1. Cut food into smaller mouthfuls (try a 20 cent piece size for example)
2. Chew food thoroughly - aim at chewing 20 times per mouthful
3. Savour the taste, texture, temperature and even the tones! See if you can close your eyes and notice the different aspects of the food.. is it hard,or is it soft? Does it ooze or is it crunchy? How does it feel on your tongue? Do you like it? Guess the temperature.
4. Going even further on point 3, you can try to use your taste buds to analyse the food, to break it down and to try guess what the ingredients are.
5. It is okay to take time between mouthfuls to breathe, talk, and even to feel satisfied with the previous mouthful.
6. Try eating with people - we prefer to eat slower and in a well mannered way when we are in the company of others - we know it to be rude to ignore others presence, so it will automatically slow down your consumption speed!
7. Eat with your posture in mind. At a table, feet flat, shoulders back, and sitting at a 90 degree angle in your chair. Posture is a weird thing; it has the ability to control our habits. Pulling your shoulders back, breathing and noticing how your body is tensing or relaxed in specific areas helps with stress, anxiety and can pull you out of bad habits such as eating too fast, too much etc
8. WATER! It sounds so cliche and obvious! But seriously, water is your bestie! It not only helps with the digestion process,rehydration etc, but will help you to feel fuller for longer and to give you a break between mouthfuls!
9. Mindfulness! If all else fails, try getting in touch with your senses; even be playful or experimental and try eliminating one of your senses„ ie sight! Blindfold yourself and try eating your entire meal like that.. you’ll be surprised how much more you can notice! And it also helps you to be better in synch with your biological signals - meaning you will be able to listen to your BODY tell you when you’re full rather than your eyes or tastebuds!
Love and light,
Sjana x