Friday, July 8, 2011

mindful eating

morguefile.com
I've been reading a book called Real Food has Curves: How to Get Off Processed Food, Lose Weight, and Love What You Eat.  
The book's focus is just paying attention to what we eat.

Most meals involve mindlessly stuffing some kind of food into our faces until our stomachs groan, letting us know we've had enough. Am I right?

The book tells us to think about what we're going to eat. Choose something that is a real food. Not processed or refined.

Then look at it. Smell it. And taste it. Really taste it. Think about the flavors. Are there overtones?

How does the food feel? Is there any resistance to the chew? Is it crispy? Chewy? Smooth?

Then after chewing well, swallow fully. Then load the fork and start over.

Savor. Think. Involve the senses.

The premise of the book is that if we eat this way, we'll lose weight. When we eat whatever is at hand, shoving it in without experiencing it, we aren't satisfied. So we find something else to shove in. Then something else.

If we eat mindfully, then our brain takes part, memory is stimulated, emotion engages, and we are satisfied.

Makes sense to me. But I'm finding it hard to change. I've decided I want to begin with one mindful meal per week. Hopefully I can do more, and in time I know I will, but I run on autopilot now and it's hard to break that pattern.

2 comments:

  1. Honestly, the quicker one gets as organic, as possible, the better. Our society is in poor physical health due to genetically modified foods and highly processed foods. Moreover, we suffer from too little physical exercise.

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  2. Excellent advice. I have slowly changed my eating habits, especially watching my portions and eating more basic, healthy, organic foods. Something as simple as sitting down and eating slowly does make a difference. I still seem to stand and eat a lot, though, not really savoring the foods.

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