My Tried and Tested Mindfulness Tips for Healthy Eating

Do you remember what you ate for breakfast this morning? 

I bet you can probably recall the different foods you ate, but were you really paying attention to how the food tasted? 

Was it warm or cold? Creamy or hearty? Enjoyable or just average?

Taking time to bring your mind into the present moment so that you can focus on what you’re eating allows you to make healthy choices that benefit your mind, body, and spirit. 

Choosing food that has energetic and spiritual nutrition will help to nourish your entire system. But how do you do that?

Like many of you, I struggled for a long time with sticking to a plan of healthy eating. Over the years, I’ve tried many different tips and tricks and techniques to help me stick to it, and I’m going to share the ones that have been the most effective. 

By following these five simple tips that I’m about to share, you’ll be able to: 

• Lose weight so that you can look and feel your best
• Have more energy to devote to things that are most important to you 
• Protect your body from illness and disease

The secret behind each of these tips is mindfulness... 

How Does Mindfulness Help You Make Healthy Eating Choices?

Many people often use the terms mindfulness and meditation interchangeably, but there are some differences between the two. Mindfulness is just one style of meditation. 

In meditation, you’re asking your mind to let go of the control it typically has over your thoughts. Instead of following the train of thought that comes through your mind, you simply watch it pass.

When you practice mindfulness, you’re simply doing an everyday activity with more awareness than normal. The key is to keep your mind in the present moment instead of thinking about your to-do list for tomorrow, or that conversation you had with a co-worker yesterday. 

Mindfulness asks you to focus your attention on one specific thing, or direct your attention to one focal point, typically, the here and now.  

As your mind stays focused on the current moment, you are observing your experience—your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations—and simply acknowledging and accepting whatever you find. 

Mindfulness and meditation are both powerful practices necessary for a healthy mind, body, and spirit, but meditating while you eat is one tough task. So instead, I’ve tried out the following mindfulness strategies and found that they help me lose weight, feel great, and eat a healthy, balanced diet. 

If you’re interested in starting a meditation practice, then I invite you to try my Reiki Meditations. They’re specially designed to help you balance your Chakras, remove energy blockages, and improve your health. 

Click here to learn more about the single most effective way to increase your energy and healing abilities. 

My first mindfullness tip for healthy eating is one where you get to use your imagination…

1. Be Thankful for Your Food

Back when things were simpler, it was much easier to be thankful for your food because you were out in the field watering the crops, collecting eggs from the coop, and putting in all the hard work it takes to put food on the table. 

You spent time and energy creating your meals all the way from start to finish, and this made you feel more connected to the food you put in your mouth. 

Now, people are so far removed from the process of creating food. It’s hard to recognize and be grateful for all the work that must be done and all the people involved in the process. But this is the first mindfulness strategy you can use to help you make healthy choices. 

When you think about all the people who help your food get from farm, to package, to store, to shelves, to home, all the way onto your plate, there are many people and processes you have to be grateful for. 

Gratitude can improve many different aspects of your life. By incorporating it in your mealtime routine, you’re boosting self-esteem, improving your energy levels, and inviting your body to have deeper, more restful sleep. 

Think about how the farmer herded his cows into the fields to roam and graze the day away. 

And the workers who butchered the meat and packaged it for you. 

But it’s not just the people who are responsible for helping to bring this food to you. Remember the role that mother nature has played in it’s creation. How has the sun, the earth, and the rain impacted the creation of your food?

Before you dig in, take a moment to close your eyes and watch the entire journey that your food has taken from nature to your plate. 

Here’s an example: 

1. A farmer planted the seed to grow broccoli
2. Over time, the sunlight, soil, and water helped it grow
3. Someone collected and harvested the crop
4. Then the broccoli was washed and packaged 
5. After a long journey, it arrived at your grocery store
6. Employees stocked the shelves with bags of broccoli for you to buy 
7. You brought the delicious vegetable home to cook for yourself and your family

Acknowledging the journey of your food helps you to realize all the energy that went into it so that you can be grateful to the farmers, workers, chefs, or even table companions for the nourishment you’re about to receive. 

The practice of considering each step your food’s journey can easily be combined with my next tip. 

2. Consider the Food’s Energy

As you’re thinking of the journey that each element of your meal took to get to your plate, you can also consider the energy that the food is now carrying. 

Remember, every food that we eat has its own energy, and it can be positive or negative. Generally, you want to avoid negative energy foods, eat more positive energy foods, and enjoy high energy foods in moderation. 

But how do you know which foods have positive and negative energy?

Whenever you sit down to eat, take a moment to really consider the foods you’re going to consume and what it might have been through to get to you. 

For example, when you eat a hamburger from a fast food restaurant, chances are that the meat came from a factory farm where the animals were not treated well. The meat that comes from these animals still holds the negative energy that they endured during a life of depression, anxiety, and fear. 

That negative energy can transfer into your system if you eat that meat. So instead, you want to choose meats that you know had a positive journey or that are ethically sourced. And the same rule applies for vegetables. 

You should also consider the ethical and moral values of the company that produced and/or packaged the food. How a company treats their employees can have an effect on the energetic makeup of the food you’re eating. 

Every once in awhile, you might eat food that is carrying some negative energy that you may not have been aware of. When that happens, there are many techniques that can help bring your physical, emotional, and spiritual energy back into balance. 

I specially designed these Reiki Meditations to strengthen your energy and increase your body’s natural abilities to heal itself. 

Click here to learn more about how these guided meditations can start improving your energy flow and protect you from negativity. 

These first two tips are tools that you can use before you begin eating a meal, but this next tip can be done at any time… 

3. Scan the Body

This technique can be used before you eat, while you’re in the middle of a meal, and after you’ve finished. 

If you’re familiar with mindfulness or meditation, you may have done a body scan before, but this is a little different. 

Typical body scans have you identify physical sensations so that you can let go of tension and relax your muscles. But with a healthy eating body scan, you’ll be searching for both physical and more subtle cues. 

Take time to examine how you are feeling emotionally… Are you sad? Stressed? Excited? Rushed? Depressed? Anxious? 

Food can often be something that’s used as a comfort. Think about the stereotypical breakup scene from any movie where feelings of sadness are drowned in a bowl of ice cream. 

Eating when you’re bored or sad can lead to weight gain, so try asking yourself: “Am I feeling a physical hunger? Or an emotional hunger?”

Food doesn’t usually satiate our emotional hunger, at least not for long, so if you find that you’re longing to eat because of stress or sadness, try choosing another activity like yoga, journaling, or Reiki healing. 

(P.S. If you’re looking for a way to boost your connection to Reiki Energy by over 300%, try these Reiki Meditations.)

You can also scan the body to identify your energy levels. If your energy is low or you’re feeling tired, this information can help you make smart choices about what kind of food and how much to eat. 

Check in with your emotional and energetic levels before you eat, but also remember to check in every now and then during a meal to see if you’re body is satisfied or full. 

One thing that makes it easier to notice both your emotional and physical cues is choosing to slow things down… 

4. Chew Your Food Well

You’re probably not swallowing your food whole, but are you taking enough time to really chew your food? Most people are picking up the next bite before they’ve finished the one in their mouth, which can hurt both your digestive and overall health.

Chewing slowly helps conserve energy in your body. Your stomach is a large and powerful organ that works hard (at least) three times a day, and can use up a lot of energy. 

When you make an effort to really chew up your food, you’re relieving your stomach of some of the hard work and energy expenditure it’s responsible for. By transferring the work of breaking down food to the mouth and teeth, your body is able to conserve and store up energy for later use.

I’ve also found that chewing slowly helps you truly enjoy your food. Have you ever been so excited to eat your favorite food or meal that you just gobbled it down and didn’t really take the time to enjoy it? 

When you eat at a rapid pace, you’re barely allowing your tongue to taste all the different flavors and textures of the food. And you’re not able to take notice of the fact that the flavors you’re experiencing are offering positive energy to your system. 

Some people suggest chewing a certain number of times, such as 20 or 30, but I prefer what I call the “five-breath rule.” Here’s how it works… 

Take a bite of food and start chewing. Then put your fork or spoon back down on the plate. With your hands folded in your lap, take five deep breaths as you continue chewing up your food. 

Not only does this strategy help you slow down to fully break down each bite of food, but the deep breaths also allow your nervous system to relax. 

5. Let Go of Distractions

Many people eat in a rush, on the go, or while multitasking. But this can be damaging to your physical and emotional health! 

Multitasking is a huge energetic drain because you’re trying to stretch yourself too thin. Instead of one activity getting your full attention and energy, there are several tasks requiring your focus that can zap your energy. 

There are many things that can distract you or steal your energy while you eat. Watching TV pulls your mind away from the experience of enjoying and consuming your food. This is in direct conflict with my tip about scanning the body to check whether or not you are full.

Eating in a rush prevents you from taking the time to consider what you are eating and where it came from. This can lead to uninformed food choices that can negatively affect your body’s energy. 

Try this: Any time you’re eating, make sure that you sit down at a table without your phone, laptop, or TV requesting your attention. Take a moment to really look at the food for a moment while it is on your utensil before putting it in your mouth. Then, as you chew, identify all the different flavors and textures in your mouth, asking yourself, “What do I enjoy most about this bite?”

Mindfulness is an effective tool for helping you focus your mind in the present moment so that you can choose to make healthy decisions about the food that you’re eating and boost your energy levels. 

With these Reiki Meditations, you’ll be guided through practices that will balance the energy in your Chakras, refine your intuition, and align your positive energy to attract the things that you enjoy. 

Click here to learn more about how you can get started today. 

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