Mindful eating
Notice what you need - a light or a heavy meal. How hungry are you? Build your meal with healthy ingredients that match your cravings. Combine different flavors - sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Arrange it on your plate to present it in the best possible way and only fill up on the amount of food you expect to be able to eat before you get full.
Turn off the TV and radio, and put away your reading material and cell phone so it is just you and your food, undisturbed. Before you start eating, notice how you are sitting on the chair. What do you feel in your body? Take a few deep breaths and see if you can "land" in what you are about to start.
If you feel restless or bored, it is a sign that you are not being mindful. On the other hand, when your sensory system is activated and unfolds, the sense of time and space disappears in a good way. Sense the food. Look at it. See the colors, shapes, and textures. Take time to smell the food. The sense of smell works with the sense of taste. The act of smelling the food enhances the sense of taste.
Notice how this act causes the salivary glands to produce large amounts of saliva. It contains the enzymes that start the digestion process. When you take a mouthful, make sure you do not take more into your mouth than it feels good to have in there. Put down the knife and fork and concentrate on chewing. Break up the food and listen to the sounds as you eat. The sound of chewing, the sound of swallowing, the rumbling of your stomach. The cutlery touching the plate.
Not until the swallow reflex is triggered, almost without you being able to stop it, swallow the food. Feel how it slowly slides down your throat and into your stomach. Notice your stomach filling slowly and steadily, one bite at a time. During the meal, try to observe if you are getting full and stop eating when the first impulses of satiety hit you.
