How and when to eat. We are all very convinced that conscious eating is the way to healthy eating and maintaining our weight

How and when to eat. We are all very convinced that conscious eating is the way to healthy eating and maintaining our weight.

As you read on keep in mind what you know as a reminder and take particular note of what is new to you. Look at how you could adapt it to your daily life.

1. Eat only when hungry.

Don’t confuse a genuine feeling of hunger with appetite.

Hunger = reflects the body's need. Appetite = its desire.

2. Chew well.

To assist digestion food should be in a liquid state when swallowed.

3. Don’t eat directly before major mental or physical activity.

Optimal digestion requires full attention.

4. Don’t over-eat.

When too much food is taken into the body it cannot adequately digest it.

5. Don’t drink when you eat.

Liquids dilute the digestive process.

6. Limit the intake of food from the afternoon on.

The body is more active in the morning and so burns calories more effectively.

7. Rest after eating.

Optimal digestion requires physical or mental rest.

Ingest and Digest.

All these steps are centred around the digestive process. We think this is important because so many of us experience a myriad of conflicted feelings about food, often running a daily roller coaster from desire to guilt. We don’t think enough about our physiological function from ingestion to digestion.

It seems to us that focusing on the basics of ingesting and digesting is a fine place to begin making the process of eating a conscious activity. If not we run the risk of falling into the pattern of rampant appetite with excessive eating followed by emotional spasms of guilt while the body has been cheated out of the wholesome digestive experience it requires.

How and when to eat . We are all very convinced that conscious eating is the way to healthy eating and maintaining our weight