It doesn’t matter whether it’s the beginning of the year, a change of season or a new season of life, sometimes we are called to reset, to start fresh. At these moments, we can begin by reflecting on the role that food is playing in our days. Are we making mindful choices with the intention of nourishing ourselves and meeting our daily needs.
What Does Eating With Intention Mean?
Eating with intention means eating with a plan that goes beyond just trying to figure out what to make for dinner. It’s about making mindful choices with the intention of nourishing ourselves and meeting our goals in a healthy manner. Intentional eating can be achieved with the following five steps.
1. Plan Your Snacks Like Meals
You likely put a lot of effort into planning your meals, which hopefully results in a balanced plate. However, if you aren’t putting the same effort into your snacks, then you could be missing out on needed nutrition. For example, lopsided snacking might result in you eating too much of one food group, while consuming not enough of another. Likewise, if you’re skipping snacks altogether or if they’re imbalanced, you are likely to be left hungry, which brings us to our next tip.
2. Eat When You’re Hungry
Physical hunger begins in the stomach, grows slowly, and is a general desire for food. Honoring this true hunger with intention means responding with a balanced meal or snack that fits within your day. But if hunger comes on quickly, is for something specific like “crunchy” or “salty”, and doesn’t seem to go away even after eating—that’s likely emotional hunger. This doesn’t need to be responded to with food.
3. Keep a Food Log
One way to ensure you’re eating with intention is to keep an accurate, detailed food log throughout the day. A food log is a helpful tool for reflecting on your food choices. It also provides information you can use to evaluate the way you respond to physical hunger whether you are meeting your nutrient needs.
4. Shop Smart
It may seem strange to include smart grocery shopping among tips for eating with intention, but it makes a lot of sense when you consider that if your shopping cart isn’t purposefully filled with nutrient-dense foods, then your kitchen won’t be, either. Whether it’s for beverages, snacks, or the building blocks to balanced meals, shopping with Guiding Stars will save you time in the supermarket so that you have more of it available for my next tip.
5. Slow Down
Slowing down is the key tip to eating intentionally. This applies to the energy you bring to a meal or snack, as well as the pace in which you consume it. If you are rushing, you are unlikely to be able to recall how much you ate or maybe even what a food really tasted like! Eating with intention means slowing down to savor your food, which increases the likelihood that you’re responding to physical hunger. It also helps you remember what you ate so that you can log it correctly.