Food Mood
Break out the shorts and swimsuits- summer is here! (I know it's not official yet but I call June 1st the beginning of summer.)
Tinier clothes mean dieting and new workout regimes for a lot of us. But before you jump on board the latest fad diet, consider a simple habit that works wonders for many people. So what is this little known "magical" health habit?
Wait for it... pay attention to the food you eat.
No, not like counting calories. So few of us actually pay close attention to the mood that the food we eat creates in us. Maybe that's because we're eating a particular food we feel guilty about eating. Or maybe it's because we think we're eating just too much food in general. But for whatever reason, we often turn our brains off when we eat - which not only prevents us from feeling bad about what we're eating, but it also prevents us from fully enjoying our food as well.
Try this for a week: Every time you eat, try to soak up every detail of the food you're putting into your body. Think about how it tastes and smells, the texture, the memories it brings back. Then pay attention to how that food makes you feel, both physically and emotionally. Check in with yourself immediately after you eat the food, five minutes later, and again afer a couple hours. Think about your emotional state, energy level, and hunger level.
When you fearlessly analyze all the the effects that your food has on you, you may find that you don't enjoy your "favorite" guilt-pleasure foods as much as you thought you did. This simple habit of eating "mindfully" can help you regulate your own diet to a more healthy one, because you'll tend to choose foods that make you feel good, in the big picture.
-Brigitte
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Comments
romeo Wednesday, June 02, 2010
it's not so much what you eat but how.....
presentation, aroma, color, form, flavor, etc. all serve to delight the senses
some approach it like an immaculate communion ~others like a honeymoon in paradise
savor every morsel like it was the first and last.
love what you eat and it will love you back -you only have to really mean it with or without lip service.
dig in. :)
Aaron Thursday, June 03, 2010
I think this is related, at least a little...
I live right next door to many of my favorite restaurants, including my absolute favorite ice cream store in the world (IN THE WORLD). After moving in, I realized a few things:
1) Living so close, I was going to gain a bunch of weight if I didn't set some guidelines.
2) These places I loved so much were in danger of becoming routine or ordinary, losing that "something special" that made me appreciate them so much in the first place.
So, I made a rule for myself: I only get to go to these restaurants if I have company with me (ie - never alone). Over the past three years, it's worked great, and when I go to any of these places, I can still really appreciate why I love them so much.