EAT MINDFULLY FOR YOUR PERFECT WEIGHT

  If you spend lots of time thinking of your next meal or snack, you are not alone.  Chronically overweight people often spend much of their time thinking of food and how and when they will eat next.  Ironically, when they do eat, they shove the food in with very little appreciation or enjoyment.  They get little pleasure from the process of eating.  Instead, they are just shoving in the food.

    Unfortunately, our lifestyles can discourage enjoying our meals or snacks.  We are often busy and in a hurry, so we skip breakfast, snack in the car on the way to work and cram in fast-food while checking messages on our phones.  We are not thinking consciously about what we are eating and get little satisfaction from the food we have just scarfed down.  

    A rushed, hurried lifestyle causes us to skip meals and then substitute with hurried meals and snacks.  Because we do not satisfy the brain's need for the joys and satisfaction of eating, we are soon craving again with constant feelings of deprivation.  Many experts believe one of the reasons French people have less weight problems is because they spend longer amounts of time eating their meals and find joy and satisfaction in their meals so they don't crave snacks.

    When we do eat, our minds are often distracted with personal and work problems, deadlines, and telephone messages and entertainment apps.  It's hard to tell if we are satisfied and full, if our minds are completely preoccupied with mental distractions.  So we may continue to eat because our minds are distracted.

     And we tend to be very fast eaters.  We were raised by parents and caretakers who were always rushed and encouraging children to hurry up and finish eating.  Our first grade school teachers told us to finish up quickly because it was time for the second graders to use the lunch room.  By our teen years, lunches were rushed in order to have more time hanging out with friends during lunch break.  By the time we are adults, eating quickly is the norm.  Even if we are full, our brains have not had time to register fullness, so we just keep right on stuffing in food.

     All of these factors can cause us to eat without awareness.  What can you do that will help you to enjoy food more and actually be satisfied and not continually craving?  The goal is to eat mindfully.  One way you can do that is by not using electronics, watching television or reading a book while eating.  How can your mind know if you are full, if it is totally distracted? Eating slowly to truly savor the taste and getting satisfaction of what you do eat can cause you to eat less.  Put your fork down between bites.  Really focus on what you are eating and it's wonderful taste so you can get true satisfaction out of what you eat and be satisfied with how much you eat.

    Hypnotherapy can help you to eat mindfully as a part of a weight loss session or program.  It can help you to stop cravings, enjoy what you do eat, reach your perfect weight and BE WELL.