In today’s society, we are forever guilty of being too busy. How many times have you used lack of time as an excuse for not exercising or eating properly? It is due to our busy lives and schedules that we have lost touch with paying attention to our surroundings. How often a day do you stop and take in your surroundings, and think about your feelings or emotions during the day? Most importantly, how often do you stop and pay attention to what you put in your mouth on a daily basis?
When we are leading hectic lives, it can be easy to go into ‘autopilot’ and switch off to our awareness of what is actually around us and what we are doing. This can again be particularly true when it comes to our food choices. Weight loss can become a simpler task even by just stopping and thinking about the food we are about to eat- being aware of what is in our food and how it effects our bodies.
If you thought about the effects of your food choices on your body before eating something, the small moment that thought takes may redirect you to choose a healthier option. When we think about all the goodness from the vitamins and minerals in our fruit and vegetables, and think about how much nourishment our bodies are receiving they suddenly look a lot more appealing don’t they?!
Mindfulness is also important as it can provide clarity in times of stress. When you are feeling wound up about an event or something going wrong at work or home, just stop and take a moment to breathe and take in your environment before you act. You may find this helps to bring your stress levels down. See our full list of food diet plans at Pure Package
So, here are a few tips to add more mindfulness into your daily life:
1) Before you eat your first mouthful, stop.
Think about what you are eating. What are the ingredients in your food? Where did the produce come from? What benefits will your body get from eating this food? This can only take a few seconds with a little practice but can help you develop a new appreciation for foods that you eat. By increasing our awareness of our diets, we can create a new habit where we pay more attention to what we eat.
2) Be aware of your ‘inner voice.’
When you think of yourself or have an inner dialogue, are you kind to yourself? Do you pay attention to this? By being self-critical or negative, we are reducing our chance of success before we have even spoken or acted. So, don’t talk yourself out of succeeding. If weight loss is your goal, be conscious of how positive or negative you are towards dieting internally. Perhaps you over think that exercise is hard or you have already decided you hate a new food before you have even tried it? So, stop this behaviour by being aware- lets be kind to ourselves.
3) Live in the present moment.
The best time to change your life is right now! So let the past go, forgive yourself for past mistakes and move on with a positive outlook. The only thing in the way of you being the ideal version of you is your own thoughts and beliefs. So if they are holding you back, let them go and move on- you deserve it! This is also the case for worry- the only control you can take on the future is the actions you take right now so let go of the worries you can’t control and live in the knowledge that you are doing your very best right now to secure the future you desire.
4) Take time for you.
As the saying goes, you should take 15 minutes to meditate each day and if you don’t have the time you should take at least an hour! In order to have true balance in our lives, we require a combination of exercise, diet and rest. We can get so caught up in our busy schedules and forget to take the time to rest our bodies and minds. Although taking time out may seem like a waste of time, you may find that you are more efficient with the time you do spend on tasks if you are better rested and ‘fresh’.