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March 29, 2011

Enjoy not only what you eat, but how you eat it as well, and discover many benefits along the way.

How often do you eat a meal with friends and before you know it, your meal is over and you may not remember what you ate either? Meals come and go, food comes in and goes out, and our bellies continue to expand.

There’s an easy solution to this that’s not very obvious.

You may have heard of the word mindfulness. Aren’t our minds already full enough, you might ask? Well, our minds are certainly full of lots of information, but rarely is our mind full of what is actually happening in front of us. Eating is an excellent opportunity to explore this new dimension of living.

Eating mindfully involves taking your time when you eat. Instead of scarfing food down, take time to chew each bite and notice all the flavors that happen in your mouth while you eat.  Look at the food before you eat it. Notice the smell of the food before eating it.

The more mindfully you eat, the more you will understand the inner workings of your mind and body. You may notice yourself getting full faster because most of the time we don’t notice when we start getting full from eating.  There is more satisfaction to each bite that you eat when you eat mindfully. Eating can be the one time during the day when we get a break from other things we are doing. Use the meal as an opportunity to really enjoy your food especially if you are eating alone.

We are running all the time – Running to accomplish all the things we have to do during the day. There is nothing wrong with running. But having a chance to really enjoy something in a pure way is something that eating can bring to us.  As you become more aware of your food, you may find your tastes changing a little. You may find that you enjoy fruits more intensely. You may notice that subtle flavors of foods become more apparent. You will enter a new dimension of taste.

You’ve probably heard of the phrase “more bang for the buck”. Well, eating mindfully is a great way to get more bang for your buck.  Each bite takes longer to eat and more satisfaction is gained – and after all – isn’t that what we all are looking for?  So start trying to savor the flavor today and everyday and improve the quality of your life immediately.

Once you’ve tried this technique, feel free to leave comments on any changes you may have experienced, or any difficulties you may have had.