If you’ve done some detoxing this year and followed up by eating a healthy wholefood diet and want to stay in top shape this holiday season it would be a good idea to carefully plan and prepare your meals.
I think you will agree that this is the time of the year when it is easy to over-indulge in rich, heavy and unhealthy meals so I want to give you a few simple tips for remaining mindful of your eating habits to help you stay healthy, alert and feeling good.
Tip 1 – Listen To Your Body
Your body has the ability to tell you everything that you need to know to understand how it is feeling at any given time. What this means is that you can actually respond to the requests and information that it gives you to figure out what it needs and what it doesn’t need.
It may take some practice but by carefully listening to your body and paying close attention to it, you can ensure that it gets the right kind of nutrition to keep you in top shape and feeling well.
Listen to your body when it tells you that it needs food, and when you hear it calling, don’t just reach for the nearest unhealthy snack, instead go and prepare yourself something nutritious. Better still, have healthy snacks or foods that you can quickly make a meal from on hand for occasions like this. Doing this will ensure that your energy levels stay high.
At the same time, listen to your body when it tells you that it is full. At the very moment when you know your body has had enough to eat, stop eating and don’t over-indulge. If you continue to eat even when your stomach is full, you will become bloated, lethargic and your body will struggle to cope with all the extra food. Being mindful of your body will make sure that your body works for you instead of against you.
Related reading: How To Eat Healthy Over The Party Season
Tip 2 – Mindful Eating
Take your time to eat mindfully at every meal that you eat. By actually paying attention to the food that you eat while you are eating it actually allows you to understand what your body needs and what it doesn’t.
At the same time, eating slowly will allow your body to function at its very best when it comes to digesting and absorbing the food. You will also taste the food to a higher degree and your brain will release more serotonin because of this, which is the brain chemical that makes you feel good from the food you eat.
After about twenty minutes from when you begin to eat, your brain should naturally release a chemical that tells your body to stop eating. Eating slowly and mindfully will actually mean that you feel full at the right time, instead of rushing the job, making your body need to consume more food before the brain has chance to process how full or empty it is.
Tip 3 – Smaller Is Better
Give yourself smaller portions of food and take your time to eat mindfully. Remember, if you are still hungry after eating the smaller meal, you can always go back and get a second serving, but if you pile the food up right from the start, you will be more tempted to eat the whole lot even if you already feel full, simply because it is sitting right in front of you.
At the same time, if you have the strength of mind to stop eating at the exact moment that you feel full you can move the plate away out of sight and out of mind. If you have a tendency to pick at it later it’s best to put it in the garbage or in the food-scrap bin. This will ensure that you don’t keep picking at the food because it is within easy reach.
Tip 4 – Five Small Meals Instead Three Big Meals
More and more people are beginning to experience the benefits of eating five small main meals throughout the day as opposed to three large ones.
Eating smaller meals allows your body to digest and absorb food more effectively and more efficiently. It can do this because it is not overloaded with massive quantities of food all at once.
Related reading: 5 Digestive System Detox Tips For The Festive Season
Eating large meals places more stress on the internal organs and increases the chance of disease.
Eating this way his is also one of the best ways to ensure that you remain energized and alert after eating, because your body doesn’t need to spend as much energy on processing the food.
Related reading: Warming Winter Detox Diet Recipes
Tip 5 – Effective Planning To Avoid Binge Eating
Plan your diet this holiday season. Figure out a healthy and balanced approach to your diet so that you can help your body to maximize its energy levels and receive all the nutritional support that it needs.
Related reading: Slow Cooker Detox Food Recipes
It helps you to stay on your healthy diet plan at this busy time if you plan your meals a week ahead. This will prevent you eating all the wrong things because you haven’t got the time or ingredients on hand to prepare a healthy snack or meal.
Listening to your body, eating smaller meals and being mindful of the food you are eating, taking your time to experience the food rather than just quickly shoveling it all in, and carefully planning your diet this holiday season will definitely help you to remain in top shape so that you don’t have to put in all that effort to get back on track after the holidays.
Related reading: How To Eat Healthy To Keep That Post Detox Diet Glow Over The Holidays
Great post!
“Mindful Eating” is the need of the hour. In today’s time, people are so busy that hardly connect their mind and senses with food. Mindful eating is when all your senses are present in the moment. You touch the food, feel the taste of melting food into your mouth, the sound of chewing and relishing every bit of it. That’s when your body feel connected with the food you eat.
You are so right Leena. We are all too busy to truly appreciate what we are eating. I love your description of mindful eating.
Good health,
Sandy