How do we make healthy (and consistent) food choices for ourselves? Have you thought about what “eating mindfully” means? Holistic health counselor April Dawn Reigart shares her thoughts and tips on paying better, mindful attention to your eating habits and meal choices.
Do you remember what you had for dinner two nights ago? Or, for lunch yesterday? Was it thoughtful? Do you make consistent choices for yourself? If you took a look at the sum total of your food for a week, would it be more greenly abundant, or processed-food-in-a-box-or-bag heavy?
The thing is, it is very difficult to maintain good health if we are not conscious of our actions and our food intake. You know the grazing thing most people do…? It is very easy to lose sight of what we are taking in to our bodies. For example- my lunch was great, but what about the handfuls of popcorn I’ve been grabbing every time I walk in to my kitchen?
Learning to have awareness around our eating, and to be present, is simply part of a larger strategy to be more mindful in our lives…to live with more intention and to be more present. Bringing mindful awareness to our eating helps us to recognize the difference between emotional and physical hunger, as well as satiety. Most importantly, eating mindfully introduces a moment of choice in between having the urge to eat and actually eating.
Truthfully, we are bombarded daily by unhealthy influences and we can easily become dissociated from what our bodies truly need and want. I see blaring evidence of this every time I stop at a gas station and see people pouring out of the “convenience” stops with bags of chips, giant sodas and packages of candy… These products are not real food, our bodies don’t need or require them in any way, and furthermore, if we have access to three meals a day- then these convenience products are superfluous.
We don’t need extra food in between meals. It’s about four hours between each meal…think about that…you really can’t make it four hours without eating? And, if you cannot…I am here to tell you that that is a problem. Including if your response is- well, I have low blood sugar so I eat every few hours. If your body cannot maintain your blood sugar without feeding it sugar every few hours…that’s not right. Our bodies work most optimally when they know how to optimally burn fat as its main fuel source.
Grazing all day actually has the opposite effect of stabilizing blood sugar levels because what it does is causes your body to produce insulin all day. (Every time we eat, we have an insulin response- no matter what you eat.) Insulin burnout is how insulin resistance is created. Our bodies need time to fully digest and detoxify from a meal. Further, constantly relying on food fuel for calories not only creates a calorie
surplus, but it never gives the body time to go in to THERMOGENESIS. In other words- if you eat all day long…your body works all day just to burn what you’re eating, and it never has time to burn stored fat.
Considering most Americans spend most of their day sitting, most people are getting an extreme calorie surplus. This is hard on the body. It’s like running your car engine all day, everyday.
Getting the right balance of nutrition means you are satiated. Being satisfied in your life also means you are satiated. Junk food is mainly used to fill up a void. Processed foods are created by corporations (through much research) to stimulate our dopamine receptors (psst- it’s the excess processed salt and sugar) so that we want MORE!
The reason we want to be more mindful when it comes to our eating habits is simply so that we can enjoy better health and better quality of life. We get more out of life when we live more deliberately- when we feel more in control of our choices. And, the more aware we become of our food sources and eating habits- the better choices we will make.
The practice of being fully present is known as mindfulness, and with practice we gain insight. If we have insight into our bodies and eating habits, we can become more aware of our motivations, as well as our obstacles (and maybe a bit of self-sabotage) to vibrant being.
We can bring more mindful awareness to our eating habits and attitudes by asking ourselves:
– Why do I eat what I eat?
– How do I feel after I eat?
– What attitudes and barriers do I have to physical activity (real and imagined)?
– What physical, psychological, cultural and environmental barriers prevent me from eating well and staying active (and what supports)?
My quick tips:
Try to stick to 3 conscious meals a day. Eat deliberately and with intention, not as a passive grazer. Drink water and herbal teas in between meals. Eat whole, nutrient dense foods- because you feel more full when you’re nourished…empty calories (i.e. sugar) leave you hungry for more. Have more reverence for the food you are eating- where it came from, how it was grown and prepared, what it took to reach your plate.
Respect that food is life. Remember that when you eat well all the time- you don’t have to worry about occasionally indulging in a slice of cake or a glass of wine! Think about the sum total… You don’t have to worry about dogmatically following a paleo lifestyle or a vegan lifestyle, etc…
What matters is that your food is fresh, whole and with intention. (Also, organic is kinda important…)
Find what works for you.
Let’s end with my favorite anecdote. If you decided to own a race horse and race it to win, and you spent all this money to buy the horse, take care of the horse, and you want to win races…what will you feed your
horse? Garbage? Burgers and fries from McDonald’s? Or will you feed the horse the best food there is to keep a healthy and optimally functioning horse? Right…
So, why would you treat your own body in any lesser way?
April Reigart is an Institute for Integrative Nutrition Certified Holistic Health Coach, and also certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. She holds a Master’s Degree from Tyler School of Art, and lives in Philadelphia with her husband and young son. She is available for one-on-one coaching and health strategizing, and offers free initial health consultations. Find her through her website, www.aprildawnreigart.com, on Facebook or follow her on Instagram.