Have you ever went to your doctor with annual physical and was told "you need to eat healthier" or "be mindful about what you are eating"? Then you speak to yourself, "what am I supposed to do?".
We all know we need to eat healthier and being mindful about what we eat. The problem is "how".
Creating an eating habit does not happen overnight just like learning how to speak new language won't happen overnight. We all need to practice on daily basis so that we can create a new habit.
One of the important thing you need to learn is portion control. If you need to gain weight, you will need to eat more. If you need to lose weight you will need to eat less. But what you need to know is a guideline of how much should you be eating.
3 things you can practice on is learn to "eat slow" and "eat until satisfied and not full".
1. Eating Slow
Majority of us lives in a very stressful and very busy lifestyle, where we barely have a time to eat. Even then you should work on practicing eating slow. How slow? Ideally more than 20 minutes. When slowing down and chew your food more, satiation kicks in around 15-20 minutes and able to avoid over eating. Start practicing eating slow for next 4 weeks. If necessary have a timer near by until you learn the skill.
2. Eat Until Satisfied and Not Full
How do you know when you are full or over full? You will most likely would not like to move from the couch after meal. When you eat until you satisfied, you will be able to move around and do more stuff like go out for walk.
So how can we practice this? First, you will need to learn what hungry means. Best way to learn is to fast for 12-16 hours. What this does is to teach you and your body that "it is OK to be hungry" and being hungry is not emergency signal. Initially though, it is uncomfortable. However, after 2 weeks, your body will adapt to being hungry and don't feel alerted both mentally and physically because of hunger.
Once you learn hunger you know now what empty stomach feels like. Then use eating slow skill to learn what satisfied means. Best way to assess is to go for easy walk after your meal. If you feel like you are about to pass out then you have eaten too much. If you feel comfortable taking a walk, then you have ate the right amount.
3. Practice
1. Eat slow by spending at least 20 minutes for your meal.
2. Eat when hungry.
3. After eat, see if you can move around comfortably.
Just like anything else, soccer, public speaking, weightlifting, foreign language, driving, you will need to learn by practicing skills. And just like anything else you may not be able to do them right for the first time. But try again. Learning new skill takes time.
Start with Practice 1 for 4 weeks. Then work on number 2. Make this simple and easy for you.
Have fun!
Kota Shimada
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