Concerning food, we often have doubts, guilt and the pleasure of sitting down to eat is too often spoiled by the fear of eating poorly. How to make peace with food? How to treat yourself the right way? How much should we eat? There are so many works, books, articles on how to eat well but how to sort through it all. We're covering the basics here!
Eat mindfully or eat in peace
Eating mindfully, also called Mindful Eating in English, consists of listening to your sensations and having confidence in your body. And more concretely? Eating mindfully is:
- Waiting until you are hungry to eat and not eating because it is time to eat
- Eat slowly or swallow a well-stocked plate in more than 10 minutes
- Remember every food you eat
- Feel full
- Stop eating before your stomach swells.
Simple, right? And yet today we are no longer able to listen to our body, our sensations. We tend to eat our feelings too much. Without forgetting that in big cities like Paris, good addresses and home deliveries are all the rage, it's enough to cry HELP! Result ? Hello excesses! It is important to rediscover an instinctive relationship with food.
Take the test and reconnect with your feelings
We have all already passed by a pastry shop with more than succulent desserts. The urge to indulge rises and you salivate just thinking about the pleasure you will feel when biting into one of these succulent desserts.
In this specific case, we are directly linked to desire. It was not planned and the simple fact of passing in front of the pastry triggered an impulse, a desire to eat. If you had not passed this pastry, the desire would not have arisen. Your body therefore does not particularly need this treat. Temptation takes over. Do the exercise and wait a few hours before succumbing or compulsive buying.
But sometimes we experience a situation that has nothing to do with food. You just think about it. Would a good dessert now make you happy? Try to let go of this idea and do something else. If this desire for a particular dessert, such as a good chocolate éclair, returns in two or three hours, even perhaps the next day, then we will be in need. Your body is crying out for this dessert. Whether on a physical level or on an emotional level, this chocolate éclair will nourish your being.
Moment of reflection! Don't forget the notion of pleasure aroused not by need but by desire. Pleasure also helps you feel good (when it is measured of course).
Take back the pleasure of eating simply
If you listen to your needs and stop eating when you are no longer hungry your weight will automatically be regulated.
For this, here are some tips:
- Wait until you are hungry to eat
- Give up diets and above all don't start the day planning to restrict yourself
- Drink a glass of water before a meal, as thirst can be interpreted as hunger
- Have lunch in peace at the table, eliminating TV, computer, telephone.
- Take the time to slowly enjoy your meal, take a break and put down your cutlery after eating half of your plate.
- Reconnect with foods, textures, smells, tastes, so many things that will make you taste this food and appreciate it for its true value
- Take the time to chew
- Want to snack? Whether it's fruit or fries, force yourself to sit down and eat slowly.
- Be kind to yourself and don't blame yourself for your excesses. Just wait until you're hungry for the next meal.
- Do yourself some good other than eating through a yoga session, meditation or reading a good book.
Eating mindfully ultimately means undertaking a global approach to achieve a new balance in life.
