Mindful eating wellness challenge

Health has many facets and the one we are going to focus on for the entire month of March is eating mindfully.

What the heck is mindful eating?

1. Paying attention to each bite you take…no zoning out and shoveling food in your face, people!
2. Tasting, savoring and appreciating the nourishment your food is giving you. Food is for nourishment, after all. Try not to use it as a substitution for not taking care of other areas of your life. Dealing with your emotions with your fork is a major form of self-sabotage.
3. Slowing down and chewing completely.
4. Thinking about the food you are eating and why you are eating it rather than thinking of what you are going to post on Facebook later, the errands you need to run, or the conversation you had the other day. If you think of all these other things, you enter a state of mindlessness about your eating and by the time you snap out of it, you will have eaten more than you needed to and probably not chewed your food very well.

Make sense? Focus on your meal when you eat it and put your other thoughts on hold. Appreciate the food that is nourishing your body. If you are up for an extra challenge, make a food log so that you learn the patterns between what you eat and how you feel afterward in terms of fullness, energy level and ability to concentrate. It’s liberating.

This challenge officially launches on March 1st, but there is no reason to wait. This isn’t a punishment: it’s an opportunity!