We live in the times of instant gratification. Whatever we need is just an ‘app’ away
Most of the time when we eat, we are not conscious enough about the food that we are consuming. The food that we eat, becomes a part of our body, hence it certainly deserves some attention. I am talking about Mindful Eating. Eating while watching TV or a web series, having a stressful conversation or while being on phone are classic examples of mindless eating. We are typically not aware about what and how much are we eating. Where you place your attention is where you place your energy and hence, the food is not digested properly and the nutrients are not absorbed properly by our cells.
The first step towards conscious eating is to become aware of the fact that essentially, all the taste lies in the mouth, while we chew our food.
There are primarily 2 ways of eating our food; Either chew a bite 10 or less times, swallow it and jump on to grab the next one or Chew it 30-40 times, enjoy it and only then grab the next bite.
The pleasure that we draw from both these styles of eating, could be the same, but the later is way healthier than former. Especially in Ayurvedic practices, it is strongly recommended to chew the food 30-40 times.
In addition, when you feel like getting another serving of food and you know its more than you need (over-eating), stop for a moment and become aware of this fact -> When you take that extra serving, it is going to give you pleasure while you eat for next 5 minutes or even less. However, the 5 minute pleasure is going to cost you your next 3-4 hours, where you will feel heavy, low on energy, sleepy and guilty of over-eating. Add the negative message that you send to your subconscious - You again failed to have the self-control and self-discipline. Look at how your subconscious mind interprets it in the long run; it would create your identity as some one who does not have will power and start making you feel less worthy. Hence, whenever you feel like overeating, just be mindful of these subtle things and say No to extra servings.
Moreover, do not just force away eating something completely. I keep on emphasising that ‘Will-Power has a shelf life’. Hence, when you have a craving to snack, do not just skip it, instead, replace it with something that gives you equivalent pleasure ( it may not be equal, but that’s fine) and is an healthier option. Example, when you have a sweet tooth, instead of ordering donuts, make a besan halwa prepared in pure ghee and use Jaggery instead of Sugar. Or instead of ordering pastry, order home-made boondi laddoo that is prepared in pure ghee and is loaded with dry fruits(there are enough home-made options available now, you can bookmark and keep them). In addition, watch your portion. I am not saying that you do this every time you have a craving , but try and do it at-least 5 out of 10 times. These 40-50% reduction is ‘empty calorie’ consumption, when accumulated over a period of time, let’s say few months, will give you great results.
For example, my wife makes amazing ladoos in ghee & loads them with dry fruits. When I have a sweet teeth, I turn to these laddoos. I have it as my only snack, latest by 5 PM as after that our metabolism starts to slow down (Circadian Rhythm).
Be smart in the choices that you make. All of us think we are smart resources at our respective professions, then why not be smart when it comes to lifestyle. Why not make these small changes and let the power of compounding reward us in long run. It’s very easy to say that ‘ I cannot do it, it's not my thing’ but it’s extremely rewarding to say otherwise and take control of your life.
