START MINDFUL EATING | Mindful eating tips & mindful eating exercises to listen to your body

Transcript

[Music] you've probably heard of mindful eating before I mean it's a total buzzword right now but what does it really mean well today I'm breaking it all down for you in this video you will find out exactly what mindful eating is why it's important and you're going to come away with 10 different mindful eating exercises that you can start implementing today I am so passionate about mindful eating because it was a total game changer for me it allowed me to say I never have to dye it again and I never have to follow food rules which is pretty fabulous if you ask me and you can totally do it too give this video a thumbs up if you are ready to make that your reality - and let's dive on in okay so what the heck is mindful eating mindful eating is a style of eating that allows you to focus on awareness and it's the actual experience of the food that you're eating it's taking it all in it's observing what's happening it's observing the taste and it's doing so without judgment that's key okay so that's the gist of what mindful eating is it's actually a really really simple thing it's so powerful so now why is mindful eating important why is this awareness actually beneficial for us so mindful eating leads to a couple things it leads to less overeating less under eating it allows us to actually listen to our body so that it gets the amount of food that makes it feel its best and the amount of food that it needs it allows you to prevent from swinging from those ends of the hunger scale being so so hungry to feeling so so stuffed I have another video all in the hunger scale if you're thinking what the heck is a hunger scale Colleen I'll link to it up there be sure to take a look at it it walks you through really how to use it it's one of my fave tools mindful eating also honestly leads us to having greater pleasure actually being able to enjoy our foods more and it's actually going to lead to less guilt yes I said it if you eat a cupcake mindfully you're probably going to have less guilt because you're actually enjoying the experience you are aware of what you're doing versus when we have those diet culture thoughts that float around in our head and we're not actually tasting that cupcake it brings us joy that's okay you'll be able to experience that fully padded line mindful eating really helps you listen to your body so that you feel better you're truly experiencing that taste satisfaction and feeling your hunger and fullness like I said when I learned how to eat mindfully it was a game-changer for me and today I want to share with you my top 10 favorite mindful eating exercises they're so simple so as I run through them if one of them stands out to you that you're like I want to try that let me know in the comments which one that is I'm excited to see which one sounds the best to you okay buckle up and let's do it number one before you eat your meal observance take in the look the smell the feel the texture of it actually observant I mean how many times do we sit down to a meal and we just start eating without looking at the food first right such a small thing but it's so so impactful you deserve to know what you're eating okay number two is to note where you're eating so are you eating in a really busy cafeteria there might be a lot of distraction are you eating with a friend at a restaurant and the atmosphere is just amazed and super relaxing noting that can help you hone in to the overall experience and it might also help you notice your emotions which we'll get into in a minute but just take in the whole scenery and the vibes that it's giving off because that does play a role in our satisfaction and our enjoyment okay so number three use the hunger scale now again like I said I have a whole video on this and I will link to a free ebook that I have made for you guys in the description and you can snag a copy of it there too but basically you want to use this at three times during a meal so use the hunger scale before to say okay how hungry am I when I'm starting this meal use it in the middle so you can kind of gauge okay my focus has changed and then use it again at the end to see how you were feeling and then make adjustments I call this exercise mid-meal check-ins really simple name but see did you start the meal when you were ravenous then maybe you need to add a snack before because when we start the meal when were a bonus we're likely to swing to that other side of the scale and be so full at the end because when we start there it's really hard to listen to our fullness then check to see how you are feeling at the end and use that as your guide for the next meal what feels best to you so number 4 make a point to be able to describe the meal to someone after you've eaten it now whether you actually do this or not just kind of think about it as you're eating your meal so this can be a simple question that you ask yourself how would I describe this is it salty is it sweet is it warm is it cold think about all those descriptors as if you were going to have to tell someone about it that is going to allow you to hone in to it even more understand your satisfaction understand your fullness just by doing that and like I said go ahead and describe it to someone else especially if it was something real amazing or just kind of use that as your guide I'm gonna pretend I was gonna have to explain this to someone after number 5 is to take note of your emotions how are you feeling as you're eating are you stressed are you anxious are you happy and how might that impact your eating okay real life example here I just had lunch and for that I it's been a day you guys I'm just gonna be totally honest with you I was really stressed at lunch and I was moving so fast I made a wrap I had a little bit of a like I made a salmon salad in it it was delicious and I noticed that as I was making it as I started eating it I was just like moving so fast because I was stressed I was anxious and I took note of those emotions that I was feeling and I realized it was preventing me from enjoying my food and actually feeling the full feeling the satisfaction I should be feeling so I took note of those emotions and I said okay what can I do to address the stress take a couple seconds take a couple deep breaths I have a whole video on how I manage anxiety naturally and I kind of go into my history with anxiety I'll link to that up there so you can watch that one too I won't get too much into that right now but my husband even said do you want to just take a couple minutes and go outside and get in the Sun what can you do to handle that emotion that's going to allow you to enjoy your food and eat more mindfully okay number six does the food even taste as good as you thought this is a really really big one especially with the girlfriends in my food freedom membership the society a lot of times we romanticize these foods it just happened to someone with Ben and Jerry's so they had a carton of Ben and Jerry's and in their mind they're like this is gonna be freaking amazing it's gonna be delicious and when they got it and they actually allowed themselves to just observe without judgment what was happening she was like I don't really love this flavor yeah sometimes it can be a letdown but actually allowing yourself to say okay does this food taste as good as I'm expecting or am i building it up in my head or maybe it's the reverse maybe you're kind of expecting it to be kind of lame tasting it ends up being amazing take note of that number seven kind of goes along those same lines so what does the first bite taste like compared to the third bite to the fourth Y to the fifth bite fun fact our taste buds are actually meant to make food taste amazing those first couple bites because when we start a meal we need energy but that amazingness kind of tones down throughout the meal because that's kind of a fullness cue of saying okay I'm starting to get the energy that I need I don't need to drive her to eat as much food so it kind of dials back down that actual taste of it so that's a really interesting one you could do it let's just go with ice cream because we're talking about that ask yourself how does the first bite of ice cream taste compared to the third the fourth of a fifth bite do you see that kind of progression from where the first bite is like oh my gosh it's amazing and then it kind of tapers off yeah it's soap Rob's gonna taste really good but does that kind of shock and awe if you will wear off throughout it that's the full miscue number eight is to journal about how the foods make you feel you guys know me at all you know I am all about journaling that's because it's so helpful when you journal you make amazing connections because you're taking those thoughts that just swirl around your head and you're actually putting them to paper and observing them without judgment again and just saying okay what am I thinking right now and what is true and what is false so how did those foods make you feel let's take what's keep going with ice cream cuz we're just on a roll with it so say you have ice cream then after especially if you're feeling guilt or any of that go to a journal and write that out how are you physically feeling versus those diet culture thoughts separate those two because they are not the same and this is where you can really layer some of that gentle nutrition in and say okay what types of foods do I feel best eating all day if I had fruity pebbles random food but let's go with it every single day all day would I feel great you know how would my body feel how would my brain feel versus maybe you throw some protein in there you throw some whole grains in there you throw some fiber in there how does that feel versus maybe having ice cream or cupcakes all day long that is where you make those connections and using a journal can really help with that it just allows you to say what really makes me feel good and this isn't me saying what makes you feel like you're being good in terms of diet culture standards it's actually what makes me feel my best some days you might say you know what but I have a smoothie in the morning I feel like I can take on the world have more smoothies but it takes that connection to make that actually happen number nine is to note if there is anything about the meal or snack that you just had that would make it even better for next time so maybe you had a salad and he wished there was some crunch to it or you had a dinner and maybe you didn't have any carbs with it and he found yourself so hungry after maybe adding some carbs in there would be good what is it about the that you would change for next time that's a really great piece of information and it just gets you thinking about that experience and number 10 I say this phrase so much view everything as a learning experience even if you eat past foulness even if maybe you don't get enough food or maybe you make a meal and it totally sucks don't beat yourself up maybe it was eating way too fast and just couldn't recognize my fullness that's the key to slow down maybe you walk away from a table and you're like I'm still hungry what could you have added to that meal to make you feel more satisfied or maybe like I said that meal sucked and you're like I don't like those spices or I don't like the way that I cooked that okay how can you change it for next time everything's a learning experience don't beat yourself up just learn okay there you have it 10 super easy mindful eating exercises to pick from and you can literally start today I love how discrete these are because no one has to know that you're doing them it's just like a little nugget of wisdom in your back pocket that you can pull out at any time it's not like you're making a big scene or anything it's just something for you let me know in the comments which of these mindful eating exercises that you're going to try if you just have to pick one and start it does not have to be complicated personally I'm a huge fan of those mid meal check-ins and using the hunger scale or asking yourself okay what does the food actually tastes like and then as good as I thought and if you guys liked this video be sure to give it a thumbs up and hit to this channel if you want more info on intuitive eating and mindful eating exercises I've got loads of mindful eating tips for you new videos are uploaded every single Sunday 5 p.m. Eastern Time so I will see you then see you later you [Music]