LOSE WEIGHT BY PAYING ATTENTION TO FOOD WHILE EATING IT.

Are you worried about your weight? Next time when you eat, pay attention to what you eat which would help you in not overeating. There is a proverb saying that when you are walking, walk and when eating, eat. But in this modern society, we have the habit of doing multitask like when eating we check our cell phone or watch TV, etc.  How does this affect our health?  Our food intake increases if we fail to focus on what we are eating while multitasking.

A study carried out by a team from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom have concluded the above point that attention and memory affect food intake. These studies were carried out on two groups in which one group eat a meal while watching TV whereas the other ate the same meal without watching TV.

The study concluded the following points:

Not paying attention while eating the meal made the people eat more.

Paying attention while eating meal lead to eating less later on.

Focusing on eating without getting distracted is called mindful eating. Now the question which arises is it good to be cut off from everyone and everything around us? And how does it affect our weight? For this, we have to know the concepts of mindful eating and distracted eating.

Mindful Eating:

What is mindfulness? It is an awareness of what is happening within and around you at the moment. So this moment can be anything in your life and that includes eating also. So mindful eating means awareness of bodily sensations as you eat. This includes noticing the colors, smells, flavors and food texture. And as studies show this leads to that could result in weight loss.

Now, where does this distraction comes in? Research show that eating while distracted increases food intake, but the reality is that eating without distraction is impractical. Like while working you have to take food at your desk or when you eat with others it would be difficult to shun out of conversations.

Based on this a new study was conducted and published in journal Appetite in 2103. This study found that there are two types of distractions one distraction from hunger and other is a distraction from eating. Four groups were created which included people to eat while doing work, watching television, talking to a researcher and eating alone.

The first group were so distracted from hunger and eating that they ate a small amount whereas the one watching TV were distracted from hunger and not eating but they eat a large amount of food. Those talking with the researchers were distracted from eating but were aware of their hunger leading to eating less because they found themselves in an awkward position while eating in front of strangers. Eating alone resulted in giving attention to both hunger and eating which is termed as mindful eating.

It is impractical to say that eating completely without distraction is possible. Hence given below are some tips to give attention to both hunger and eating and still enjoy a book or dine with others:

1. When you desire to eat, ask yourself whether you are really hungry or whether you want to eat for some reason. These reasons can be boredom, feelings, thoughts, environmental cues or procrastination. 

2. Start noticing hunger sensations before and during meals & snacks. Also, notice how these sensations changes during the progress of the meal.

3. Know which meals would be good to start for practicing mindfulness. Before starting the meal take few breaths and also notice the smell and look of the food. eat few bits first and notice the flavor, texture and other sensations.

4. While eating food turn your attention from your book, friend or cellphone and back to your food. Enjoy the food and when this enjoyment starts to fade stop eating.

5. And if you know that you would be distracted, pre-portion your food.

6. Now if you find difficult to eat without distraction, find a distraction which is less intimidating and turn over to it. For eg, if you are eating before television and find difficult to eat then turn yourself to the window and enjoy the scene outside and eat.

7. Note your hunger 5-10 minutes after eating and for the next few hours.

Please note that there is research that mindful eating may lead to weight loss but will depend upon person to person and the circumstances. This article is based on the research as noted above.