Mindful Eating Tips for the New Year

By Elisha Hanlon MS, RD, LDN

With the new year upon us, many people will look for strategies to better their overall health.  As a result, you may notice more ads on the television or in social media for new diets, cleanses, or exercise routines.  Many of these may seem like the perfect opportunity to get a jump start on your goals, however they tend to be a challenge to commit to long term.

The practice of mindful eating has become more popular among individuals striving to better their health and wellness goals.  This concept helps improve eating behaviors, increases self- awareness, and most importantly helps to create a healthy relationship with food. Through the adoption of this process into our daily lives, we are able to focus more on the important things; not allowing the constant thoughts of food take control.

The following tips can be used daily to implement a mindful eating practice into your life and enable the awareness of other factors (such as emotions) that may be influencing you’re eating decisions.

1. Plan: Come up with a list of foods items and meals that you and your family enjoy. When you feel like you can eat the foods you love, you lose the negative feelings that come from deprivation.

   TIP: Creating a grocery list will give you a road map to navigate the grocery store so you don’t buy things that might be wasted or not enjoyed. Having a plan will keep meal planning on track, which takes some stress off of long busy work days!

2. Listen to your Hunger Cues: take a minute to assess how your body feels before sitting down to a meal or grabbing a snack.

   TIP: Ask yourself this question: Am I overly hungry or eating out of boredom or stress?

3. Quantity Check: start with a portion of food that feel comfortable; don’t over flow your plate. This will give you time to eat and check in with your body to see where your hunger really is.

4. Take a Moment:  recognize the appearance of the food, the aroma, the sensation in your mouth, and the overall taste.  Appreciate the food between each bite instead of rushing to finish. 

5. Slow Down:  breaks between bites will allow yourself to enjoy the food you are eating and engage your senses.

Bottom Line: Mindful Eating is a practice and can take some time, patience and determination. Adopting some of these ideas into a daily routine can help encourage more self-awareness allowing you to achieve your healthiest self!

For more information on this practice, reach out to one of our dietitians who would love to assist you on your reaching your health goals!