My hand is no longer drawn to the packet of chips. Are you wondering how I got here?
Here’s how you can control your unhealthy cravings and still be satisfied with your food.
I’ll take you through my routine which includes consuming proper portions and eating mindfully.
Let’s find out how to practice savoring food consciously in your daily lives.
1. Mindful Eating
In the hassle of today’s world, we forget to stop, ponder, and then consume our food. We forget to look behind our devices and be present during meals.
Let your tongue taste each and every flavor of your food, smell your food to take pleasure from the experience of eating. Ingesting Proper portions can help you maintain a good diet and a healthy body.
2. Consuming Proper Portions
Noticing and measuring your portion sizes helps you avoid overeating and further aids in managing and maintaining your body weight. Eating in proper portions improves the process of digestion in your body. Appreciate the food, its colors, odors, and texture so that you are aware of what you are ingesting.
There is a huge difference between feeling hungry emotionally and craving food for emotional support. I started noticing the patterns of my emotional eating and tried to change them. Take control of your food and make healthy choices.
3. Enjoy Your Food
Savor each bite that enters your mouth, and assign a space in your house just meant for eating, remove any distractions like TV from this room. I had this habit of swallowing my food from when I was a kid but the moment I entered adulthood I realised the importance of ingesting proper portions and then chewing them properly.
Relish upon each bite you take, and allow a few moments of pause in between, so that your body appreciates the sensations and your brain sends signals of fullness to the stomach.
4. Avoid Overeating
In our society, larger portions of food are considered absolutely normal and overeating is a sport for us, but we need to keep in mind that proper portions of healthy food help us maintain the well-being of our body and mind.
Establish a well-balanced diet that includes a proportion of every nutrient in your meal, including proteins fats, and carbohydrates.
5. Strategies to Practice
Use smaller utensils, like small bowls and small plates to control your portion sizes. Proper portions can be prepared beforehand to avoid taking extra food from the table.
I used the technique of listing down the calories and portions that I took from restaurant foods and adjusting them in my routine. Use olive oil, canola oil, and peanut butter instead of the unhealthy oils and spreads we use daily.
6. Managing Food in Different places
At home, it might be easier to control your portion sizes but when dining out remind yourself to check, recheck, and then order, make conscious choices about the food you consume.
Make sure to keep a check on the unhealthy cravings you get after seeing the abundance of food at gatherings. Enjoy your food but remember to balance it with your lifestyle.
7. Managing Stress and Life
Emotional eating or stress eating may make you binge on your favorite food to achieve satisfaction but try to avoid this and replace it with something more comforting and less harmful like painting, dancing, or exercising.
I am always late for college, so I make sure to prepare easy, ready-to-eat healthy meals to pack and run with.
8. Supportive Environment
Surround yourself with friends and family members who support you in this journey of healthy you. Help your friends understand the concept of proper portions and make them follow it too.
Set up achievable and short-term goals to achieve your ideal health. Show a sense of gratitude towards the nourishment your food provides, this also helps you establish a good relationship with your food.
Conclusion
Proper portions and eating mindfully are time-taking habits to inculcate in your routine but once established you can witness positive changes in your body as well as your mind. Avoid overeating, using small utensils, managing stress, and eating mindfully are the ways through which you can consume proper portions.
The practice of eating in smaller portions, with a pause and mindfully creates a sense of gratitude in your heart towards the food that is presented on your table.
Lastly, I would like to say that you should be grateful for the food you eat and express appreciation for the ones who make your food, at home, in restaurants, at farms, and everywhere around the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many portions should you eat a day?
For each food group, we are suggesting:Β Fruit and vegetables: 5+ portions per day.Β
Which is the healthiest way of eating?
Eating lots of vegetables and fruit. This is one of the most important diet habits. Vegetables and fruit are packed with nutrients (antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber) and help you maintain a healthy weight by keeping you full longer.Β
How many bananas a day?
How many bananas a day should you eat? While there’s no strict rule,Β it’s best not to eat more than one or two bananas a day.