Do the holidays make it harder for you to eat healthy? What about during the rest of the year -- are their particular times or situations where you know you have a harder time sticking with good nutrition?
Practicing mindfulness around your food choices just might be the "fix" you've been looking for. We have two simple, easy tips to help you get started.
For the past several years, behavioral researchers have been looking
at the benefits of mindfulness – and most recently, they've looked
at mindfulness techniques as a tool to promote weight loss and
healthy eating. The short answer? Mindfulness seems to work.
To
take just two examples, this CBS News piece
does a good job at looking at an October 2016 study published in the
journal Obesity. During
the study, two groups of obese adults were assigned to either a
mindfulness-based form of therapy or to standard weight-loss
treatment. The mindfulness-therapy group lost an average of thirteen
percent of their body weight – the “standard” group lost the
usual five-eight percent.
And
this article
from Harvard Health Publications talks about the benefits to be had
from simply eating mindfully.
Given the evidence behind it, we're optimistic that mindfulness
techniques, combined with exercise and a sound nutritional plan, can
help you achieve your goals – whether you're looking to lose weight
(or gain weight, for that matter!), get more nutrition into your diet,
or simply avoid gaining any extra weight this holiday season.
At the same time, this is the busiest time of the year! So we're
not going to overwhelm you with a lot of things to remember and do on
top of everything else you have going on.
Instead here are two, simple tips you can start using today to
incorporate mindfulness to help you reach your weight and
healthy-eating goals:
1.
Slow
Down and enjoy your food.
We mentioned this as part of our post at the start of the holiday season,
but slowing down and taking time with our food goes well beyond
lingering over Thanksgiving dinner!
As often as possible, take your time when you're eating. Experience
the flavors and textures of your food. Perhaps take a moment to think
about the work that went into bringing this meal to your table, or to
experience the setting where you're eating.
Eating slowly accomplishes a few things. For one, it takes our
stomachs about twenty minutes to get around to telling our brains
that we're full and should stop eating. In addition, taking the time
to fully appreciate the food in front of us now helps fill us up
emotionally as well, which may decrease the urge to snack later.
Finally, our digestive tracts consider it a personal favor when we
chew our food slowly and thoroughly.
2.
Think
ahead. This
season is filled with food, food, and more food – so try to plan
ahead whenever you can to eat as healthfully as possible. For
example: if tomorrow is the big Christmas lunch at work, substitute a
lighter, protein-centered breakfast and perhaps a salad with protein
at dinner tonight for your usual morning and evening meals. Is your
family's traditional holiday dinner heavy on the carbs and fats?
Offer to bring a vegetable dish – and, during dinner, eat your
veggies first.
Finally,
relax. You don't have to try to remember these two mindfulness eating
tips at every meal, and you don't have to be perfect at them!
Instead, tuck them away in the back of your mind and try one or both
tips just once a day.
Also,
keep in mind that we're offering free Yoga to Better Living Fitness Center members throughout
December – and Yoga is an excellent
introduction to mindfulness!
Photos courtesy: Tarcio Saraiva and Barb Hoyer via Flickr.
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