6 Simple Tricks To Eat More Mindfully

Whenever anyone tells me they eat healthy but still can’t lose weight, I ask them if they practice mindful eating. Most people just stare back at me blankly, wondering what on earth I’m talking about!

The fact is there is an "art" to eating healthy!  Here are 9 simple tricks!

1. Chew 25 times

Chewing is probably the simplest and most effective way develop the habit of eating mindfully.
I recommend 25 chews per bite here, but likely anything over 20 chews will provide a benefit. The most important part is that you choose a number and count your chews until you reach it. The number itself is less consequential.

2. Eat every thing with chopsticks for a week
Even if you grew up with chopsticks as your primary utensil, you’ve probably never used them to eat a sandwich or a bag of chips.

3. Try to identify every ingredient in your meal
Trying to taste and identify all the different ingredients in your meal is another great way to focus on the present moment and eat more mindfully. This is particularly fun at restaurants, when you didn’t make the food yourself. An added bonus of this technique is it may also help you become more creative in the kitchen.

4. Put your food on a plate
It may sound obvious, but eating out of a bag is not a very mindful practice. Get in the habit of placing even small snacks and desserts on a plate before you eat them. This will force you to acknowledge exactly what and how much you will be eating.

5. Sit at a table
Once your food is on a plate, you may as well go the extra mile to sit at a table. Formalizing your dining experience can help draw your attention to your food and your eating habits.

6. Eat in Silence
Put away your phone, turn off the TV! ny sensation that you experience outside of taste and smell while you’re eating can distract you and make mindful eating more difficult.