3 Tips To Help You Eat Slower

Last night I was on the phone with a distance coaching client who just finished up the LBC and who decided to continue with Maintenance.  After each Challenge, our participants can continue their progress working on a one on one basis where we fine-tune her program and really dig deep into developing a better appreciation of food and the body.

It was a great session, and one of the areas we discussed was how she could slow down when eating.  For her, this was an area she wanted to improve, because of her busy life, she found that she ended up eating her meals super fast, which sometimes led her to overeat.

She had some great ideas that I never thought of and I wanted to share her ideas with you.  I hope these help you in your journey to developing a better relationship with food and your body.  I liked these ideas so much that they will be incorporate in the new and re-vamped Lean Body Challenge for 2013.

3 Tips To Help You Eat Slower

1. Check your hunger.

Before eating anything, check in with yourself and assess your hunger.  Meaning, when you feel the urge to grab something to eat, just take a few seconds and ask yourself:

“Why do I want to eat this?” You are doing this because you want to pause and find out if you are eating this because you are truly hungry, or if you are bored, if you are reacting to emotions, if you’re reacting to stress, or if you are eating just for the sole fact that there is food available.

In this case, you can use The hunger scale: 0 being right after Thanksgiving dinner full, to 10 Tom Hanks in Cast Away type hunger, and 5 being you’re thinking of food but don’t feel hungry.

If you’re anywhere from a 7-10, then chances are, you’re actually hungry, go eat.  If however, you are below 7, then take an extra second to see if you really need to eat.

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2. Express gratitude and self-appreciation.

This was a great technique my client started incorporating that fits so perfectly with the principles of the LBC.

She said that before she eats anything, she sits down with her meals and expresses gratitude towards any aspect of her life, and says something about herself in self-appreciation.

What you express does not have to be food-related, the point of this is just to bring in back into your body, and feeling your body again.  Even saying something like, “I’m really glad I brought my lunch to work today”, brings you in a place of self-compassion which means you are less likely to look towards food for comfort.

3. Go on a date with your food.

This is a fun one.  And here is the premise:

When you are on a date, let’s a first date, or with someone you’re really into, and let’s say that you’re not a jerk and actually give your undivided attention to this date.  You’re not distracted by your phone, or other people in the area.  You are there, in this moment, with your date.  You like this person, you want to get to know this person, and hopefully, score another date.  You’re smiling, enjoying yourself, and feeling good, because you are enjoying this person’s company.

Now, with that same ferver that you would show your date, show that same attention to your food.  Remove distractions, take your time, appreciate the food, take your time with the food.

Basically, I’m suggesting you to go out on a date with your food. The same attention you’d give to a date, give to your food.

This will not only allow you to slow down and thus eat less, but you’ll actually enjoy what you’re eating, appreciate your food and the eating process.

Hopefully these 3 tips will give you some ideas to help you slow down when you eat.  If you found these suggestions useful, and are interested in learning more about how to develop a deeper appreciation of your body and food, while simultaneously losing weight, be sure to get on the Early Bird list for the January LBC in 2013 to receive updates and a sweet ass discount.

Click below to pre-register for the January LBC and receive a $50 discount.