How to better manage mindlessness eating at work
How many of us have decided to start healthy eating routines in the new year, but still struggle to lose that excess holiday weight? At times, we may even have attempted fad diets such a juicing, no carb, low carb, fasting - quick-fix diets for temporary weight loss. In addition to this, we may attempt a healthy eating routine, but don’t really pay appropriate attention to our food, or our eating habits. As most busy professionals find themselves back in the office and not working from home as frequently, the added pressures of time constraints, back-to-back meetings, frequent work travel and an imbalance of adequate self-care takes us away from our main goal - to feel energised and healthy.
In my work, there is a large focus on “Mindful Eating”. The lack of attention we pay to how and what we eat, how it makes us feel, and not chewing our food thoroughly generally results in overeating, indigestion and disordered eating. For many, a tough day at home or in the office when we are stressed, run down, and our blood sugar levels are low, resisting the odd chocolate is difficult. However, keep reading to understand the benefits of mindful eating and how you can start to apply a few of the tips to help you .
The Positive outcomes of Mindful Eating
Mindful Eating allows us to develop a natural, instinctive relationship with food. Mindful Eating connects you with yourself, asking if you are hungry and acknowledging when it’s a good time to stop eating. healthy physically by losing excess weight, and maintaining a healthy weight, it also keeps us healthy mentally by helping us to develop a healthy relationship with our food. Following are some of the Mindful Eating techniques which you can follow.
You Eat Less
Chewing your food thoroughly (up to 25 times per bite!) aids digestion, and also helps you regulate the intake of food. According to a study conducted on 14 obese and 16 lean Chinese men, chewing habits dictated the amount of food intake of the participants. Participants who chewed their food for longer (in this case 40 chews), had less desire to eat more, and actually ingested 11.9% less food than their counterparts who only chewed their food 15 times per bite. This also applies if you are a fast eater; consider what it is that is distracting you or causing you to eat mindlessly. Are you stressed, bored or anxious? Chewing food slowly can result in eating up to 15%-25% less . Eating food when stressed and frustrated may develop a cycle of overeating, thereby not allowing adequate digestion to take place.
Chewing adequately breaks down food more effectively, with the help of multiple digestive enzymes released into the mouth, prior to entering the stomach. Chewing therefore significantly helps the food to get digested and metabolized more effectively. This assists with a reduction in bloating, inflammation and IBS symptoms.
Appreciate Your Food
Mindfully chewing your food helps you to find interest in the food that you eat. When we become more aware of how nourishing food can be for both our body and mind, we appreciate it and are more prone to opt for unprocessed, whole and natural food, that is rich in sources of healthy fat, protein, and carbohydrates along with various vitamins and minerals.
Ways to Boost Mindful Eating
Using your Non-dominant hand to eat
Opting for a non-dominant hand for feeding yourself encourages you to really focus entirely on what you are actually eating.
Eating with Chopsticks
This may sound a little tricky, however challenge yourself to eat all your meals with chopsticks. Again, it will improve your concentration on your food and ensures you’re engaged in Mindful Eating.
Get creative with your food
Repetitive meals that you actually don't enjoy eating, can take away the fun element from eating. Instead when you meal prep, try and focus on one meal being something completely something different. By creating dietary alternatives, you could actually feel “happy” and “satisfied”. The body produces its own “mood uplifting” endorphins, and the right choice of food makes all the difference.
Quick Tips to prevent mindless Eating
Turn away/walk away from the computer when eating.
Take lunch and dinner elsewhere from your desk.
Sit down when you eat, without screens or distractions.
Plan ahead and find a few places to pick up takeaway food, or plan to bring healthy food with you.
Have healthy snacks on hand like juices, fruit and nuts.
Aim to eat out of dishes instead of plastic or paper takeout dishes at work (keep a glass dish you can eat out of if your office or workplace doesn’t have proper dishes to eat from).
Don’t let yourself get overly hungry, keep healthy snacks on hand to help promote making better choices and will also help to promote energy throughout the day.
Busy professionals and Fad Diets
Busy executives often resort to fad diets. Why? Late work nights, travel, entertaining clients, relief from boredom and using food as tool to procrastinate can make it difficult to adhere to Mindful Eating and healthy meal planning. A sedentary lifestyle also results in weight gain, and fad diets are easily accessible and simple. But they are not sustainable. In the long run, fad diets do not have any benefits and can eventually do more harm to your health, including slowing your metabolism and reducing your muscle mass. These diets include, no carb, juicing, fasting, diets that focus on one food (cabbage soup diet), and high fat/no carb diets. Sustainable healthy diets involve Mindful Eating, exercise, and a little bit of forward planning.
Don’t just follow diets that might promise quick weight-loss. Mindful Eating can have great benefits for you:
Helps you to eat less.
Helps to increase self-satisfaction and .
Helps to nourish your body.
Want to start the new year on track? If you're struggling to find clarity, get accountable and need support - book a call and take advantage of the specials on offer for VIP Sessions in January. Book a free call with me today.
