10 Mindful Eating Tips May Promote Healthier Eating Patterns

Many Americans often eat mindlessly - meaning that they are unaware of what they are eating as well as how much.  Unfortunately, that leads to becoming overweight and even obese. On top of that, certain triggers in the environment can affect the nearly 250 food decisions made each day!  Did you know that small cues in the environment can affect our eating behavior?  These can be by way of family and friends, packages and plates, utensils, names and numbers, labels and lights, colors and shapes, smells and distractions, and cupboards and containers.  Food decisions can also be caused by psychological triggers like stress, anxiety, and attentional diversions like TV or computer distractions.

Here is a list of 10 mindful eating tips that may promote healthier eating patterns:

1. Make a dish swap - Switching to smaller dinner plate results in fewer calories.

2. Make a color change - Pasta with red marinara sauce on a white plate (more contrast) resulted in 21% smaller serving sizes than when served on a red plate.

3. Create workplace wellness - People usually lose weight on weekends and gain on weekdays, so focus on eating nutritiously at work.  For example, replace candy with nutritious snacks and going out for lunch rather than eating at the desk.  Replace soft drink vending machines with water coolers and use the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible.  Introduce ergonomically designed workstations to reduce fatigue and pain.

4. Slow down eating and incorporate your senses - It takes time for the brain to register satiety. Slowing down and focusing on tasting, smelling, seeing, and touching food makes eating more enjoyable and results in fewer calories taken in.

5. Turn off the electronic devices - Smart phones, computers, and televisions can all distract us from paying attention to eating, resulting in mindless overeating.

6. Reduce your package and serving size - Research shows that the bigger the package your pour from, the more you will eat - up to 20-30% more! Repackage jumbo boxes into smaller bags or containers and serve in smaller dishes.

7. Try new and smaller silverware - Using a smaller spoon or switching to chopsticks works wonders. Research shows that people given a larger serving spoon eat 57% more ice cream than those given a smaller spoon!

8. Add vegetables and fruits - Fill half of your plate with less calorically-dense fruits and vegetables.  Satiation is based on volume, not calorie density, so people will feel just as full with fruits and vegetables as meat and potatoes.

9.  Don't put bowls of food on the table - Dish up plates in the kitchen and keep food bowls off the table. Studies show men eat 29% fewer calories if bowls stay off the table.

10. Serve salad first - Studies show that people tend to eat more of what they start with and, if given a choice, we tend to start eating meat or potatoes first. Instead, start with a vegetable salad and eat more of that.