Mindful eating is a matter of practice. So don’t be frustrated if you keep falling back into your usual patterns at the beginning or if you digress while eating. However, if you stay on the ball and practice consistently, your new, more mindful behavior will establish itself over time. Try the following exercise and let yourself be surprised by your diverse perceptions:
The Raisin Exercise
Grab a raisin (for all non-raisin fans: you can alternatively use a nut, a grape, or something similar) and proceed step by step:
- Touch: Close your eyes and feel the raisin – how does the surface feel? How firm is it?
- Smell: Bring the raisin to your nose – what do you perceive?
- See: Take a close look at the raisin – does it shine, or is it rather dull?
- Taste: What is the consistency of the raisin? Which aromas develop as soon as you bite on them? What do you taste when you have it on your tongue?
You will notice that even with a small raisin (or nut), you can perceive the various components much more intensely – the only important thing is to take your time.
Six Tips And Tricks For More Mindfulness
In the following, we have summarized some tips and tricks that you can try out for your subsequent purchases and meals: First of all, decide on one. If you are more experienced, you can continue to develop your mindful eating and use several tricks.
Listen To Your Body
Our body knows very well what exactly it needs to be optimally supplied with all nutrients. However, it is often not that easy to distinguish whether the brain is just fooling us into eating something (for example, looking at the delicious cake on the table or the delicious smell that emanates from the bakery on the street corner) or whether it is real hunger.
Get What Your Body Needs
Effects : 1. Providing the body with energy and nutrients
- Avoidance of “overeating.”
Implementation tips : 1. Ask yourself questions: What gives me energy?
- Am I really hungry or just hungry?
Eat Slowly
Most of the time, we eat far too quickly. However, if you take more time to eat, you can enjoy the meal more, but often a smaller portion is enough for you.
Eat More Slowly
Effects : 1. More enjoyment
- Better perception of satiety
Implementation tips: 1.Small bites
2.Put down the cutlery in between, lean back.
3.Take a close look at the food on the fork and perceive colors and shapes.
4.Eat with chopsticks.
5.Set a goal of being the last person at the table to finish eating.
Let Your Chewing Muscles Play
Chewing things through is not your thing? Then you can pay attention to it with Mindful Eating: Use your chewing muscles to get all the flavors out of your meal.
Chew More Extensively
Effects : 1.Gulping down is avoided.
2.More acceptable perception of the different consistencies and flavors.
Implementation tips: 1.Chew each bite up to 30 times.
2.Move the food back and forth in your mouth and feel the consistency with your tongue.
Also Read: CALORIE INTAKE IN BODYBUILDING
Don’t Overwhelm Your Stomach
When we eat too fast, we sometimes shovel too much into ourselves before the satiety signal can even reach the brain. With these tips, you can consciously counteract this in the future:
Don’t Overfill Your Stomach
Effects: 1.Pleasant feeling of satiety.
2.No bad conscience.
Implementation tips: 1.Start with a small portion, and if hungry persists, get a second helping.
2.Using small plates or bowls.
3.Consciously perceive body signals and listen to your “gut feeling.”
Create A Mindful Environment For Yourself
The more colorful and louder our surroundings, the faster we will be distracted from our meals. Since attention and mindfulness go hand in hand, it helps to create a calm environment for you.
Create A Conducive Environment For Yourself
Effects: 1.The focus is on the food.
2.Reduction of distracting stimuli.
Implementation tips: 1.Allow enough time and rest to eat.
2.Digital time-out (switch off the cell phone, television, computer to eat).
3.Devote yourself fully to the meal, avoiding “sideline activities.”
Consciously Show Your Meal More Appreciation
Groceries are available to us almost 24/7 – and mostly in abundance: Full supermarket shelves with a vast selection mean that we take this availability for granted, and the handling of food is often careless – we waste, throw away and hardly value what we eat anymore. But it is precisely an appreciative contact that helps to eat more consciously – in the spirit of mindful eating.
Appreciate Your Food More
Effects: 1.Promote a more reflective approach to food.
Implementation tips: 1.Consider the path from production or maturation to transport & processing.
2.Reflect on the work and time involved.
Use The Stop Strategy
You will repeatedly come across situations where your autopilot takes over while you are eating or doing ten other things simultaneously. The so-called STOP strategy helps against this to push your mindfulness and to slow down your everyday life.
Effects: 1.Avoid eating on the side and refocusing on the meal.
Implementation tips:
S – Stop: Pause the activities and tasks that you are busy with at this moment.
T – Take a breath: Take a deep breath – this relaxes your body, you become more focused and less prone to stress.
O – Observe: Observe your previous behavior and current alternatives, your thoughts, and feelings.
P – Proceed: Make a conscious decision and reset the focus.
Conclusion
Mindful eating is a great way to deal more intensively with your own physical and emotional needs and question automated eating behavior and decisions. Suppose you integrate a more mindful approach into your daily meals. In that case, you will not only feel more enjoyment and joy in eating, but you will also be able to achieve the optimal body weight for you – because if you learn to listen to your body signals and to interpret them correctly, you will give your body exactly the foods and amounts that it needs to function optimally.
Also Read: CALORIE INTAKE IN BODYBUILDING
