Mindful Eating: How To Enjoy Your Food And Lose Weight?


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When it comes to dieting and losing weight people normally think they have to bid goodbye to their favorite foods. There is a huge misconception that dieting means starting oneself and eating less quantity than what your body demands.

But this is not the case and if you are mindful of your eating habits, you can enjoy your food and lose weight simultaneously without giving up on your favorite food. 

How You Can Satisfy Your Cravings And Also Lose Weight?

One of the first and foremost lifestyle changes you have to adapt to love your food is to start eating at a slower pace. Today’s generation is obsessed with electronics and often has their food sitting in front of their laptops while bingeing on Netflix.

Mindful Eating- Enjoy Your Food And Lose Weight

The problem with this practice is that unconsciously you eat faster without actually enjoying the food that you are consuming and you tend to eat excessively since your mind is focused on that television series and lacks focus on what is going on in your body.

Hence you need to be mindful and start eating slower. Your eating pace and your weight have a direct correlation and research has proved time and again that fast eating is directly linked with a higher BMI.

The reason behind this is that when you eat fast, without a break to chew properly, your brain gets confused and delays in communicating to your stomach that it has reached its full capacity.

When your stomach ultimately receives the signal, it will be too late as you would have consumed a greater quantity than what is required by your body and this impacts your digestion process and increases your weight substantially.

By eating slower, you tend to consume the right quantity of food that is required by your body and this enables prompt digestion and thereby flushes out the excess fat stored in your body.

  • Eat to satisfy your physical hunger

Most times you indulge in unhealthy practices like emotional eating when your mind is troubled with stress, worry, and depression. When you are anxious you engage in emotional eating and this increases your weight and prevents you from enjoying the food that you consume.

Hence it is important to practice mindful eating as this not only supports your weight loss goals but also enables you to enjoy the taste and flavor of every food you consume and helps you appreciate the food you eat without worrying about putting on a few extra pounds.

Whenever you eat, ensure you eat only to ease your physical hunger and not your emotional stimulation. Whenever you feel hungry, stop and ask yourself if you are feeling hungry or you are feeling thirsty as your body has the potential to mistake thirst for hunger and make you eat without actually feeling hunger.

So, next time you are feeling hungry even after you have had your meal, intake liquids like smoothies, juices, or even water instead of eating.

  • Include fiber & Protein

Ensure you consume foods rich in fiber and protein in your daily diet in addition to eating your favorite foods. This will give a sense of fullness to your body while making you nutritious also.

Since these foods make you full, even if you consume your favorite food like pizza, burger, and so on, your body will automatically limit the consumption of those fatty foods without you having to sacrifice them in the name of diet.

  • Use a smaller bowl or plate

You often tend to eat more when you eat directly from the package without transferring them onto a bowl or plate as you will be unaware of the actual quantity of food in the package and keep eating.

Similarly, ensure your plate is small to medium instead of a big plate as a big plate often makes you feel like you haven’t eaten enough despite you consuming the required quantity.

When you transfer your food to a bowl or a small plate it makes your brain think you have eaten sufficiently and have reached full capacity and this in turn helps you lose weight as your appetite is balanced.

  • Incorporate fun exercises

You need not be regularly hitting the gym or doing strength training every day to lose weight. You can lose weight by staying active. Engage in walking for at least 15-20 minutes every day and ensure your arms, biceps, and thighs get active movement every day.

This will burn calories at a faster pace and helps you lose excess weight while enabling you to enjoy your food simultaneously. When it comes to weight loss your sleep cycle is as important as the food you consume.

Start engaging in stress relief activities like meditation that will enable you to sleep better and peacefully, and supplements your body with the required energy and metabolism. Increased metabolism will digest your food faster and flushes out the excess fat rapidly.

When you follow mindful eating habits, you can easily lose weight while enjoying your favorite foods simultaneously.

Dr. Jun Ren is a dedicated and experienced registered dietitian and nutritionist who is committed to helping people achieve their health goals through personalized nutrition plans. With a passion for promoting healthy eating habits and preventing chronic diseases, Dr. Ren has been able to assist numerous clients in improving their overall quality of life.

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