5 Mindful Eating Exercises to Transform Your Relationship With Food

It’s easy to gain a negative relationship with food. Growing up, everyone is exposed to unhealthy relationships with food, so it’s normal that many people latch onto bad eating behaviors. When trying to lose weight or adhere to a healthier diet and lifestyle, it’s essential to understand your current relationship with food. You can try mindful eating exercises to help you understand why you’re eating the things you are and allow yourself to make healthier choices in the future.

Why Practice Mindful Eating Exercises?

Everyone has something they wish they could omit from their diet. Whether they snack too much on junk food or don’t allow themselves to eat anything other than whole foods, many people will find themselves unhappy when they put limitations on what they eat. Mindful eating encourages you to eat what you want — no matter what your craving is — and allows you to enjoy food to its fullest while understanding why you make the choices that you do.

Every food is all right in moderation. When you start restricting yourself and limiting your diet, you should worry about your eating habits, as it can restrict your brain function and damage your body in other ways. Mindful eating exercises can help you understand your body best. You’ll learn more about your hunger cues and when you need to eat versus when you’re feeling emotional and don’t have a better outlet for your feelings. Mindful eating can help you understand your mental state and how to correct your relationship with food.

5 Safe Mindful Eating Exercises to Try Out

Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just staying mindful in every moment, mindful eating exercises can help you become more aware of the food you’re eating. These methods are easy, safe ways to pay attention to your body and the food that you put into it. Following these exercises will help you learn how to make the most out of your mealtimes.

1. Don’t Multitask While Eating

Eating with distractions can harm you in several ways. Depending on the person, it may cause overeating — or you could wind up not eating enough because you’re working on something else. Either way, multitasking while you’re eating can give you several drawbacks and none of the benefits. 

2. Pay Attention to Your Food

One of the best ways to get the most out of your meal experience is to experience it fully. Pay attention to the way your food tastes before chewing and swallowing it. Appreciate how it smells. If you didn’t make the food yourself, try to identify the spices and ingredients via smell or taste alone. When you cook your food, spend time preparing it on the plate so you can take in a visual aspect as well.

3. Break Bad Habits

Once you identify your bad habits with food, it’s easier to attack and eliminate them. One such bad practice is clearing your plate. When you were a child, you may have been told that you can’t get up from the table until you finish eating everything on your plate. Now that you’re older, you don’t need to finish everything as long as you’ve had enough to eat and get enough nutrients from your food.

Consider setting some of your food aside as leftovers that you can finish for another meal. Many people look down on leftovers, but they’re just opportunities to continue eating the food you love. Try not to let leftovers sit in your fridge — eat them when you can so you can experience the deliciousness of the meal all over again.

4. Chew Your Food Well

Chewing your food is important. You’d be immediately swallowing every bite you take if it weren’t. Since it takes over 20 minutes for your body to understand that you’re full, taking time between your bites is essential to keep yourself from overeating and help you appreciate the food more. Chewing your food well can give you enough time to enjoy its taste and help your body with the digestive process.

5. Take Inventory of Your Feelings

Emotional eating can tend to happen when you’re feeling immensely happy or sad, especially during specific events that change the course of your life. One of the easiest ways to stop emotional eating is to ask yourself how you feel before grabbing some food. If you’re feeling hungry, then you need to eat. However, if you’re feeling anything else — bored, upset, angry and so on — you should address those feelings before loading up on food that may not be good for you.

Try Mindful Eating Exercises to Enjoy Your Meal Fully

Mindful eating exercises aren’t meant to limit what you can eat, nor are they a requirement you must follow to deserve a meal. Staying aware of the food you’re eating can lead you to make better choices and eat the food you want to eat without feeling limited. Remember, food is fuel for your body, but it’s meant to be enjoyed to its fullest, too. Mindful eating can help you find joy in every meal, keeping you grateful for what your body can do and how you take care of each other.