Discover the habits of a Mindful Eater

Mindful eating is about slowing everything down.  Making time and prioritising about what and how we eat into our busy lives. It can be a  struggle to get dinner on the table when you get home at 7pm.  But it is possible when you prioritise and plan allowing you time to anticipate, sit, enjoy, chew and relax during a meal.

What happens with MindLESS Eating

•  Mindless eating causes food to be swallowed that hasn't been chewed well enough, into a stomach that hasn't been prepped for digesting.,  
• There is insufficient digestive juices and enzymes to breakdown and digest food, therefore food stays longer in the stomach, fermenting, and nutrients are unable to be absorbed.   

• Digestion becomes inefficient resulting in stomach upsets, diarrhoea, gas, bloating or constipation.  When this has been going on for awhile, we begin to lack vital nutrients that our cells need to keep us functioning.  We may experience fatigue, food allergies, autoimmune issues etc

The Benefits of Mindful Eating
With mindful eating, we begin to enjoy the anticipation of  food, appreciate the aroma’s, sight and feel of the food.   Chewing your food well, and enjoying every mouthful allows the food to be broken down even further at every stage of digestion until it reaches the size needed to cross the intestinal wall, into the bloodstream and then into the cell.  

• Proteins, the basis of every cell in our body, are needed for growth and repair, they are the backbone of our hormones and enzymes (our neurotransmitters), and make up our  immune function.  Proteins are usually the hardest to digest, and having adequate digestive juices and digestive hormones are needed to break these proteins down.   
• Carbohydrates  provide our bodies with the fuel that we need to get over our afternoon slump.
  
• Fats keep our hormones in check, provide stability for our cell membrane as well as keep us full after meals.  

When we eat not really thinking about the food we eat, our body is not ready to digest that food properly.  So, therefore our body has to work twice as hard to extract the nutrients that we need to stay well.

Have a Menu Plan

• Having a menu plan for the week can take the stress out of what's for dinner.   Having 4 in rotation is ideal and prevents the boredom often associated with cooking at home.
• Make sure that you have accounted for any activities that you have on during the week, so that you can either cook for two meals one night, or batch cook on the Sunday ready for the week.

Habits of a Mindful Person

• Set the table,
  
• Turn the TV off,
  
• Make sure you have good lighting and the room is comfortable.  
  
• Delegate jobs if need be.  5 minutes before dinner is ready call everyone to come up for dinner wash their hands clean their face etc.
• Place all mobile phones and devices away from the table to prevent distractions.
• When everyone is seated, food in front of them, take a deep breath and then another.  
  
• Look at your food, appreciate the effort that you and everyone has gone to, to put dinner on the table.  Where the food is from, how it was sourced.  
  
• Appreciate the colours and smell of the food.  
  
• Chew your food well.  Experience the texture and taste of food. Place your knife and fork down in between mouthfuls.
• Only leave the table when everyone has finished
• Relax and enjoy the moment
  

When the meal is finished, practice mindfulness cleaning up.  Get everyone to pitch in and enjoy the teamwork, conversation and fun.  Delegate jobs and the cleaning up will be done in no time.  A perfect end to a perfect meal.

This is the practice of Mindful Eating.