Mindful Eating
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A few weeks ago we discussed the importance of meal prep, particularly when working from home. Without having a strict lunch or break, it’s easy to get caught up in work and miss your regular meal times. The problem is that when you’re really hungry, that’s when you reach for that bag of chips or leftover cake sitting in the fridge. This is where meal prep comes in! If you plan out what you’re going to eat when, you won’t get to that point of extreme hunger. You just have to do a little planning the night (or week) before.
Another bad habit that’s easy to fall into is something called distracted eating. Distracted eating is exactly how it sounds - eating while doing something else, such as watching TV, doing work, or scrolling through social media. In today’s world, this has quickly become the norm. It’s really easy to fall into the habit of eating breakfast in front of your computer as you’re checking emails, or snacking on some chips at your work station instead of having a proper lunch.
When you’re eating while distracted, you might be so caught up in your work that you don’t even realize you’ve eaten the entire bag of popcorn. Or you eat so fast in front of your TV show that you don’t register that you’re full until it’s too late.
On the other hand, mindful eating is actually paying attention to what you’re eating, how it tastes, and how your body feels when you eat it. When you practice mindful eating, you start to learn how your body reacts to certain foods, and the cues your body sends to your brain when you're hungry or full.
A few weeks ago we discussed the importance of focusing on one task at a time before moving on to the next. Treat your meals the same way! Dedicate time to focusing on what you’re nourishing your body with and only that.
What are we finding in the research?
A study on distracted eating was recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to look at the areas of the brain that are used for taste. They found that distracted eating actually affects the taste-processing areas in the brain! The researchers suggest that distracted eating could be leading to overeating, and that mindful eating could be one strategy to prevent and treat overweight and obesity.
Check out this link to read the full article!
