight loss and give you an improved eating experience. You can practice mindful eating anywhere from your desk at the office to your dining room table at home.

The following are a few tips on how to eat mindfully wherever you are:

• Awareness is key: you need to understand why you are eating. Are you really hungry or just bored? What type of hunger are you experiencing? Refer to the previous post on mindless vs mindful eating for more information on this.

• Sit down and pace yourself: take time to chew your food slowly to help you recognize when you start to feel full. Put your cutlery down every few bites so you don’t feel rushed to swallow your food right away.

• Channel your inner “foodie”: use your senses- savour the texture, flavour, smell and appearance of your food.

• Gratitude: before you dig in, take a moment to be grateful for your food, the preparation involved, and for nourishing your body.

• Remove distractions and have a clear mind: eating isn’t exactly the best time to be multi-tasking. Keep away from your phone (or anything with a screen) and avoid mindlessly munching while watching TV. At work, switch your computer off to destress and take your lunch outside.

• Portion control: prepare your food into appropriate serving sizes, especially snacks, so you are not eating out of the bag and tempted to reach for more.

• Doggy bag: if you are filled to the brim when eating at a restaurant, don’t try to clean the plate. Most portion sizes are too large so pack a takeaway instead.

• Baby steps: if you are new to mindful eating, set yourself small goals to get into the grove. Start off by choosing one meal a day to eat mindfully and move up from there.

Good luck putting your mindful eating knowledge into practice. You can make an appointment here for a personalized meal plan to accompany this.

[/vc_column][/vc_row]