4 Ways to Transition Your Diet to Eating More Consciously

What exactly does it mean to eat consciously? In essence, it’s a tool that helps you develop healthy eating habits. It’s a way of eating that’s better for you and the environment. Eating consciously may help you lose weight, reduce binge eating, and feel better overall.

And those are just the basics. Let’s take a deeper look at what conscious eating is, why you should consider making changes, and what you need to do to get started.

What is conscious eating?

Mindfulness is a concept that most yoga practitioners utilize in their practice to strengthen the connection between the mind and body. In daily life, mindfulness can also help you recognize and cope with negative emotions and even physical sensations, like pain.

Conscious, or mindful eating, can help to correct certain food-related behaviors such as binge eating related to emotions like boredom, depression, and anxiety. It’s about paying attention to the experience and physical cues of eating, rather than eating simply out of habit or as a coping mechanism.

Conscious eating means:

• Eating to maintain your overall health.
• Eating food that has been produced and sourced in a way that’s good for the environment.
• Eating slowly and enjoying the experience of eating without distractions.
• Paying attention to hunger cues and eating only until you’re satisfied.
• Knowing the difference between eating triggers and true hunger.
• Learning to cope with your emotions about food, particularly guilt and anxiety.
• Noticing how certain foods make you feel- emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Practicing these habits will help you replace automatic eating with healthier, more conscious eating habits.

Why should you transition to conscious eating?

Today’s fast-paced society is full of distractions that shift our attention away from the act of eating. Not to mention the abundance of grab and go, not so healthy, convenient food temptations on every corner. 

Given our rushed, always-on-the-go lifestyle, it’s easy to see how eating has become a mindless habit, often done quickly while our focus is on some other tasks.

But if you’re distracted while you eat and scarf your food down in a hurry, you may not even realize you’ve overeaten until it’s too late. And, you’re probably not thinking about how that food is affecting your body, mind, emotions, or the planet either.

When you transition to conscious eating, eating becomes a mindful act instead of an automatic one. Conscious eating makes you aware of hunger and fullness cues. It increases your awareness of what triggers you to eat or overeat, even when you’re not really hungry.

Changing the way you think about food can help you lose weight and keep it off over the long term. But even more than that, conscious eating means paying attention to your food choices and knowing where your food comes from. This is a vital step for developing healthy eating habits that are better for you and the environment.

4 Ways to Begin the Transition into Conscious Eating

Switching to a plant based diet plan isn’t just about losing a few pounds. It’s about making a conscious decision to eat in a way that’s healthier for you and the environment. It makes you more aware of your food choices and where your food comes from.

There are many approaches to a plant-based diet, but typically it means eliminating animal foods from your diet. The majority (or all) of your diet comes from the earth, rather than animals.

It requires a bit more work than a traditional diet because you have to pay more attention to ensure that your nutritional needs are met. Your meals need to include a good balance of protein sources, whole grains, healthy fats, and of course fruits and vegetables.

Slowing down when you eat is one of the best ways to ensure that your body and your brain are on the same page. It takes about 20 minutes for the brain to receive the stomach’s signal that it’s full, which is why so many of us often overeat.

By slowing down, you can give your brain a chance to catch up and learn to recognize when your stomach is full. Some easy ways to slow down include sitting at a table to eat, consciously chewing every bite, and putting your fork down in between bites.

Much like any other mindfulness practice, you can often gain more wisdom by listening to your body rather than your emotions. Instead of listening to emotional triggers like stress, boredom, sadness, frustration, or even loneliness, pay attention to whether or not your body is really hungry.

True physical hunger signals include low energy, a growling stomach, an empty feeling in the stomach, or maybe even lightheadedness. Before you eat, be conscious of whether you’re receiving hunger signals from your body or emotional hunger triggers from your mind.

Do you often find yourself rummaging through the fridge or pantry, looking for something to eat? How about eating at random times or in random places, without giving it much thought or pre-planning? 

This kind of mindless eating makes it harder to develop healthy eating habits and wires the brain to accept eating cues that are less than ideal. For example, do you really want your mind to equate eating with sitting in front of the TV or riding in the car?

There’s nothing wrong with a snack from time to time, but it should be a conscious decision, not a habit. Food is fuel for your mind and body and eating at a consistent time and in a consistent place can boost your overall health, balance your moods, and even improve the quality of your sleep.

Conscious eating means planning your meals and sitting at a table with your food on a proper plate, not in a takeout container. Eating with another human can also be beneficial because it provides connection and helps you slow down and enjoy the food more.

You don’t have to plan out every bite of food you eat. In fact, you should indulge your cravings once in a while without feeling any guilt or anxiety. Just remember to consciously acknowledge that you’re eating something special and then go back to your regular way of eating the next time you eat.

It’s also important to think about how you care for and organize your kitchen. Does it encourage comfortable eating and family closeness? Are healthy foods the first thing you see when you open the fridge and pantry? Remember, you’re more likely to eat what’s convenient and in plain sight, so give that some thought as you put your food away.

One Final Tip

If you’re multitasking while you eat, you are not listening to what your body really needs. When you’re distracted by your phone, the television, or your laptop, you’re more likely to overeat or eat something you’ll regret later.

The most important step of conscious eating is single-tasking! Simply appreciate the meal and the company you’re sharing it with. Slowing down and acknowledging all the work that went into growing and preparing the food you’re eating is an easy way to be more conscious every single day.