Mindful eating: Five tips to help improve eating habits
What we put into our bodies is fuel and the food choices we make impact how we feel emotionally, physically and mentally. Mindful eating keeps you more in tune with what and how much you’re eating, so you can focus on your body’s response.
What is mindful eating?
Have you ever stopped to think about how you feel while eating a snack? Are you hungry? Or are you bored?
Do you take time to appreciate the work you put into preparing a meal? Or do you just dig in?
That’s what mindful eating is all about. It’s taking the time to recognize your feelings, your hunger and what you are putting into your body. This process helps you manage your eating habits and recognize your hunger cues.
Five tips for mindful eating
Natasha Hansen, a senior sports dietitian for Sanford Sports, has five tips to help you practice mindful eating.
- Observe: Listen to your body by paying attention to your hunger and fullness cues. We are aiming for satisfaction, not a food coma. It’s important to think of your hunger and fullness on a scale from 1-10. A good goal is to always stay between a three and seven, with three as the early start of hunger and seven as feeling satisfied.
- Savor: Appreciate your food. Take time to recognize the textures, colors, smells and flavors of what you are eating. Consider the effort that went into growing and harvesting the ingredients, as well as the time you took to prepare your meal.
- Unplug: Try to be present while you eat. With how busy life can be, this can be a challenge. Take time away from your devices, which can distract you from what and how much you’re eating.
- Go slow: When you sit down to eat your food it can help you appreciate and savor it. Chewing your food well and taking breaks between bites supports digestion and helps the body register satisfaction.
- Understand emotional eating: Boredom, loneliness or stress can lead to mindless munching. Your emotions are valid, and it’s important to recognize them, however, try to find other ways to practice self-care if hunger is not present. Being aware of your emotions can help you identify emotion-related eating patterns.
Get started today
With the hustle and bustle of daily life, it can be a challenge to change your eating habits. Instead of trying to tackle all five tips at once, take on one tip at a time and work your way up to practicing all five.
Mindful eating will improve your nutrition and overall well-being. For more nutrition tips from Sanford Health or to connect with a sports dietitian visit our nutrition page.
