How did the last thing you ate taste? Can you really remember?

How did you feel about what you ate?

“What’s this got to do with releasing weight,” you might ask?

Way more than you may imagine!

If you feel resentful, deprived, or guilty about what you are eating, you are actually harming your body—even if what you are eating is supposed to be “healthy.”

These negative emotions are literally releasing a chemical cascade in your body that is impacting you at the cellular level.

Eating a piece of cake that you feel guilty about once in a while probably isn’t going to hurt you.

But if you are chronically feeling deprived because you have to miss out on your favorite foods, or “know you shouldn’t eat this, but . . .” you eat it any way, you are stressing your body—and making it harder to release the weight.

Researchers have found that the stress hormone cortisol and adrenalin that you release with those negative emotions make it easier to gain—and harder to release—weight.

Now think about eating over the sink, in your car, or gobbling down a meal trying to get to your next task as quickly as possible.

Most women aren’t taking the time to really taste and enjoy their food.

I’m as guilty of this as anyone.

Wolfing down my food became a habit during my days as a newspaper reporter. Facing a daily deadline made me feel like I had no time for anything else. And it’s still a habit I have to continually monitor.

Not paying attention to how you feel as you eat your food, or eating too quickly makes it easy to overeat before your stomach signals that you are done—or you can overeat trying to get the flavor and satisfaction out of the food that you would get if you slowed down and really focused on the meal.

Scientists tell us how much more nutrition our bodies get if we just slow down and take the time to chew . . . and enjoy . . . our food thoroughly.

But breaking the habit of eating in front of your computer can be hard to do.

Here are some tips to become more conscious and appreciative of everything that you eat today.

• Remember WHY you want to eat healthy foods, and pick foods you enjoy.
• Savor each bite and imagine that it is benefiting every cell in your body.
• Remember to slow down so that you give your stomach time to register that you have eaten a meal.
• Keep yourself from getting too hungry by eating small, frequent meals throughout the day so that you never get too full.
• Consciously sit down at a table instead of standing over the sink or eating in front of your computer.

I would love to hear how you remind yourself to be conscious and appreciative of everything that you eat. Leave a comment below or send me an email.

Together we can do it!