Mindful Eating

Often people think that in terms of your diet, it’s about what you eat; macronutrient ratios, sugar content, or how many vegetables you are consuming. It’s incredibly easy to forget this really important factor of your diet; HOW you eat. This comes down to a few simple rules of mindful eating hygiene that get thrown by the wayside even though they are just as important as your meal itself.

Bringing your mind to your meal

As elementary as this sounds, this task is simply being mindful of what you are doing: eating. As you sit down to your meal it’s important to let your body know it’s time to eat, thereby beginning the digestion process. This can be as simple as feeling gratitude for your food or even taking three deep breaths before you begin eating. Allow your mind and body to connect before you start consuming your meal. I will be the first to say that this is a tough one to accomplish all of the time. Anyone with a busy schedule understands that they can save time by eating and working or can quickly get back to their task as soon as they shovel food into their bodies. This speed associated with our food hinders our digestion, causes our bodies stress and disconnects us from our food. Lastly, if we are still in a ‘fight or flight’ mode from the speed in which we go through our day, than it’s even more important for our digestion to create the space in which you’ll switch to ‘rest and digest’.

Chewing your food

This has been said over and over but I am here to say it again! Give yourself the space and time it takes to eat a meal. If you can’t take the time to chew your food then you need to eat soup and smoothies. Your body has to do so much extra work to break down the huge chunks of food that you couldn’t take the time to chew. If you already suffer from some sort of compromised digestion (which many of us do) then that food will just pass right through you, undigested, and not utilized, and then what is the point of eating at all?

Scheduling time to eat

This comes back to being too busy to sit down for three meals a day. What a travesty! If you are too busy to eat then you need to sit back and consider your priorities in life; your health or your tasks. There should always be time in your day to sit down to three meals. Consider this- let’s say you are planning to have a very busy week. On Sunday all you would need to do is prep and cook all your food for the week. You could even stash it in glass take away containers to grab each day. This takes approximately 2-3 hours. Then during the week, even if you sat down for a minimum of 20 minutes per meal that’s only 1 hour each day that you would need to schedule in for eating. Everyone has an hour every day to eat and nourish his or her body.

Being a proponent of healthy eating is more than just what you put into your body. It’s about giving yourself the space and time that it takes to nourish your body, putting yourself in a positive mindset and bringing yourself into the here and now.

This post is from our Holistic Nutritionist, Madison Isenor.

She is currently taking new clients for 1-to-1 consultations where she will look at and discuss your current nutritional intake and form a plan to let you eat healthier while fitting your current lifestyle.

Eating clean and healthy should not be stressful and Madison can can help alleviate the pressure of starting your healthy future while showing you how to make it easy and fun.

Madison achieved her diploma with honors in holistic nutrition at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in Calgary, Alberta. She also went on to complete her 200HR yoga teacher training in Brazil in 2013.