Listen To Your Body - Mindful Meals challenge, powered by Compass One Healthcare - Day 1 Tip
Welcome to day 1 of the Mindful Meals challenge, powered by Compass One Healthcare!
Do you munch on sugar-filled snacks when you’re bored, but not hungry? When you hear your stomach growl, do you scarf down the tastiest option from the vending machine to save time? Do you pressure yourself to clean your plate even if your stomach is full?
These are all examples of ignoring what our bodies need in the moment.
As we kick off this Mindful Meals challenge, today’s goal is to listen and recognize your body’s hunger and fullness cues. When you pay attention to your body's reactions to food, you learn to recognize less obvious bodily signs, triggers, and feelings. Most of all, you build the foundation of a healthy relationship with food.
Follow these tactics:
- Learn the difference between true hunger and mind tricks: Look for hunger cues like stomach growling, low energy, and difficulty concentrating.
- Think about how you’re feeling: Perform a head-to-toe body scan to assess your hunger level.
- Pause before eating: Ask yourself if you're hungry. Could you be thirsty instead? Or bored?
- Eat slower: Listen to your body as you eat by taking enough time to chew and taste the food.
- Stop eating when full: Don’t ignore your body when it tells you it’s full. Listen to it.
Learning to listen to your body’s hunger cues takes practice. Use today as a starting point but carry this tactic with you throughout the rest of this challenge (and beyond). Strive to make it a habit that benefits you for years to come.
Not sure how hungry or full you are? Use this Hunger Scale as a guide.
Let us know how you're doing on day 1! Post an update in our challenge discussion thread here, in our private Facebook group, or on Twitter, or Instagram and tag us with #healthynurse.
Use the social media links on the left side of your page to share this with a nurse and invite them to join #healthynurse challenges at hnhn.org/challenges!
Keep going! Join us on day 2.
Powered by Support from Morrison Healthcare, A Division of Compass One Healthcare
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