Eating Mindfully-A Guide to Nutrition Tracking

By White Pine Wealth Management

When life gets busy, it can be challenging to keep track of food intake and the nutrients needed to maintain health. Throughout the day, we often mindlessly reach for snacks while watching TV or accept seconds after a meal, even if we’re not actually hungry.

A great way to become more engaged with your nutrition is by practicing mindful eating. This technique, rooted in mindfulness, involves paying attention to what you’re eating, and how you’re eating, and recognizing hunger cues to help understand why you’re eating. Mindful eating aims to be a sustainable practice, helping you develop habits that benefit you both physically and mentally. It contrasts with fad diets that involve short-term changes to achieve a specific goal rather than establishing long-term lifestyle adjustments. To start incorporating mindful eating into your life, here are six tips:

1. Start at the Grocery Store

Mindful nutrition begins at the grocery store with the items you choose to purchase. Before you go shopping, plan your meals for the week and list the ingredients needed for each meal. By documenting what you intend to buy, you reduce the likelihood of mindlessly grabbing items displayed at the front of the store. However, it’s important to remember that there’s no harm in occasionally treating yourself to something you enjoy.

Another tip is to eat before you go shopping. Studies show that we tend to make impulse purchases and buy high-calorie foods when we’re hungry because we make decisions based on how our stomachs feel at that moment. Try going to the store after eating a meal.

• Slow down your eating

In the U.S., we often eat quickly, partly due to our reliance on fast food and the limited time many work and school environments allow for meals. However, eating rapidly can lead to digestive issues like indigestion and gas. It also can result in overeating, as it takes about 20 minutes for the brain to register that the stomach is full.

Slowing down and savoring each bite can enhance feelings of fullness and satisfaction. It’s important to take the time to appreciate each bite and the flavors that make food delicious. This practice encourages greater appreciation and gratitude for the small pleasures in life.

• Get an understanding of your body’s hunger signals

Sometimes, it can be difficult to distinguish between true hunger, boredom, or cravings. To determine if you’re genuinely hungry, pay attention to your body’s signals. Are you feeling fatigued or having trouble focusing? Is your stomach growling or do you feel nauseous? These may be signs that it’s time to eat.

A good indicator of true hunger is if you feel like you can eat anything that’s put in front of you, as opposed to craving a specific food or type of food. Recognizing these signals can help you make better eating choices throughout the day.

• Unplug while you eat

It is fun to get cozy on the couch with our food next to us while we watch TV. However, this practice can distract us and cause us to overeat, as we aren’t listening to our brains telling us that we are satiated. When you eat a meal, try to put away your phone, turn off your TV or gaming console, and really focus on what you are eating. This helps calm your mind and allows you to relax while enjoying your meal.

• Know when your body is satiated

As stated earlier, your brain needs approximately 20 minutes or more to receive hormones from your gut, like leptin and cholecystokinin, that determine fullness. This occurs because the brain and gut are interconnected through the enteric nervous system; therefore, your emotions have a huge impact on what you eat and how your brain recognizes that your body is full. For example, if you eat a meal that you don’t particularly find tasty, you might decide that you want to eat something else to satisfy your hunger despite having eaten enough. In a similar lens, when you’re anxious, you might not have an appetite, leading you to undereat even if your body requires more food to function. To be completely in tune with your hunger and fullness signals, you also must be in tune with your emotions. So next time you are stressed and reach for junk food, think about if you truly are hungry or if you are responding to your emotions with food.

• Track your meals

A great way to understand your eating habits is by tracking your meals. There are many apps available that allow you to digitally create a log of your meals each day. With these apps, you can visualize the types of foods you eat, the volume, the nutritional facts, and the emotions you are feeling while eating. You also can set individual goals that you would like to achieve, whether it’s drinking more water or including more vegetables on each plate.

Conclusion

Remember, there is no formula to follow when making choices for your nutrition. The objective of mindful eating is not to restrict you from eating certain foods but to make you more aware of how food impacts you. The goal is to find what works best for you. If you have any specific questions about your diet and what may be optimum for you, please ask your primary care doctor, a nutritionist, or a dietitian for advice.