15 Ways to Practice Mindful Eating

1. Get rid of the distractions

Usually, when you pair eating with any other activity, you will eat mindlessly.

It’s actually a good idea to sit down in silence and really taste and appreciate the food you’re eating.

Use a fork and knife, take your time, and eat slowly to allow your body to register satisfaction/fullness and enjoy every bite.

Devote all your attention to your meal from start to finish.

2. Use all the senses

Use your sense of touch and smell to enjoy your meal.

Pay attention to the aromas, the textures, and the taste of every single bite.

3. Think before you eat

Identify any pitfalls that may lead you to scarf down your food.

For example, if you have had a stressful day, identify this fact, and become aware of it so you can deliberately avoid stress-related mindless over-eating..

4. Make a list

Begin to think about what triggers you towards mindless eating.

Is it the TV?

Your phone?

Perhaps, it is emotions or even going out with friends and family.

Once you have your list you can make mindful choices in those situations to stay on top of your eating habits.

5. Stop finishing your plate

We’re all used to finishing the entire plate and eating those last few bites even if we know that we’re full, but sometimes it’s better to just save it for another meal.

In case you don’t want to eat leftovers, then you should try to make it a habit to put less food on your plate.

Better yet, use smaller plates with strategic portions of each food group, and then you don’t have to worry about portion control.

6. Never eat from the bag or box

When you take a whole bag of chips to the couch, you will likely eat way more chips then you should, the same goes for ice cream or even something healthy like nuts.

Instead serve yourself a small portion in a bowl, a handful of chips, nuts or a small portion of ice cream, and then eat only what is there.

7. Learn to identify real hunger

The next time you decide to grab a bag of chips, make sure you ask yourself if you’re in the mood for a fruit or a vegetable.

If the answer is no, then you need to be aware that you weren’t really hungry, and maybe you are just bored or stressed about something.

8. Eat more slowly

It actually takes up to 20 minutes for you to digest food and realize its effects.

That’s why you want to make sure you eat more slowly.

This may be difficult at first, so you need to come up with a creative way to get yourself to eat slower.

For example, try eating with your other hand or using chopsticks for every meal.

9. Reduce portions even when you’re eating out

When you are ready to order, make sure you tell the waiter to pack up one half of your food to go and to only bring you the other half while you’re at the restaurant.

Also, as soon as you sit down, make sure you say that you don’t want bread at your table.

This way you won’t even have to look at it, which will surely make you avoid overeating.

10. Try to avoid eating more junk food when you’ve just started eating healthier meals every week.

You may decide to eat more sweets and snacks as soon as you start eating a healthy meal per day, but this will only make it harder to stick to healthy eating.

We generally do this because we feel like we deserve it for managing to even start eating a little healthier.

However, you ultimately end up overeating instead of maintaining a healthy balance.

11. Have a plan when eating in groups

When you eat your meals with a group of people, you will surely eat much more. Have a plan and stay committed to your health and wellness goals.

12. You shouldn’t skip meals

Skipping meals will make it much harder for you to become a mindful eater.

When we skip meals, we let the hunger take over our brain and that leads us to whatever is closest to us, which is not a healthy decision in most cases.

It also makes you more likely to overeat when you finally get a plate of food because your blood sugars are low and you are starving, making it very difficult to make mindful decisions about food.

13. Eat every 3 hours

Pay attention to the signals your body and mind are sending you instead of following your habits.

Try eating a small meal every three hours, which includes real whole food, lean protein, vegetables, and a small portion of healthy fat, like avocado or olive oil.

This helps keep your blood sugars stable and accelerates metabolism.

14. Try taking the "eating pause"

The next time you’re eating a meal, try taking a break from eating for a few minutes during the meal.

After 5 minutes have passed, look at your plate and try to determine if you’ve had enough to eat.

Don’t ask yourself if you’re full. Instead, ask yourself if you’re still hungry.

If you’re still experiencing hunger, then you should go ahead and eat; but if you aren’t hungry anymore, then it’s best to save any leftover

food instead.

15. Don’t let tricky food labels fool you

The next time you’re in a supermarket, make sure you don’t let certain food labels fool you.

In most cases, foods that are advertised as sugar-free or low fat are incredibly unhealthy. The products may be sugar-free, but they contain a huge amount of artificial sweeteners.

Similarly, a product may be low in fat, but it probably contains a lot of sugar

4 Ways to Stay Mentally Fit

What does it mean to be mentally fit?

We hear these words often, but what are the criteria for mental fitness, and how many of us meet these qualifications?

Each of us strives for at least a level of mental wellness that enables us to cope with everyday stresses in life. Mental wellness makes it possible for us to be productive, contribute to our home and society, and navigate the many obstacles that life will throw our way.

When you are mentally fit, you possess the mental skills to manage the challenges that land in your lap.

Think about what it means to be physically fit. When you are physically fit typically you have a fitness regimen that enables you to easily handle your workouts. When you are not physically fit you may not be able to handle a fitness regimen.

For example, if you regularly run 6 miles a week to run one mile tomorrow, it is highly likely that you can do it with no problem. Your muscles are pre-conditioned for the run. Your heart can withstand the extra work. You have the proper running shoes to complete the task. You can accomplish it without giving it much thought.

The same is true for mental fitness. Being mentally and emotionally fit requires the ability to address issues and emotions head-on. It requires the ability to adapt to various situations and circumstances. It also requires taking those skills and applying them to future challenges and obstacles.

Here are four things you can do to enhance your mental fitness:

1. Practice Self-Care

Mental fitness starts with taking care of yourself. You must learn to express what it is you are feeling. You must learn to be open about both good and bad feelings—but not in a way that is self-destructive or damaging to yourself or others.

Self-care should include the practice of being mindful, or aware of the present. This practice allows you to identify what is important, what has an immediate impact on you, what requires a response, and what is irrelevant and not worth your time.

2. Learn to Manage Your Stress

You hear this a lot, but you must learn to manage your stress. This emotion can destroy your physical and mental fitness. It can also lead you to make poor decisions that contribute to negative outcomes in life.

Therefore, you must learn to develop effective coping strategies that enable you to reign in the emotions that often accompany stress and that can harm your mental wellness. You must never be afraid to get help if your stress is out of control.

3. Identify the Positive Aspects 

Another facet of being mentally fit is having the ability to see the glass as being half full. Mentally fit people can recalibrate their thinking even in the midst of the most challenging situations. They can function optimally without being delusional in their thought processes.

4. Hobbies and Learning New Things

Research suggests that to stay mentally fit, you must help your brain create new patterns. This is similar to the way physical exercise helps us to build new muscles.

Learning a new language, practicing hobbies, or learning a new skill can all help to put you on the path to doing just that.

There you have it! Being mentally fit is not a given and does not just happen by chance. You must put in the work to sustain your mental fitness, in much the same way as you have to put in the work to have a physically fit body.

Some people can achieve mental fitness on their own—but do not be afraid to ask for help if you find that you are struggling to sustain this state of being.

5 Benefits Of Mindfulness And Meditation

1. Helps You to Sleep Better

If you have a difficult time falling asleep or staying asleep at night, you might want to consider adding mindfulness meditation to your daily ritual.

Mindfulness meditation helps you relax the body. This comes from the breathing techniques that allow you to shift your focus and concentration.

Research (Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances A Randomized Clinical Trial; Black et al) shows that mindfulness meditation improves daytime functioning among adults and that this ultimately improved the overall quality of sleep for older adults at night.

A different study (A low‐dose mindfulness intervention and recovery from work: Effects on psychological detachment, sleep quality, and sleep duration; Ute R. Hulsheger)re-affirmed that mindful meditation—even in low doses—improving the quality and duration of sleep.

2. Lowers Blood Pressure

Mindfulness meditation can help control blood pressure. In one study, (Benefits of mindfulness meditation in reducing blood pressure and stress in patients with arterial hypertension; Ponte Márquez, et al) participants received mindfulness meditation training two hours each week.

They had to blood pressure levels measured before their mindfulness training and then after four weeks, eight weeks, and twenty weeks of training.

After twenty weeks of mindfulness, the participants had blood pressure readings that were statistically lower than people who had not been through the training.

3. Helps to Control Pain

Finding a natural way to relieve chronic pain may seem impossible, but according to Psychology Today, clinical trials have shown that mindfulness meditation can reduce chronic pain by as much as 57%.  Pain impacts us on multiple levels.

4. Boosts Weight Loss

Mindfulness meditation may be the thing you need to help tip the scales in your favor. One study showed that women who regularly engaged in mindfulness meditation were able to sustain their weight.

Experts say the practice of this form of meditation also enables individuals to become more aware of their triggers for overeating, change their eating patterns, and identify the types of food that they are consuming that may contribute to unwanted weight gain.

In addition, mindfulness can help to reduce stress levels and cortisol levels throughout the body that can contribute to adipose fat.

5. Improves Your Mood

Mindfulness meditation improves one’s mood and state of mind. According to the American Psychology Association, research suggests that this may result from the fact that the practice of mindfulness changes the density of brain tissue in various regions.

Experts agree that mindfulness changes the way we focus on feelings and sensations. We examine them at the moment and make better decisions that are non-judgmental.

There are a great many benefits that come from practicing mindfulness meditation regularly. These benefits are not the hype of some fad.

Instead, science is helping us to see that mindfulness meditation is an excellent natural practice that can improve our overall interaction and engagement with others as well as our physical, mental, and emotional health.

How To Become Mindful Of Your Emotions

1. Acknowledge Your Feelings

In order to learn how to manage your emotions, you have to first acknowledge them. Holding onto anger is just a cover-up for intense sadness. Acknowledging that you are hurt because of a certain situation gives you an excellent starting place.

Try stating your feelings out loud or to yourself. This validates your feelings and makes them real. If you have to cry, don’t hold yourself back. The key to this step is avoiding the need to control.

2. Sit With Your Emotions 

When you start feeling sad or anxious, allow the feeling to stay with you. Feel every ounce of that emotion without trying to make it stop. This will further help you to validate how you’re feeling.

3. Pin-Point the Cause of This Emotion

After you’ve gotten to a stable place, it’s time to do some personal digging. Identify what caused this outbreak of emotions. Often times, it’s not the situation itself, but the meaning behind it.

For example, if you’re boyfriend forgot your anniversary, you’re likely not upset that he didn’t purchase you a gift. The emotion goes deeper than face-value. You’re upset because you think he doesn’t value the relationship, and that hurts!

Understand why you’re feeling so strongly about something and address it accordingly. You’ll find that it takes some introspective work to find the source of many emotions.

4. Seek Understanding

After you’ve allowed yourself time to feel and analyze your emotions, it’s time to develop a positive coping strategy.

Ask yourself, “What do I need in this moment right now?” Some options could be to take a break from the situation and move on to something else. Another might be to effectively deal with the problem, so you don’t have to worry about it.

The key here is to have a deep understanding of what your mind and body needs in the moment. This will help you from making rash decisions.

Being mindful of your emotions makes you a happier and balanced person. You aren’t confused as to why you’re feeling a certain way. In addition, you have clarity that can help you make the best decisions moving forward.

Practice being mindful in how you understand yourself and you’ll begin to see major, positive changes.

6 Ways To Clear Your Mind of Stress

Our lives are being bombarded daily with so much more information than our brains can process. And we’re so busy, we often neglect to give it the time it needs to rest and replenish.

This daily battle results in chronic stress which, in turn, causes a whole slew of health problems. One way to beat this is to opt for positive change in your life and learn how to clear your mind.

A focused, controlled mind improves creativity, improves concentration, enhances sleep, and boosts your self-esteem.

These tips can help you learn how to clear your mind with some practice and a bit of patience.

1. Meditation

Numerous studies have shown how beneficial meditation can be for your mental, emotional, and physical health.

This technique of self-reflection requires you to sit in a quiet area, a comfy chair, and maybe light some scented candles - that’s it. Once you’re relaxed, close your eyes and try to release your thoughts.

One way to do this is to control your breathing which helps slow down your thoughts.

Then, imagine your negative emotions and thoughts floating away in the air or down a river. Even if practiced 5 minutes a day, meditation clears neural pathways in your brain which helps boost focus and clears your mind.

2. Mindfulness

When you practice mindfulness, you focus on what’s around you; objects, sounds, smells, colors. The best part about mindfulness is that it doesn’t require you to take off time to practice like meditation.

It’s a process of focusing your energy on the present which gives your negative energy an outlet.  

For example, you can practice this technique while walking down the street, and instead of allowing any disruptive thoughts to take hold of your brain, really try to focus on everything around you.

It brings inner peace and calmness. Mindfulness also provides a clearer mindset and better attentiveness by directing your total effort on the task at hand.

3. Writing

Putting your thoughts and feelings down on paper is a wonderful way to calm your racing mind. Start with simple things, like your daily goals or how you feel.

When you read your own words, your way of looking at your own life will shift, and you’ll be able to see things more clearly.

You can take it a step further and destroy your written thoughts. This will give you the chance to unburden yourself from the confinement these thoughts can have over you. It also provides you with mental clarity and a fresh perspective.

4. Connect with friends

Meeting up with friends helps lift your spirits and gets rid of cluttered, disruptive thoughts. Pick a friend you trust and discuss with them any hard times you’re facing.

It’s a great way to find emotional support, reduce stress, and you’ll realize that the situation isn’t as hopeless as you had initially believed when you were rehashing it time and again in your mind.

Even if they don’t provide you with any real solutions, just knowing you have someone you can trust is a great confidence booster and can put your mind at ease. 

5. Have fun

As a form of distraction, try finding a fun hobby where you can do something you enjoy while learning something new and meeting new people.

Your mind can only focus on one thing at a time, so use that to your advantage and pick something you enjoy doing.

When you focus on something that distracts you in a positive way, you’re engaging your brain to purposefully ignore other things.

6. Other things you can try are:

• Coloring (there are many adult coloring books available)

• Drawing (just doodling with a pencil and paper can do wonders for your mental health)

• Be one with nature (the smell and all the colors of nature can reduce anxiety and clear away disruptive thoughts)

• Read a book (or join a book club)

• Exercise (preferably outdoors)

• Try some tai chi

• Join a class (choose a subject you’re interested in and go for it)

These above steps can also help to prevent brain fog and clutter so that you can increase your energy, focus, and productivity.