Mindful eating helps combat the festive food based weight gain

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Most people find themselves packing on pounds for the holidays but tips on mindful eating habits can help you avoid weight gain.

According to Family and Consumer Sciences Educator Misty Harmon, the average American gains 1.1 pounds every holiday season. That may not sound like a lot but we typically don’t lose that weight which adds up over the years. This is why Harmon talks about mindful eating.

“Mindful eating is a process of being aware in the present moment, when you’re eating. So, paying attention to what you’re eating. Paying attention to the physical and emotional cues that your body is also giving you,” Harmon said. “Paying attention to the aroma, the flavors, the warmth, or the textures of the food. So all of that, just being aware of what we’re eating, instead of just grabbing something and, you know, going on without really paying attention to that. ”

Harmon says that making deliberate decisions like in food choices and portion sizes can make a big difference, along with taking a break between dinner and desert so that your stomach has time to communicate how full it actually is.

“Do a little scan ahead of the table and see what all is there. I’ve been a lot better at doing this. I’m like ‘okay, I want a little bit of that and a little bit of that.,’ so that you can intentionally pick your food,” Harmon said. “And, ideally, you would start with your fruits and vegetables first. Yes, Mom was right, fruits and vegetables are good. And then, your protiens, so thinking about your meats because those have vitamins and nutrients in them that our bodies really want. And then, add those carbohydrate or those kind of richer foods on the periphery.”

One last tip for mindful eating is to remember that you can always go back for seconds, which means you don’t have to fully load that dinner plate and over-eat.