Appreciate, taste, and enjoy your food so you feel good about the choices you make.
In other words, eat mindfully. It’s so simple, and yet a little bit of thought and attention goes such a long way. Mindful eating can get you through the entire holiday season without gaining weight. You will eat less food and enjoy it more.
Use these 5 tips to eat mindfully during the holidays and every day of the year:
Plan your day so you are hungry (but not starving) when it is time to eat.
Decide how you want to feel when you’re done eating. Stuffed and miserable? Or comfortable and content? Fill your plate or order your meal accordingly.
Before eating, take a moment to be truly thankful about where your food came from including all the people who invested their time, effort, and talent into getting it on your plate.
Use the “four reallys rule” when deciding what to eat. Take only what you really, really, really, really want. Don’t waste your appetite on canned cranberry sauce or anything else unless you really (X 4) want it.
Put one small bite of food in your mouth at a time, and then pause. Chew it slowly and let the flavors and experience linger before swallowing and taking another mouthful.
Lorraine Matthews-Antosiewicz, MS RD, is a healthy eating coach and nutrition expert specializing in weight management. She is committed to empowering people through education, support, and inspiration to make real changes that lead to optimal health and lasting weight loss - without all the craziness of dieting. Receive her 7 proven strategies to JumpStart your weight loss today! http://njnutritionist.com. This article was originally published at https://njnutritionist.com/eat-dessert-make-this-your-new-healthy-habit-... and has been syndicated with permission.