Mindful Munching
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Cook mindfully and eat with others to reduce stress.
A few weeks ago I told you about my olive oil habit based on research around the Mediterranean diet. Some of you found the EVOO volume alarming, some of you didn’t care, and some of you quietly judged from behind your computer screens. Fair.
In addition to the facts we covered last time, another factor why the Mediterranean diet works is because of the habits formed around the food.
In general, Mediterranean peeps often:
Eat with others
Pay attention to their food
Take their time to enjoy it
And all these factors improve health and wellbeing by bringing an element of mindfulness to eating. Which brings me to my next bulleted list:
4 ways to develop mindful eating habits
Go screen-free. Put down your phone, close your lappie, and practice mindful eating. Be aware of what you’re eating using your senses and tune in to the experience. You’ll enjoy your food more, reduce stress, and won’t overeat because you’ll notice when you’ve had enough.
Reduce takeaway. Meal prep sounds kinda boring but it’s a serious game changer. Make a shitload of something delicious, and use your freezer more and Uber Eats less. Done.
Pack snacks. Channel your inner squirrel and stash some nuts in your work bag or jacket pocket. When you’re rushing to a meeting, grab those instead of a chocolate bar.
Treat yo self. Developing healthy eating habits doesn’t mean deprivation. You can still have your high-qual chocolate on occasion, just take the time to enjoy it instead of eating it mindlessly while you double tap the day’s dog pics on IG.
Get your meal prep on: here are 40 recipes for batch cooking.
FOR THE NERDY: More than food [source: Psychology Today].