texture and temperature? How does it look on the plate, and what
do you smell?
3 . Have one healthy ingredient or food you haven’t eaten in ages (or
never tried). Maybe pick up a new-to-you piece of fruit at the
market and have it after your lunch, or sprinkle an exotic-sounding
spice onto a grilled chicken breast.
4 . Before bed, gauge how you felt eating and how you feel now that
you’re done. Like it? Try it again the next day.In addition, you may also want to appreciate the texture of what you eat. The
crisp crunch of fresh mange tout? Sublime. Don’t just taste for flavour, but zone
in on how foods feel different, too.
When I put all these senses in play, I find my eating experience is richer and I
eat more slowly, and that means I eat less. It also makes me think about what I
don’t enjoy. And if I don’t like it, I push it away. I no longer (or at least, rarely)
chomp on foods simply because they’re there.
Research backs me up: One review of studies published in the journal Appetite
found that eating more mindfully can help promote weight loss, which, as you
know, comes with a slew of health benefits.
Being mindful doesn’t take the focus of a fighter pilot, but it does mean saying
goodbye to distracted eating. What do I mean by that? No more shovelling your
meal into your mouth with your eyeballs glued to your phone, laptop, or TV.
Dine at a table with others—actively participating, listening, and appreciating
different flavours (of food and people). And when you eat alone, just sit and
enjoy what’s in front of you. This won’t require a ninety-minute breakfast—just
a little awareness that will slow the moment.
ROLE OF SOUL 4: Diets Are Lonely. Don’t Be Lonely.
I talk to a lot of people about weight loss, diets, and food plans. Some are
experts and some are friends. Many are guests on my show. The thing I hear
over and over about why people resist the switch to healthier eating isn’t that
they all despise broccoli or refuse to give up fizzy drinks or can’t live without
lasagne. It’s that diets make them feel like they’re on a desert island (when they