Eating food is like fuelling our body. What we consume in terms of eating goes into our body and provide the energy and essential nutrients for the maintenance of various body organs. Therefore understanding our eating is an important aspect of our health and fitness.
Keep it fresh
When I was a kid, I would press my mom to give me bread and snacks in the Tiffin box. I used to tell, What Mom! You don’t give that. My friends get that Jam, Butter and Nice bread”. And she would reply back, “Son, I can’t give you stale food. I’m sorry. You gotta eat what I pack. These are my orders”. And she would pack me a nice heavy lunch of rotis(Indian Pancakes made of wheat) and Sabzi(Vegetables).
Now, decades after those school days, this has become my first cardinal principle of eating: Eat Fresh. This is for two simple reasons: It keeps the nutritional value intact and tastes good. No matter what you eat, please make sure that the food on your plate is as fresh as it can be. These days, we are in culture of cooking it once in a day and keeping the stuff in the fridge. We do it because; we have got Modern Kitchen gadgets like Fridge and Oven. You can heat and you can freeze.
These are wonderful machines. No doubt about that but eating fresh food will be better for good health.
Chew it well:
My Nanaji(Maternal Grandfather) had an eating habit that I found quite strange. While eating, he would not speak a word. Once he would start eating, he will mute himself till the plate is not empty. If he needed extra bits of help, he would make a signal by hand and ask for it. My Naniji(Maternal Grandmother) had become an expert at understating his symbolic language. So, she would sit closeby and keep an eye on him waiting for directions. She would eat later. (You see, Indian Society has such values).
I understand now the wisdom behind his silence. He would focus on just one thing: Eating. It gave him satisfaction and made him to chew his food well. When you are eating and start talking at the same time, you may push the bigger food particles inside your oesophagus. This could result in stress on the stomach leading to indigestion. The simple logic behind this is: Larger food particles are difficult to digest than the smaller food particles.
So, eat well, chew even better reducing the food to its smallest pieces. This would help in increased Metabolism in the body. It will also release a lot of saliva containing digestive enzymes that will help in good digestion.
Just Eat:
Yes, you just eat and eat. You don’t drink no water. This is the most common flaw with our modern eating habits. We eat all sorts of food and if it is stuck, we would rush the H2O underneath stomach for an emergency relief.
But, this is not a good practice. It may interfere with our digestion. Drinking a lot of water during the meals could lead to dilution of digestive juices inside the stomach. Have water either 30 minutes before the meals or 30 minutes after.
Moreover, if you fill your stomach with water, you will not eat a good meal. Makes Sense!
Take-in Small Serves:
Eating in small serves will allow you to eat moderately. Two years ago, I used to tell my wife, “You give me just 2 rotis in dinner. I am on diet and I can’t have more. I need to reduce. I am cutting down”. She underestimated the power of my inner resolve.hehehe..So,she presumed that I am going mad for the sake of looking sexy. She was rest assured that I would have this madness lasting from a few days to may be a week or so.
But, I terrified myself as well when I kept going-on even after that. So, she attempted a trick. She started to give me 2 rotis but she would now make them big enough to qualify them for equivalent to 4 rotis. You see, number counts. Number work on our minds.
Hence, if you took small serves, you mind would stop almost at the same serves thereby reducing your total food intake during the meals.
It works. Try, if you are not already doing this.
Watch your timings:
Last but not the least, watch your meal timings and respect them. We are often faltering on this. And we have a very common reason for this – lack of time. We are having late dinners and we skip our breakfasts. We don’t bother to have lunch on time.
Having erratic meal times affects your Circadian Rhythm. For example, when you don’t eat your breakfast and skip it, the body clock does for a toss and the metabolism is unable to kick in. You might have even noticed that if you were unable to satiate your hunger during those specific hours, you won’t feel hungry later. The Hunger would have subsided.
So, the motto of this post is to tell you that it is not just important what you eat but it is also important how you eat.
Do you have anything to add or let me known?
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