MINDFUL EATING
Healthy from the Start Resources for Shiftworkers
What you eat can impact your digestion and general health and wellbeing, but so can how you eat. Mindful eating is a great technique to improve your awareness of your eating habits and help you to understand hunger and fullness signals, which can be disrupted by shiftwork.
Mindful eating can help you to become more aware of your food choices, and involves intentionally enjoying the food you’re eating by using all of your senses to focus on the meal or snack. It’s also a great technique to learn to view food as fuel for your body, particularly for people who may have negative thoughts and feelings associated with eating.
The principles of mindful eating include listening to internal cues (i.e., hunger and fullness signal) while paying attention to external factors (e.g., portion sizes or distractions while eating). The aim is to create a purposeful relationship with eating, rather than doing it mindlessly, or on autopilot.
Examples of mindful eating include (41):
Chewing all food before swallowing, which can improve
digestive symptoms.Taking sips of water between bites, which can slow down the speed that you’re eating, and give your body and brain a chance to process hunger and fullness signals.
Savouring the smell and taste of food, which can improve the overall experience of eating, and help you to associate food with positive experiences.
Using smaller plates or bowls, which can help you to manage portion sizes and avoid consuming more energy than you need.
Not eating in front of the TV, computer, phone, etc., which can help to avoid distractions, which can lead to mindless eating, missing fullness cues, or consuming more food than you need to.
It can be difficult to incorporate mindful eating practices as a shiftworker, particularly if you need to eat during a short break.
Rather than trying to practice all of the steps above, pick the ones that are easiest for you to implement, and try to practice these consistently.