Mindful snacking (enjoy the moment!)

(Healthy) snacking is entering our daily lives in abundance. People are looking for healthy and responsible snacks that contribute to their personal goals. These goals often involve finding balance in life. You may not have thought about it yet, but snacking can contribute to a moment of peace and mindfulness.

So time for mindful snacking....

What is mindful snacking?

Today, the focus is often on what we eat and not enough on fully enjoying what we eat. Mindful snacking is an approach to eating with intention and attention. It involves being aware of what you want to eat, why you are eating and how it makes you feel.

The benefits of mindful snacking

Mindful snacking provides focus on the present and helps you fully enjoy the snacking moment. It is an ideal extension of mindfulness that ensures feeling good and a balanced lifestyle. It can be practiced by anyone, at just about any time of the day.

Aside:

• You experience more enjoyment from what you eat
• You make more conscious choices about what you eat
• You are more conscious about the right portion
• It works to reduce stress, make you feel better, increase your focus....

We'll help you get started!

How do you get started with mindful snacking?

1. Eat in portions

When you have a portion of snacks with you you automatically start paying more attention to what you have and enjoying it more. You don't constantly play with the thought of 'when should I stop eating', because you have clearly defined a limit for yourself. You can just enjoy! 😍 So decide in advance what and how much you will eat.

2. Provide as few distractions as possible

Have you also noticed this in front of a screen less consciously eating much more? Avoid snacking at the computer or while on your cell phone. It doesn't let you enjoy the snack you're eating, nor can it be called a full-blown break.

3. Focus on smell, taste, texture, color....

This may sound weird, but it works! If you are aware of the taste, smell, texture, color... you are going to enjoy the snack moment more. Research shows that in most cases we are not even aware of these food characteristics anymore. So use the snacking moment to consciously enjoy it with all the senses and dwell on the feeling it generates in you.

4. Chew extensively

Enjoy the snack! When we are busy working and want to eat something quickly, we usually do it in one quick bite, so our bodies don't even realize you just ate something. So enjoy the moment and the flavors and chew the snack extensively. 

5. Pause after each bite

Take regular breaks between snacking. Our brain is usually already thinking about the next bite when we haven't yet swallowed our first one. So that's why it's a good tip to take regular breaks.

Voilà! Now you can really start enjoying your snacks and take the snack moment as a moment of rest and meditation. Which of these tips will you definitely use during your next snack moment? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

Bon appetit and enjoy the snacking moment!