Mindful eating is food for thought

Mindfulness refers to the practice of being aware and fully present in the ongoing moment. It’s a powerful tool that facilitates us to be more conscious of our physical, emotional, and mental states without being bogged down by self-criticism, cynicism, and judgement. Mindfulness helps one regain control over destructive thoughts, emotions and behaviours and help perform more productively.

Being mindful is easy. Just follow these tips:

Tune into your hunger cues: Be aware of ‘why’ you are eating, are you really physically hungry or thirsty, or, are you eating to appease your emotions such as stress, anger, boredom, sadness, loneliness? Rate your hunger and satiation on a scale of 0-10, and ideally, you would want to eat when your hunger is at three-four (mild hunger) and stop when you are at a seven-eight (comfortably full).

Sit down, eat slowly: Eating while standing up may increase the speed at which you eat, causing you to consume more calories and increase the amount of air swallowed during a meal causing gas and bloating.

Eat without distractions : Multi-tasking makes you less mindful. Try avoiding TV, cell phones, tablets or laptops, and even working while you eating. Try enjoying at least one meal every day without doing anything else.

Chew thoroughly and do not gulp water: Pay attention to the way you chew. Savour every bite, feel the flavours in your mouth. Try chewing each bite at least 30 times before swallowing. This aids digestion and lowers the risk of obesity.
By indulging in mindful eating we can attune our minds to indulge in the pleasure of eating.

(The author is a clinical psychologist)