The new year is just around the corner and for some of us a new year means a new beginning. A new year gives us a chance to make new goals that can help us change our lives for the better. Here is a list of 5 mindful eating goals that you should consider if you are looking to practice mindful eating starting next year.
Practicing gratitude with Mindful Eating is all about appreciating the typically unnoticed details that happen while you eat.
When you practice Mindful Eating it is easy to find time to practice gratitude. Whether it is before you eat, when you are pausing to check what your hunger is, or after you eat and you reflect on your experience.
You can practice gratitude whether you are eating by yourself or with others.
When you are with others be grateful that you are sharing your eating experience with another person. Appreciate the time that you spend and the relationships you have. Eating with others can sometimes make the meal more memorable and enjoyable. Try to also talk about what you are eating when you are around others to share your experience.
When you are by yourself be grateful for the food itself. Think about the process it took to get your meal to your plate in front of you. Appreciate everybody that was involved in that process and every step it took along the way. Practicing gratitude while you are eating alone can help you build a deeper connection to whatever you are eating.
Your breath plays an important part in stress and keeping you in the present moment.
When you are stressed your mind wanders easily making it hard to focus on what you're eating.
Taking deep breaths "enables more air to flow into your body and can help calm your nerves, reducing stress and anxiety. It can also help you improve your attention span and lower pain levels."
One of the easiest ways to find and deal with stress is by using your breath. When you are stressed your breathing is shallow. You should take full and deep breaths to bring your stress down to normal levels. You could also make it a habit to take deep breaths before you eat to lower the stress you have before you start eating. When we are stressed we are hungrier and retain more fat when we do eat.
One of the easier things that you can do when you want to be present is to take a moment to focus on your breath. All of your thoughts will clear away fast. When your thoughts are gone you can easily switch your attention to your food whenever you need to.
We all have foods that we love to eat but do you know why you love to eat them? Is there some type of sacred memory or connection that you have with that food? What did it take to get that food on your plate? Do you feel energized physically and emotionally after you've had that meal?
When we eat mindlessly we form connections with food that we don't actually enjoy eating.
They can provide a temporary sense of satisfaction when you eat them but after you eat them you may feel stressed, tired, or unsatisfied.
Challenge yourself on the foods that you enjoy to figure out what it is that makes you enjoy that food.
Your body is a feedback machine. Whether you are doing something right or wrong your body will always let you know what is happening as long as you're paying attention.
You will feel happier and energized when things are going right with your body. When things go wrong you feel uncomfortable in whatever part of the body is having the issue.
Learn to use your body instead of your brain when you consider what to eat. Physical signs of hunger such as a stomach growling or your mouth watering are more reliable then whatever trick your mind will play on you to get you to eat.
Learn what your different levels of hunger and fullness are and what is involved in those feelings. What's the difference between hungry and starving for you?
Notice the times where you feel really bad after eating a meal. It's very likely that either you ate too much or that what you eat probably isn't very good for you.
these feelings will be very subtle so you need to make sure you are intentional when trying to diagnose what you are feeling in the moment.
We learn the rules for how to eat when we are young and as we grow older we never challenge those rules.
For example we might learn to finish everything on our plate before we can leave the dinner table because you learn not to waste food.
The goal of mindful eating is to help you become aware of those rules that you've had for your whole left and deconstruct them to see if they help you or hurt you.
Find out what rules that you've been following and examine them with an open mind. If you feel like they hurt you try to create new rules that help you feel better and eat better.