All About Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is a must-watch for anyone who wants to improve their diet, lose or gain weight. We like to push ourselves with very strict rules even under the name of “healthy eating”, Mindful eating can teach you how wrong it is.
What is Mindful Eating?
Mindful eating is the philosophy of Mindfulness. It is actually a part of eating that focuses on the psychological side of it, so it would be much more accurate to call it a way of thinking rather than a trend. We can translate it into Turkish as eating awareness, mindful eating. This way of thinking aims to help us have control over our eating habits, to enjoy food by using all the senses without judging or comparing. do you remember the moment The people I ask this question usually realize that they have never done it before, instead of remembering the last moment. The media and society are creating a full to-do list and urging people to stick to it. We are constantly trying to reach the satisfaction of a busy and productive life. Meanwhile, we forget ourselves. Constantly thinking minds, intense emotions, non-stop head voices, trying to do many things at once, etc. This situation naturally finds its place in our eating behaviors.
We usually watch TV series or movies while eating, or we think: “What will I do after dinner? Let's see what work is done today? How much work do I have left? It seems like it would be better if I did this or that, or should I do it that way?" Our minds are full, we do not understand anything from what we eat while we eat, and we even eat fast to catch up with our other work. All this has caused us to create triggers that make us feel the need to eat even though we are not hungry.
I will explain this concept in more detail later in the article.
What are Mindful Eating Principles?
The Minful eating mindset is simply based on a few principles. Even trying to incorporate these principles into our lives by putting them into practice will cause positive changes in our eating behaviors.
Reduce Your Eating Speed� Product
The time required for the satiety signal to be registered in the brain is 20 minutes. In other words, 20 minutes after you start eating, signals start to go to the brain. At this point, the first 20 minutes while eating is very important. You can start eating with soup or salad first so that the act of eating takes longer and the signals of fullness begin to reach the brain at this time.
But simply eat slowly and chew well, and prolong the eating time is the key point here. At this point, there may be difficulties at first: maybe using smaller spoons, leaving the spoon on the table between bites, maybe drinking a few sips of water between bites would be a good start. In this way, you both ensure that what you eat is digested more easily, and you get less food in the same time period. The amount of uncontrolled calories you take in is reduced.
Pay Attention to Your Portion Sizes
Researchers have discovered in several studies that people use environmental influences outside of themselves, such as the amount of food left on the plate, to set the satiety limit. In other words, individuals do not feel full before the plate is finished (1). Therefore, reducing portion sizes has also appeared in these practices. Therefore, you can use smaller plates. Or you can fill your eyes with smaller portion sizes by trying to fit several meal options on the same plate.
Don't be distracted while eating
Because we see eating as a waste of time or not enough time for other things, she Because of trying to squeeze other things we love into the day, we watch TV series-movies and read books while we eat. Maybe he continues to work, at least we make a plan in our minds about what we will do after dinner. Or thinking about what happened that day, “I wish I had said that too.” We drift from place to place with thoughts such as "why did this happen", but we never focus on food. Watching TV series and movies while eating this meal becomes a whole in time, and every time we open TV series and movies, we automatically start to take something to eat with us. That's exactly the triggers I mentioned at the beginning of the article.
We engage in so many distractions while eating that we can experience taste sensations that can lead to overeating. We are also unaware of our signals, such as heat and satiety. After the movie is over, we understand what we ate and how much we ate. At this point, some individuals can punish themselves and turn to compensatory behaviors: they do sports or starve themselves.
One of the important principles of the mindful eating philosophy includes being aware of this act of eating. So stay in the moment. It's exactly what it calls out to you: “Leave the TV, the computer, or the book. Stop thinking. Be free and enjoy the food you eat, satisfy your hunger.”
Listen to Your Body
Mindful eating is the idea that one should eat when hungry and stop eating when they feel full. This principle, which is more based on hunger-satiety awareness; It allows you to become aware of moments such as eating due to emotions, stress or feeling the need to eat due to triggers.
There are some questions you need to ask yourself before you start eating: “Am I hungry right now? Where do I feel hunger? What do I really desire?” “Do I feel the need to eat because of stress, sadness, happiness, or because of physical hunger?” You should raise your awareness by asking yourself these questions.
Enjoy Your Food
The last principle directs you to enjoy food using all the senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch. You should eat the food you eat by evaluating all these aspects step by step and realize how it makes you feel.
When you try to incorporate all these principles into your life, you can also improve the relationship between you and food. Once you grasp the state of awareness, it becomes natural and becomes a routine of your life. For this reason, mindful eating is a very valuable way of thinking in the field of nutrition, apart from meditation practice.
Who Is Mindful Eating Not Suitable For?
There is no specific audience that we can specify directly, but studies, reward-punishment He says that when mindful eating training is given to individuals who are more sensitive to pleasure, the opposite of what is desired to be achieved can be achieved. These people are more likely to overeat delicious foods without considering their hunger-fullness.
Does Mind Eating Provide Weight Loss?
Our main factor in weight loss is clear and hasn't changed for years: consuming fewer calories than you burn. How little this will be is determined entirely individually, depending on the person.
Mindful eating, on the other hand, promises to correct already disrupted eating habits and permanent life change. It does this by making you aware of your nutritional feelings and habits without judgment. This awareness allows you to control your reactions and gain the ability to adapt when necessary. You gain more self-compassion, self-control, willpower, and emotional regulation. Thus, you can improve your eating habits. With increased awareness, the consumption of nonessential foods decreases, and it becomes easier to make healthier food choices. When you take fewer calories with improved eating habits, you also lose weight.
Mintful eating from one point of view; it already teaches you about cellular hunger. It recognizes your cellular hunger and allows you to feed accordingly. In other words, with mindful eating, you can realize whether you are eating because of physical hunger or emotional hunger or triggers, and you feel the need to eat (2). Thus, you can choose healthier foods and reduce your energy intake. So mindful eating teaches you to control your appetite.
Studies have also been shown to aid weight loss (3, 4). It can also help you maintain the weight you lose in the long run (5). However, it should not be ignored that most studies add mindful eating practices in addition to diet. Compared to a simple diet or just mindful eating training, the combination of both is more effective in weight loss and maintenance.
Can Mindful Eating Treat Eating Disorders?
The severity of eating attacks and especially in individuals experiencing binge eating There are strong studies showing that it reduces the frequency of In a 6-week study, after mindful eating meditations, binge eating episodes decreased from 4 to 1-2 per week in obese women, and the severity of eating episodes was also found. ti was also reduced (6).
It has been shown to be effective in correcting not only binge eating but also unhealthy eating behaviors such as emotional eating. Emotional eating is known as a behavior that focuses on eating to suppress negative feelings and thoughts. With Mindful eating practices, you can take the first step to stop it by realizing why you feel the need to eat. It also helps to reduce stress for a training consisting of these meditation practices.
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