MindFUL eating :)

Happy Monday everyone! Hope your week is off to a healthy and positive start!

So, I am going to talk a little bit about mindful eating...versus mindless eating.

Mindful eating is when you are thinking about and are in tune with how your body is feeling before/during/after you eat/putting thought into your meals.

Mindless eating is the opposite.

Mindless eating is what most of Americans do on a day to day basis.

Typical scenario: Breakfast is consumed while we are putting our things together for the day, making lunch for the kids, getting ready ourselves, even while driving, in front of a computer screen answering emails, or grabbing it on our walk to work/what have you...

We are simply doing way too many activities at once.

There are a few reasons why doing this is not so great:
1) You are not fully paying attention to either activities (eating and _____).
2) Your body registers that you are full AFTER you are which can cause overeating.
3) Since you are not paying attention to eating, you might not feel satisfied/forget that you even ate. Ever have one of those, "did I even eat lunch" moments?
4) We put ourselves at risk for eating not to healthy food because we aren't thinking about WHAT we are eating or how much it takes for us to feel full/satiated.

Mindful eating also means US THINKING about what we are putting into our mouths. Ever have one of those days where you got SO busy (forget to eat) that by the end of the day you are STARVING to the point where you feel the need to eat the entire Sahara Desert for dinner?

We've all had those days. To be honest, those days occur far too often in America. We are so busy that we can't even take 20 minutes to eat a meal 3x a day. 1 hour total out of 24 hours in the day. That one hour (besides your workout hour) is crucial to your health and most likely, to reaching your goal. What you put into your body, how much, and then what you do with your body (exercise componenet) MATTERS.

SO 1 total hour a day to eat. NO magazine, no tv, no emailing, no phone, no nothing...unless you have a person to talk to you...it's normal for meals to be social. TRY IT! It's way harder than it sounds.

Helpful tips to avoid mindless eating:
1) Put out as much of breakfast the night before as you can. Whether it is a bowl with the cereal box next to it and a spoon or the pan to make your omelette...it's a few less things you need to do in the morning and it may actually give you time to eat breakfast before you leave!

2) PACK LUNCH and make it yourself (I'm not talking about a frozen lunch placed in a bag). It's wayyy less expensive, it will be healthier, and you will be happy that you have your lunch right there... no need to waste 10-15 min going somewhere to grab it...THOSE 15 minutes are now yours to eat! SEE how this can help you?

3) Shut off your life when it's meal time. Easier said than done, I'm well aware. I tend to want to email, check facebook (I told you guys I'm a total nerd), google something...just be a busy bee. There is NO NEED to do a thousand things half-assed at once. Just EAT. Focus on your day and how your body is feeling. When you get that "okay, I'm satisfied and not hungry anymore" feeling, stop eating and then go on with your day.

4) Try to eat dinner with others. Your family, friends, co-workers etc etc.

5) Put your damn fork done periodically during the meal, grab a sip of water/milk/whatever, and then check in with yourself. Are you still hungry? Are you full? How are you feeling?

6) Stop using GINORMOUS plates/spoons/forks/bowls/etc. They make you want to fill the plate or bowl up, and take much larger bites. The trough that we call a plate is a little much, and if we don't fill it all the way, it makes us feel like we are "dieting" or not eating enough which makes us still hungry after we are done. Also, I'm not saying use a baby spoon, but the modern shovel isn't something we need to eat with either.

Look up the book, Mindless Eating...it's SUPER interesting. Tons of studies done to look at sizes of plates, where you sit, etc etc and how it affects your eating.

OKAY, NOW COMMENT/ASK QUESTIONS!!!!!!!! :) THANKS ALL!