Whether you are at home with your family or out to dinner, take a look around the dinner table. Some are on their cell phones, some are reading, others are watching TV. Does anyone actually just enjoy their food anymore?<\/p>\n
In our multitasking society, eating has become another chore to accomplish on the list. Breakfast is often eaten on the run, if at all, lunch at our desks and dinner is either eaten quickly before after-school activities, evening obligations, or eaten very late after a long day’s work. Distracted eating is common. If you’re just happy you got to eat, distracted or not, read on.<\/p>\n
Rare is the family that sits down to slowly enjoy the eating experience of a meal. One of my clients spent some time in Europe and reported back that families there make the entire food\/meal experience enjoyable. They cook together and mealtimes are several courses, food is savored but not overeaten. There is a lot of talking and laughing. No cell phones, iPads, newspapers or work during the meals.<\/p>\n
When we eat while distracted, our brain cannot register fullness or the amount of nutrients we have consumed. How many times have you opened a bag of chips while watching TV and later noticed that the bag was empty? How <\/i>did that happen? You were not paying attention to the food or eating. Large number of calories can be consumed unknowingly while we pay attention to something other than the delicious food before us.<\/p>\n
Here is my challenge to you<\/i>. Just for one meal, try no distractions<\/b>. Put your cell phone in another room, turn the TV off, put away the newspapers, magazines, books, no eating in front of the computer or any other diversion. If you want to play a little soft music in the background, that’s actually conducive to eating slower. Then eat your meal s-l-o-w-l-y. Take each bite of food and savor it<\/b>. Take your time. Put down your utensil in between bites if you are having difficulty going slowly. You can chat with family members if present but really focus on the eating experience.<\/p>\n
Here are a few things you will notice from the challenge:<\/p>\n
Eating without distraction is one of the principles of Mindful Eating, a practice I teach to those struggling with emotional eating, sugar cravings and overeating. Studies have shown that eating with distraction adds to weight gain and Mindful Eating is an effective way to slowly lose weight. Let me know how you make out with my one meal challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whether you are at home with your family or out to dinner, take a look around the dinner table. Some are on their cell phones, some are reading, others are watching TV. Does anyone actually just enjoy their food anymore?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[48,50,121,133,155,175],"yoast_head":"\r\n