If you are looking to explore ways to become healthier but feel as if you exhausted many of the typical avenues like restricting foods, over exercising and then giving up, then you will want to stay tuned and read this blog on embracing mindful eating.
Being Mindful
As you look to create positive habits or routines that support a healthy lifestyle, being mindful can be a great way to get you on your way to accomplish any goal that you set for yourself. Being in the moment and tapping into your feelings or emotions during any activity can support mindfulness, such as mindful eating. It is not a one-time thing, where you say, “I am aware of what I am doing or saying; so, I must be a mindful person.” It is a technique that you practice and adopt while tuning into the many sensations you are experiencing when focusing on your goal. Over time with practice, mindfulness becomes your internal compass that you look to guide you in making the decisions that are best for you.
Ready, Set, Pause
Defining a healthy lifestyle for yourself may have a different definition than that set by your coworker or your best friend. Identifying when you are ready to act and connect with your inner self to set goals for change is one of the most important steps you can take. If you’ve struggled with improving your diet in the past, taking a look at the choices you’ve been making may help you evaluate what worked for you and what didn’t. Maybe it’s time to learn how mindful eating can support your lifelong journey in promoting optimal health and supporting your well-being.
The easiest first step you can take to begin mindfully eating is….to pause. It is a simple way of halting before we are about to eat and asking questions focused on achieving our long-term health goals. For example, asking yourself “how will this cookie help me improve my health?” may help you to pause and be more mindful of your action.
Keep practicing the pause and ask yourself about the benefit of eating that dessert when you are looking for that next bite. Having an alternative on hand like your favorite fruit or veggie cup with dip, would be a great choice. Over time, you may see the benefit of your choices!
Ideally, including plenty of fruits and non-starchy vegetable lends to a diet that is rich in dietary fiber. Also, adding a blend of fiber and prebiotics like PureLean Fiber can help to support healthy weight management and promote microflora balance and digestive health.
In fact, the gut microflora is now recognized as an important factor in overall health, with potential roles ranging from cellular and immune health to metabolic function and weight management.1‡
If you are looking for support for detoxification and cellular health in addition to your daily intake of veggies, check out our DIM Detox. Interestingly, DIM is a natural component derived from indole-3-carbinole and cruciferous vegetables. This formula specifically contains BioResponse DIM® diindolylmethane complex which includes broccoli sprout concentrate.
Making a Healthy Connection
Mindful eating, for example may be a beautiful place to start your mindfulness journey. Though this may be trending, it is nothing new. For centuries mindfulness has been a part of the psychology of the human journey.
Mindful eating directs you to being present in the moment, to look inside and see how you are feeling and to embrace your positive experience of wholesome eating. Are you eating because it’s 3:00 PM and you usually grab a snack at that time of the day (aka routine/habit), or do you sense that physical feeling of hunger? If it is habit, then you may want to assess this behavior and perhaps replace with a healthy behavior, like taking a walk or getting up from our desk to chat with a coworker or take a few minutes to listen to some soothing music. Being aware of when you feel hungry and responding to that is positive. Also, being in tune with your sense of satiety or knowing when you are full will help you to understand how much and when to stop eating.
Foods that are protein rich or also have a moderate amount of dietary fat can lend to your satiety, like WheyBasics. So, when you feel hungry and are looking for a healthy midafternoon snack, try mixing WheyBasics with water and your favorite fresh or frozen fruits, like bananas, blueberries or peaches. You can enjoy this high-quality whey protein smoothie and feel good that it is supporting your daily wellness and supporting your immune system.‡
- Whey Basics provides 21 grams of whey protein per serving in a great-tasting, naturally flavored formula.
- It also naturally contains high levels of branched-chain amino acids, as well as immunoglobulins and lactoferrin, which may help to maintain immune system function.3,4‡
If you are looking for a vegetarian protein, PureLean Protein provides 15 grams of vegetarian protein from a unique blend of vegetarian rice, pea, and chia proteins. Also, its comprehensive multivitamin/mineral core includes antioxidants, activated B vitamins, and minerals.
Nourishing Your Journey
Taking the moment from selecting and exploring the beauty of your foods, to preparing, enjoying its aroma and every bite afterwards, will lend to a joyous mindful eating experience for you. No guilt or negative feelings, just listening to your body’s hunger and fullness cues can lend to empowering you to make the right decisions for your health and well-being.
So the next time before you take a bite out of that fresh pear, take time to be mindful of how it looks (green, or golden yellow, smooth, small), how it feels (cold, warm, soft, bumpy), how it smells, and its texture or how it feels when you take each bite. How do you feel? All, just another component of mindful eating.
As always, working with your healthcare practitioner in managing your health is the perfect relationship. Being open to what you are striving to achieve, what the mutual health goals are and where you are at on our journey are things you should be mindful of on the daily.
Also, supplementing your dietary intake with Daily Pure Pack - General Wellness + Multivitamin can help you to bridge any nutritional gaps. For the convenient pack for easy daily use and travel needs, Women's Pure Pack is a multivitamin and mineral complex with optimal nutritional support for women over 40. For all the nutrients men over 40 need, offers our comprehensive daily Men's Pure Pack supports the prostate, heart, energy, stamina and eyes, as well as EPA/DHA fish oil and coenzyme Q10, both supporting cardiovascular health.‡
Your Monitoring
Though the information shared here today does not cover the extent of mindfulness and mindful eating in its entirety, I am hopeful it created an awareness for you—awareness and an excitement of the minutes that make up each moment and the events that make up your day.
Whether you are learning to become mindful in how you manage your work projects, your family dynamics or how you cope with stress, it is important to remember the mindfulness of each moment and to pay attention to how you feel and what may be triggering your emotions.
If mindful eating is something that you feel you would like to learn more about, then meeting with a health coach, Registered Dietitian or healthcare practitioner that works in this area would be a great start. For some of you checking in with a professional is key, while others may just need that self-awareness to help them to check in and keep a journal of their steps, successes and observations.
With Great Intentions, Purely for You
- Lecerf JM, et al. Br J Nutr. 2012 Nov 28;108(10):1847-58.
- Shade CW. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2016 Mar; 15(1): 33–36.
- Belobrajdic DP, et al. J Nutr. 2004;134(6);1454- 58.
- Wong CW, et al. J Dairy Res. 1995 May;62(2):359-68.