Eating technique – more than just shovelling it in!

“How” you eat is something that has evolved over a number of years and as such has become habitual. In order to change this habit you’ll need to step back from your eating habits and analyse them objectively. This is something many of us already do to some extent. If we’ve eaten “well” during the day we label our behaviour as being “good” and if we’ve made some poor food choices during the day we label our behaviour “bad”.

This is one of the first things we need to change – we need to stop labelling “our” behaviours and work on developing strategies that will equip us to make better nutritional choices habitually.

Routine is the key

Humans like routine. Our bodies function best when in a routine. In order to achieve this you need to start pre-planning your meals in relation to time and content. This planning is of central importance to your weight management aspirations: (i) Planning “when” you’ll eat helps you avoid over-eating by becoming excessively hungry and (ii) planning “what” you’ll eat stops you from eating junk food and other convenience foods – high in energy but low in nutritional value.

Eat in an appropriate setting. Ritual is important. Set the table, sit down as a family (if you have one) or by yourself and eat at the table. Once you’ve finished the meal, pack up, wash the dishes and move on to your next activity. Behaving in this manner gives your meal time a starting and finishing time and helps to avoid “picking” and on-going grazing post-meal time.

Eat slowly. Following on from the previous point, eat slowly. Chew your food, put the utensils down between mouthfuls, drink some water and savour the meal. Our body’s ability to recognize when we are “full” lags behind our eating pace. How many times have you over-eaten on Christmas Day, sat back 10-20 minutes after finishing the meal and then felt like you’re about to explode? Eating slowly gives your body the chance recognize this feeling of satiety (fullness) and to stop eating before you eat too much.

Eat regularly. The same total amount of energy eaten in 1 or 2 large meals a day has a completely different effect on the body than 4-6 smaller meals eaten at regular intervals throughout the day. This helps keep you resting metabolic rate high, blood sugar levels normalized and hunger at bay meaning you’re less likely to become ravenous and overeat.

Choose wisely. Nutrient rich low energy foods are of central importance. Put simply – fruit and vegetables or a plant based diet should form the basis of your dietary intake. Such foods are high in important nutrients and relatively low (depending how they are prepared) in energy. Combined with water they are bulky and satisfying ensuring you feel fuller on less energy. A sure fire way to fuel your weight management.

Make your eating a conscious rather than unconscious activity. By applying my 5 P’s to your eating plan: Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance – and you can’t go far wrong.