A lot of my practice involves counseling people who are struggling with overweight and obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Something I frequently find in many of my amazing patients is that they don’t have good eating habits.
Something very easy that I teach them, that makes a huge difference in many of them is to simply savor their food.
How do you savor your food?
1) Make eating an enjoyable experience. Enjoy every bite of it and focus attention on what you are eating.
2) Start with your favorite foods first. Eat one food at a time. Allow yourself to become a picky eater. Throw the rest or save it for later when you are comfortable. Why should you start with your favorite food? So that you won’t be tempted to eat what you love when you are already feeling full of things that weren’t your favorites. It’s easier to throw or save something that isn’t your favorite than what is your favorite.
3)Â Eat with your five senses: Sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch (the texture of the food in your hand–if possible–and in your mouth. Be aware of how you feel eating the food.
4. Eat mindfully. Eat as an act of worship. Eat as one who is having a memorable encounter with food. Be present while you eat. Eat as worship, savor the food. Eat for the taste. Eat for quality, not quantity. Eat like a wine connoisseur drinks wine. Eat like you were going to write a book about that particular meal. Smell it, keep it in your mouth long enough to saturate your taste buds with it.
