Are you a stressed out eater?
What kind of eater are you: Fast, medium, slow?
I used to be a fast eater – I didn’t know how to eat slow. I lost touch with when I felt hungry and never seemed to stop when I was full.
Are you aware when you’re hungry? Do you register when you’re full?
Eating is a necessity to sustain energy balance and fuel. But it’s definitely a requirement that is viewed as a chore when we’re busy and too tired or rushed to nourish ourselves.
A familiar scenario I often hear from new clients is this: they get up late because they’re so tired. There’s no time for breakfast so they grab a coffee on the way. At mid-morning they’re getting very hungry so reach for some biscuits or cake and another cup of something.
Come lunchtime they’re famished and often buy take-away and fast food, or dig into packaged foods to satisfy their hunger.
They’ve got into some bad habits that aren’t taking them anywhere near where they really want to be – usually happier, healthier and with more energy.
Instead they are tired and stuck. They struggle to concentrate, regularly skip meals, and often eat in a rush or on the run.
Clients in this state are almost always experiencing difficulties with the following:
- Sleep
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Weight
- Cravings
- Fatigue
When I discovered Eating Psychology and learnt more about digestion, I started to realise that there is so much more to eating than putting the food into your mouth.
Here’s where mind-body nutrition enters the equation – the psycho-physiology of eating that not many practitioners or professionals are aware of.
Mind-body nutrition takes into account our thoughts, feelings and beliefs and how they contribute to our eating, digestion, assimilation and calorie burning of a meal.
The mind and what we think is directly linked to our bodies and how we feel, signalling stress hormones and digestive issues with one stressful thought.
While the health conscious aim to improve their food choices and move their body more, most people continue to ignore their mind and what they’re thinking.
Eating in a stressed, anxious, angry, rushed or fearful state hinders our ability to digest the maximum nutrients from a meal.
If you eat on the run, whilst trying to feed your children, or whilst you’re doing something else, your mind is not present to the task at hand: eating.
Eating is an act to savour, because although we are not machines or computers, it really does take approximately twenty minutes for our brains to receive the message that our stomach is full.
How can you possibly receive that signal if you’re eating your entire meal within five minutes, and still feeling hungry at fifteen?!
Without being present to your meal you are not engaging your senses.
There is no visual stimulation, no awareness of aroma, colour, taste or satisfaction from your meal, and no communication of true nourishment needs being met.
In short, if you think you’re too busy to attend to your own hunger, then you’ll struggle to feel satisfied and continually want more. Your digestion, assimilation and calorie burning of nutrients from your meal will be significantly reduced – no matter how nutritious, organic and natural your food is.
Eating is only half of the story. Who you are as an eater, how you eat and when, is the rest.
Do you need help in healing your habits, thoughts and food choices?
Work with me and get the help you need!
In person or online via Zoom online meeting, from anywhere in the world.
Eat with Pleasure!
Viki xo
About Viki
Viki Thondley is a Mind-Body Wellness Specialist and qualified Holistic Counsellor, Food, Stress & Lifestyle Coach, Meditation Therapist, and Eating Disorder Recovery Coach who inspires women to shift from dieting and restriction to whole-self nourishment, self-care and healing. Recovered from bulimia nervosa and the many years of hormonal imbalances, food prison and self-sabotaging behaviours’, Viki is an inspiring coach, speaker and event host who also provides personalised holistic programs, workshops and retreats to instil self-love, happiness, body confidence and real food freedom. She is author of “Achieving Your Wellness: Create a Life You Love” and “Healthy Chocolate Delights: Real Food Sweet Treats”.
