What if you learned to listen to your sensations in order to eat mindfully? Here is an exercise to be performed over 4 days to relearn how to eat slowly, alone and savor your dishes.
Do you really know when and why you are hungry? Many of us do not consume the adequate amounts necessary for our body to function properly.
Eating too much or too quickly can be linked to a problem with perception and a lack of attention to our sensations.
Whether it is excessive hunger linked to a prolonged wait before taking a meal, a problem with the perception of satiety or the fact of never feeling full: it remains essential to reconnect yourself with your body.
Top Santé invites you to try the experiment with an exercise made up of several stages for 4 consecutive days. The goal? Learn to eat mindfully in order to gain a new relationship with your body, with food, and thus ward off negative thoughts from which certain impulses or desires to eat arise.
Divide your meal into 6 portions
The first stage of exercise is replacing your breakfast, lunch or dinner with a 600-calorie serving of the same food. Whether it’s 160 g of cold meats, 2 croissants or even 2 cheese burgers: anything goes.
The important thing is to eat alone, slowly and without any source of distraction. Whether you choose to exercise in the morning, noon, or evening, begin your meal when you feel a tangible hunger.
The second step ? Divide your food or dish into six equal portions. Be sure to taste each one in 5-10 minutes, no less. Focus your attention only on this activity and what you eat.
The observation phase
Throughout the exercise and its various phases, write down your observations before, during and after each serving.
For example, you can rate your hunger level on a scale from 0 to 10, as well as your desire to eat before tasting.
Do not hesitate to estimate if you think you can eat the 6 servings before the meal, three-quarters, half, less or if that does not seem sufficient to you.
Then write down your level of pleasure, sensations, thoughts and emotions after each serving.
If you feel full in the middle of one of them, your body is sending you a message. You must absolutely listen to him: you are no longer hungry, you must stop eating.
Also remember that you should not consume any other food during this meal. You cannot drink water or any other drink.
After this mindfulness exercise, wait an hour, and don’t hesitate to have a snack if you feel hungry. When the 4 days are over, you will be more attentive to your feelings of hunger, satiety and your bodily sensations.
Thanks to Caroline Ramelet-Waterschoot, dietician.
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