Tina (00:00:00) - Today on the Soul Island Self-care podcast, I'll be talking about one of my favorite topics mindful eating. I'm going to be sharing with you some of the benefits, and for tips to get started, let's get into it. You're listening to the Soul Online Self-care podcast. I'm your host, Tina Stinson, and I had a stroke at the age of 39 from stress and burnout that shook my world. Now I'm laying it all out. The deep level self-care practices and mindset shifts that I needed that kept me healthy, balanced, and thriving. Join me in this intimate space as we explore healing, resilience, and the soul's journey to alignment. This is where real conversations about deep level self-care happen. Let's get into it. Hey guys, welcome to the Soul Line Self-care podcast. And if you're back again and I'm returning listener, thank you for hanging out with me today. Today I'm going to be talking about mindful eating. And as you guys know, I don't talk about nutrition too much on here. But I geek out about nutrition.
Tina (00:01:17) - And that's really how I got started. When I started coaching, I was a I still am a holistic health coach and also a certified culinary nutrition educator. And I just love geeking out in every way about food. And so what I like about mindful eating is it really has a lot to do with connecting with your body and like tuning in to the way you feel. And that's what I talk about all the time. When I talk about reducing stress, anxiety, overwhelm and burnout, I'm talking about tuning into your body and feeling your feelings. And so it's very connected to the work I do. And I really like focusing on something like this instead of focusing on diets, which I don't think work. Right. And so, some of the benefits to practicing mindful eating are better digestion, better absorption of nutrients. Sometimes it's weight management. so there's there's other there's there's many more benefits. But those are the ones that I really, really focus on. And digestion is a big thing because with what I do, I work with a lot of people that are stressed.
Tina (00:02:32) - When you're in a stressed state, you're not going to your body is not focused on digesting your food. And the best way your body is focused on keeping you alive, right? You're in fight or flight. So obviously it's not going to absorb the, the nutrients as well. You might experience gas and bloating and indigestion and things like that. So if you're the type of person who is generally stressed or anxious and you do have some digestion problems, then this might be very, very helpful for you. So today I'm sharing with you, three tips. And then a fourth like bonus tip that I don't really consider mindful eating, but it's something that really helped me with weight management as I went into, as I move into menopause, you know, perimenopause, menopause, wherever I'm at in that, space, I don't know. Okay. So that's a whole nother podcast, which I am looking to do a podcast about perimenopause and menopause. I think it's it's coming soon. I just have to find a guest that really can talk about that.
Tina (00:03:36) - You know, I'm not I don't know a lot about it. I'm obviously learning myself and so I need to have a guest on that has a huge knowledge base in this area, and I can't wait to do that. So keep your eyes out for that one. So the first mindful eating practice that I want to share with you that I think is so important, is getting into a relaxed state before you eat. And I'm also going to share like different ways you could uplevel each of these practices. So as I said, when you're in a state of fight or flight, your body is not focused on digestion. It's focused on saving your life. And so getting into a relaxed state before you eat could help reduce all those things I talked about, like gas and bloating and indigestion, and also improve your digestion and help you absorb your nutrients better. And that's something we all want, right? Because when we're not getting enough nutrients, we're going to have cravings. Okay. So all you have to do is really before you eat anything, take a few deep breaths.
Tina (00:04:36) - Just do a check in like I teach you. I probably talked about ten other times on different podcast episodes. Get into a relaxed state by sitting down, taking a few deep breaths, closing your eyes for a minute, getting in your body. You just slow the breath down. Now, I am quite aware of how hard it is to eat when you have kids and everything's everybody's rushing around. But if you could add this to your day for at least one of your meals, that would be better than none. Okay, and so I know what it's like. I was a single mom with three kids eating the leftover chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese over the sink. I, you know, I've done it myself. But being mindful is about being aware and really connecting to yourself. And so it takes a little bit of space. So if you could do this for one meal a day, try to commit to one meal a day where you might have the space for that. Maybe it's lunchtime when the kids are at school.
Tina (00:05:36) - Maybe it's maybe it's at dinner because you all, as a family have the space to do it at dinner time, right? So just pick a time of the day where you could get into that relaxed state. Primarily, it would be optimal for you to do this for every meal. But you know, I'm just being real here now, a way that you could uplevel this. Is to make your space that you eat in as comfortable as possible. So, you know, use the good China. Like, what are you saving it for? use the fancy napkins. turn the TV off, put some nice relaxing music on. Definitely don't have the news on while you're eating, right? Light a candle. You know, maybe even, like, uplevel your water. If you're having a glass of water and lemon or an. I like adding, like, oranges and lime to my water. I just love that. so it just feels like a whole experience and you could just slow down, even if it's just for 20, 30 minutes to eat.
Tina (00:06:33) - Okay, so that's step number one. And the second step is what I call slow and steady fullness. Now there's a couple of different parts of this. So the first part is recognizing when you're hungry or when you're thirsty or when you're just having a craving or when you need comfort. Okay. There's different reasons people get hungry. And so one of the things I learned about myself by being mindful and paying attention to the way I feel, is that when I'm dehydrated, I crave sweets. So whenever I'm craving sweets and there's no reason for me like I'm not hungry or anything like that, I have a tall glass of water and then I wait 20 minutes and if I'm still craving the sweets, I'm a firm believer. And sometimes when you have a craving, you just have to. You just have to do it or it's not going to go away. And a lot of times if I crave like an ice cream cone or a piece of chocolate, you know, I'll be done with it, I'll have it, and then I'll be done with it, and it satisfies me.
Tina (00:07:31) - But it's another thing when you're, you know, dehydrated. So you're having different cravings or you're feeling sad, so you feel like you're you're giving yourself comfort by eating. I definitely do that. I definitely had a very caring, well-intentioned mom that used to comfort me with food to make me feel better. Celebrate with food, right? We all did this. It's very, very common. It's very social. But there's different ways that you can comfort yourself. And so, asking yourself the question, like tuning into your body and, you know, am I really hungry? When's the last time I ate? What is the actual feeling that I'm having right now? Is it hunger, or is it just a need for that comfort? And if it's a need for comfort, how can I give that to myself in another way? So sometimes I like to have a cup of tea, because that was another comfort thing that my mom did. So having a comfort cup of tea really satisfies me sometimes. Sometimes a bath helps me relax and is very comfortable.
Tina (00:08:34) - Sometimes going for a walk. It really just depends on the time of day and what kind of feeling I'm dealing with. But as I said, this is about tuning into your body. Now the next thing is, while you're eating, like, how do you know when you're full? And there's this, this Japanese saying called Harry hachi bu. And it's about eating until you're 80% full. Okay, now I think that our body, well, our body does tell us when we're full, but a lot of us are eating so fast and we're not really even chewing our food, that our body doesn't have a brain and our body doesn't have enough time to catch up with each other to let you know, oh yeah, that's enough. You're full because you ate so fast and you didn't choose your food. But then ten minutes, 15 minutes goes by and then all of a sudden, sudden you're like, oh my God, I'm so full, I don't feel good, right? I mean, that happens to me so often.
Tina (00:09:30) - So this is the one practice where I could say I could use the most help is just eating too much because I eat fast and I probably don't chew my food enough. And I can't remember where I read this, I think might have been in a class that I took, and it suggested you chew your food 50 times in between each like mouthful, which like, I just couldn't do it. It was almost like too many chews. Like there was no food left. But the beginning of your digestive system. It starts in your mouth. Okay, so as soon as you put that food in your mouth and you start chewing, your body releases saliva to break down the food. And this is the beginning of your digestive system. And so chewing your food is really important. I know it sounds funny to talk about it, but I'm telling you, a lot of people don't chew their food and this includes me. I don't chew my food enough all the time. And so chew your food, slow it down, slow down your pace a little bit.
Tina (00:10:31) - Just chewing your food will do that. Put down your utensils in between eating or put down the sandwich in between each bite. You know, start doing, you know, including some of the practices from the first tip that I gave you about, you know, really enjoying the meal, you know, sitting down with a nice China. The music may be a friend and slowing down while you eat. So when you eat this way, you know it's automatically going to take you longer to eat what's in front of you and you might actually become full before you even finish what's on your plate. Because your body and your brain have enough time to connect with each other to say, okay, whoa, you fall. You know, you know, you don't want to overstuff yourself because I, I don't know about you, but I don't like the way I feel when I eat too much. And I do it way too often. Way too often. so it's about connecting to your hunger. What type of hunger is it? Is it your actual hunger or you dehydrated? Or are you looking for some comfort? Or is it a celebration? Now I'm never going to, like, say, don't celebrate with cake because I'm down.
Tina (00:11:41) - So any time you have a celebration with cake and you want to invite me, I'm 100% in. It's when it becomes like a celebration for every day like that, it might become a problem. So I probably couldn't go to, like, a cake celebration every day. But maybe once a week I could go to a cake celebration. So always keep me in mind when you're thinking about celebrating with cake or cookies or even ice cream sometimes. So. so moving in to. And I could do a whole nother episode on cravings and how to, like, deal with cravings. So if you're interested in that, definitely reach out to me. Maybe on the on the gram and let me know that you want a podcast about cravings. I would love to do that, and I'm sure I could find somebody who is actually more qualified to talk about that. Someone who works with that every day to come on the podcast. Because I think, I think I've done a few podcasts in the past that we've kind of touched the subject, and cravings are definitely a thing for me.
Tina (00:12:38) - And so I am going to talk about that a little bit with the next tip. Right? So the next tip is about tuning in to what works for your body. And I would say anytime anyone's going to do this type of work with either a nutritionist, a health coach, a dietician, you're probably going to do a food diary almost always because whoever you're working with needs to know what you're eating. So why not do this for yourself and then start to pay attention? Every time you eat something to how you feel? Does it make you feel sluggish? Does it make you feel tired? Are you energized? Do you just feel good? Just basically neutral? do you feel bloated, gassy? Do you get into gestion like so, you know, as an example, oatmeal is a meal that just doesn't work for my body. I love oatmeal, but when I eat oatmeal, no matter what I do to it to try to make it more satiating, adding protein, adding fats to healthy fats to it it never keeps me full.
Tina (00:13:39) - I. I can eat this huge bowl of protein full of I mean, oatmeal full of protein powder, maybe even peanut butter or nuts. Blueberries. what else do I add? Ground flax. You know, sometimes hemp seeds, I add all kinds of. I'm still, like, 15 minutes goes by and I'm hungry again also. I get sluggish, so it's definitely spiking my blood sugar. And then I'm having like a crash. So I get hungry again and I feel sluggish. So it just doesn't work for me. So. Oatmeal is good in the form of an oatmeal cookie as a snack, or even oatmeal as a snack. Just, you know, but not amped up with all those calories. So when I'm making oatmeal and I'm adding all that stuff, my God, that must be like a thousand calories. But it's really not working for my body because it's not making me feel good, I feel sluggish, I'm getting cravings afterwards, so it's not. It doesn't work for me, but it might work really well for someone else.
Tina (00:14:39) - And that's why it's important for you to do your food diary and pay attention to what works for you. Okay, and I have to add also that sometimes, you know, a food might not work for you for dinner, but you might be okay with it for breakfast. As an example, some people are really sensitive to dairy. You might be able to have a little dairy at the beginning of the day, but it might not be the best choice before bed, right? So it's like all all these different nuances that you need to pay attention. It's about being mindful and checking in with yourself and learning what the different things do to your body. So as I talked about with the oatmeal, with the I would, you know, feel sluggish afterwards and then I would crash and get hungry again. So this was like spiking my blood sugar. Okay. And it really it just wasn't working for me. But I learned recently a way, an order, a way to set up my plate. And then in order to eat my food in, in order to avoid those extreme highs and extreme blood sugar lows.
Tina (00:15:45) - Okay. So eating this way has helped me manage my weight going through perimenopause and menopause, but it also helps manage my blood sugar, which in turn is really what helps me manage my weight. Because if your blood sugar is just kind of like steadily moving along, you're less likely to have cravings, you're less likely to eat more, you're less likely to crash, right? But when you have those extreme highs and lows, you have a lot of cravings. You end up eating more when you feel that way, and it's really not good for your body. And so I'm just going to share with you quick this last tip that I love so much. And, you know, it doesn't always work with what you're eating, but as many times as you can just knowing about this. So acknowledging it, being mindful about it so that trying to eat your meals this way in order to stay healthy, it's golden. It's golden. So if you could imagine a plate just around circle and half of that whole plate is going to be your, your, your high value vegetables, I call them.
Tina (00:16:54) - So they're high nutrition. They have high fiber. Really good for you. Healthy vegetables, not high glycemic, meaning high sugar. so you could look up, you know, you can Google high glycemic vegetables, low glycemic vegetables. Okay. So all those vegetables. So like, greens is my favorite, most easiest way to add, a huge amount of vegetables into I love greens, I love making my own salad dressing. I love all the stuff I throw on top of it, like cucumbers and tomatoes and carrots and, you know, roasted veggies, all kinds of stuff. So that's a that's half the plate. Then the other half is going to be split between protein and then like starches and sweets okay. And so you'll have your whatever your protein sources and then starches and sweets. And then like a small amount of healthy fats somewhere is thrown in there. Little drizzle of that somewhere. Okay. I'm not really going to talk about the fats, but don't avoid the healthy fats. Fats keep you full.
Tina (00:17:51) - Your brain is made of fat. We all need fat, so don't remove fat from your diet. We all need healthy fats in our diet. So, now the order that you eat it in is really important because what happens is you start with the vegetables, you eat most of the vegetables first, and you're adding all those nutrients, you're adding all that fiber. And the fiber is the key component here. Then you're going to eat your protein, which is like your building block. And this is going to help keep you full and satiated. Right. And then last you're going to eat your sweets and your starches. So that could be like potatoes pasta certain grains, stuff like that. And so you're starting with the veggies. You're eating most of the veggies. Right. And then you're eating your protein. At this point you might even be a little bit full. And so you're not going to overstuff yourself with like pasta or, you know, mashed potatoes. like I would because I love pasta and mashed potatoes.
Tina (00:18:52) - But if you start your meal with them, it doesn't usually serve your body very well. But starting with the veggies and having that fiber in there is what controls your blood. Sugar. So by the time you get those sweets and those starches in your system, that fiber is going to help control that blood sugar. So you don't have as an extreme spike, right. That will also stop you from having an extreme low, which is what causes the cravings. Okay. And so this not only helps keep your blood sugar level, it stops the cravings. And eating in this order also will help you eat less naturally. Okay, so when you're doing that, also keeping in mind, you know, chewing your food and eating slow. And so by the time you get to those starches, you might not, you might eat all of them, you know? And even if you do, your blood sugar is going to stay at a level, you know, you have the ups and downs, but they're just not extreme up in ups and downs.
Tina (00:19:50) - But you're probably not going to go for seconds because you started with the veggies. You had your protein, you're pretty full already and you're practicing your mindful eating. So you're you're chewing your food. You know, you're enjoying the meal, you're slowing down, you're stopping in between, bites to take some time to enjoy your meal. And so your body is going to be able to signal your brain that you're full, right? And it's going to all line up perfectly. And so. There you go. That's my quick version of mindful eating. I do a I'll be adding a longer version of this Inside the Soul Aligned Self-care intensive, which is my signature program. I always have a link to that in the show notes, so you can check it out if you're interested in that. It's my three step framework. reset and thrive. The reset, the mind, the body and the soul. And so that's what I teach inside the program. And this would fall under your body, obviously. And so I have other nutrition, you know, modules in there.
Tina (00:20:53) - But this one is going to be added this year. I'm revamping the whole program. I'm redoing it and I'm adding a whole section on mindful eating. So I'm kind of excited about that. Love talking about it. So I hope that this was helpful to you. just be sure if you have any questions to reach out to me, you could find my Instagram also in the show notes and you can reach out to me there if you have any questions. Okay guys, I will see you next week. Oh, be sure to check out the Soul Alliance Self-care circle. We're going to be starting this week. Actually, it's my new membership program where you can get support for healing your nervous system and then thriving in life. And that will also be in the show notes, so be sure to check that out. Okay. Love you guys. Bye.
