Feeling full and not being aware of it\u2026 or being aware of it but it\u2019s rude not to finish your meal or those last few sweets, right?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThat\u2019s not to say we can\u2019t have foods we enjoy, and this is one reason why flexible dieting; calorie and macro counting, has become popular. However, even if people do like to track their nutrient intake and hit their daily goals, it is probably still wise to be mindful of what they are eating.<\/p>\n
Although calories matter, food choices are also important to keep you feeling fuller, healthier and keep cravings at bay. It is also important as, without being mindful of what we eat, tracking can fall short because some people are not mindful of the bites, licks, nibbles and tastes they have over the course of the day.<\/p>\n
Mindful eating then isn\u2019t just about the bigger picture of emotional eating, or taking control over our food environment, it is also about awareness of the little things that add up that can make our weight loss efforts effective or derail them completely despite thinking we are trying our best and doing everything right.<\/p>\n
How Do We Mindfully Eat?<\/h2>\n
Like any habit we have to practice. The majority of our eating behaviours are determined over many, many years so they are pre-programmed in any give situation. I think the key word here though is awareness.<\/p>\n
We need to be aware of our triggers, the bites, the nibbles, the when and how we make food choices that might derail our efforts. This might take time to sit and think it out, write down our thoughts and feelings about food and how we respond in certain situation and, most importantly, what we can do about it.<\/p>\n
For example, at home stop eating in front of the TV where you\u2019re distracted from the amount you are eating, if you make bad food choices on the go then prepare meals, start attempting to make better food choices when eating out, don\u2019t shop when hungry and generally being more \u2018present\u2019 whilst you are eating\u2026 do I need that big a portion, am I now full or am I eating for the sake of it?<\/p>\n
We can\u2019t be \u2018perfect\u2019 all of the time, but we can increase our chance of weight loss success by making sure we can rationalise our eating behaviours and practice making better choices.<\/p>\n
Anything Else We Need to Consider?<\/h2>\n
Firstly, mindful eating is not a diet as such; it is an approach that may help dieting be more successful if applied correctly. Mindful eating alone may not be enough if we are still unaware of what food choices we should be making.<\/p>\n
For example, nuts are often described as healthy (and they are rich in healthy fats, fibre and micronutrients) but they are still highly calorific so we might be mindful to snack on \u2018healthy\u2019 foods instead of biscuits or chocolate. This does not mean that eating large quantities of any food, no matter how mindful you are or healthy it\u2019s perceived to be, is still going to impact negatively on your efforts.<\/p>\n
Therefore, we also have to be mindful across the board, not just in terms of food choice and avoiding emotional\/environment driven eating, but we also require education of nutritional values and portion control, at least initially, in order to make mindful eating work.<\/p>\n
The ultimate goal of nutrition education, which food logging\/tracking can be great for, combined with mindful eating leads to a condition of intuitive healthy eating where we have educated ourselves on food values and have created better lifestyle habits and reprogrammed our food response to specific \u2018high-risk\u2019 environments and emotional states. This gives us the capacity to maintain a healthy weight whilst not having to track or miss out on foods we enjoy because we have the capacity to know our individual limits and regulate foods accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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