STEP 1: BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO EAT

Sit down

Place your hands on your belly

Take a big inhale, feel your belly expand into your hands

Exhale and let it all out

As you continue to breath

Take a moment to look around and notice your surroundings

Look at your food, notice the colors, notice the smells

Notice how you are feeling

By doing this important first step

1-You gauge how hungry you actually are

Which = less overeating = better digestion, weight loss & overall increased health

Too often, we eat simply because it’s mealtime, not because we are hungry. Break this undesirable habit to have the best digestion possible, only eat when you are hungry

2-You tap into how you are feeling

Miss meals if in pain, emotionally upset, not hungry, chilled, overheated, or ill.

Each of these conditions will benefit more from rest, warmth, calmness, or something other than food. If you eat, you will not digest properly leading to more undigested food that will rot and lead to bloating and more unease

3-You become present and therefore enjoy your food more and tend to eat less

4-You slow down

Digestion is part of the parasympathetic nervous system which is all about being calm and relaxed.

You cannot digest under stress, eating under stress = bloating

STEP 2: AS YOU TAKE YOUR FIRST BITE

Put your fork down (I mean it!)

Savor it- really savor it

Chew until liquefied

MANTRA:

CHEW MORE, BLOAT LESS

Digestion begins with chewing, when you chew your food thoroughly, you begin to physically break it down into smaller and smaller particles.

As you chew, you secrete saliva, and saliva coats your food with enzymes. These enzymes begin to digest fats and starches right in your mouth.

Chewing also alerts the stomach to prepare to make stomach acid (HCL) and it signals the pancreas to prepare to secrete its contents into the smaller intestinal tract.

Digestive enzymes and stomach acid only work on the surface of food particles. By chewing your food completely, there will be a larger surface area available for your digestive enzymes and stomach acid to digest.

Picture if you swallow a large mass of food, only the outer portion of it will be easily accessible for your digestive enzymes and stomach acids to break down. When you have chewed your food until it is basically liquefied, your digestive enzymes and stomach acids will easily be able to coat it and do their job.

Better broken down foods = better digestion = better absorption of nutrients = cells are fed better = every organ of the body works better = you literally feel happier & are healthier

STEP 3: AS YOU EAT STAY PRESENT

Continue to pay attention to how you feel, stop eating when you are no longer hungry, not when you are full.

Studies show that this is the one thing that all centennials around the world have in common: Again, do not eat beyond your needs; overeating is not good for your health.

NOTE: When eating something that isn’t healthy we often tend to eat faster and be less present, because we feel guilty and we want the guilt to end sooner BUT DON’T DO THIS! Even when you’re eating something “bad” for you, take the time to really savor it, you’ve made the decision to eat it, now enjoy it. If you don’t let yourself appreciate it, it will be as though it never happened and you’ll just need to eat more to be satisfied, enjoying it will actually help you eat less.

WARNING: THIS ONLY WORKS IF YOU DO IT

Don’t underestimate these seemingly simple steps, just this one habit can dramatically change the way you feel. Don’t just read about it, put it into action now! Remember: progress not perfection

You can do this, I BELIEVE IN YOU!