Bob is about to eat a big salad with arugula, mixed greens, tomatoes, green olives, sauteed mushrooms, nutritional yeast, raw and cooked red onions (he loves onions), and pomegranates sprinkled on top. He chopped ¼ avocado and added it to the salad. He also warmed up about 5 ounces of well-seasoned chopped chicken he had prepared and tossed on top of the salad. Finally, he sprinkled lemon, apple side vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper on top.
Before Bob takes his first bite, he takes a deep breath. He notices his stomach is talking to me (hormone ghrelin is up). He looks at his beautiful and large bowl and smells his food. He is now salivating. Right there, his digestion system starts to work—yes, before he ingests food. Food smells stimulate appetite and induces salivation cause a cephalic response and insulin starts rising.
Let me stop here for a second and share a thought with you.
Take a few seconds to prep your body for digestion before your first bite. Smell your food. Notice that when you smell, you will salivate as well. Now be mindful – pay attention to your body as these processes happen. It’s a beautiful thing. Next, take a bite and CHEW YOUR FOOD. Yes, I am reminding you to chew. Somebody has to do it and it’s coach Maria, today. You will taste the ingredients—wow, incredible, right? you will facilitate digestion, help your GI track absorbs the nutrients and fluids, and more likely, you will eat less.
Take it from me…for most of my life, I swallowed my food, overate most of the time, had digestion problems. As a kid, food was scarce so I ate fast. On the job, I ate at my desk and very fast so I wouldn’t waste time. Always on the go. With friends, yes, I was the first to be done eating—the least necessary bites and swallowing were habits.
I rarely appreciated the process of ‘eating’. Then, I ended up with an eating disorder, emotional eating, prediabetes, chronic digestive issues. You want to prevent all that. Or if my personal resonates with you, you might want to reconsider your habits.
If you need help, book a strategy call. Let’s put a plan of attack and edit your health story.
