When eating a meal, it is often a habit to put on your favourite TV show or read a chapter of your favourite book or scroll through Instagram. In a world of multi-tasking, mealtime has taken a back seat as a point of relaxation and family bonding time, especially for university students who either live with strangers or friends.
So how can you take a step back and eat mindfully? The first point you should understand is exactly what mindful eating is. Mindful eating is a way to completely centre yourself into your meal and avoid distraction. This has been shown to improve your diet, food habits and natural hunger queues.
In order to practice mindful eating, you need to bring your attention to eating completely. Notice how you chew your food, counting them makes this easier, and indulge in the flavours and sensation of the food. Slow down and tune into how your body feels whilst consuming this food. There are no foods you have to eat but rather just understand how you feel while eating.
Mindful eating will help you recognise whether you’re full quicker than the ‘wait for 20 minutes’ rule. Therefore, while mindfully eating, if you find yourself feeling full you may opt to finish your meal earlier than you would have when eating whilst distracted. However, if you are enjoying your meal and want to finish it then go ahead, mindful eating is not a diet or restrictive lifestyle choice, it is meant to ground you and connect you to your eating habits.
We hope that you take on some mindful eating habits and make your relationship with food a better one. Let us know what your favourite homecooked meals are in the comments!