
By Karen Thorne
Karen is an Eating Psychology Coach. She is the creator of the Conscious Eater Programme: Changing your thoughts about food to transform your body and your life.
Find out more about Karen's work here.
In the coming months, I will be offering you some Eating Psychology and Mind-Body nutritional guidelines, and today we will start with one of my favourites, slowing down your eating.
In Eating Psychology and Mind-Body nutrition, how you eat is symbolic for how you relate to the outside world. If you look at your eating habits and patterns, you will get a clear idea of your relational patterns. For example, if you eat quickly and shove all your food in your mouth without it touching the sides, you are likely to see these patterns emerging in the rest of your life.
You’re likely to be overloaded at work, rushing through your tasks and grabbing fast food to eat on the go. This behaviour then impacts your relationships, especially when you’re not truly present with loved ones by shoving down your true feelings. Other areas of your life are equally rushed: you rush to the gym, rush to your appointments, not realising the impact on your inner world.
Metabolism is the sum total of all the chemical reactions in your body and it includes all of your thoughts, feelings, beliefs and experiences. The key here is understanding the brain and how it functions, the Central Nervous System (CNS) and how it works. In a nutshell, there are two branches to the CNS and when one is switched on, the other switches off. The portion that exerts the greatest influence on digestive function is called the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
Eating at a fast pace whilst worrying about your job, family, relationships, etc has a profound negative effect on your metabolism, meaning your body is experiencing stress. Whilst your body is experiencing stress, the digestive system is switched off, therefore it cannot digest its food.
So when you’ve rushed your food down and fretting over daily tasks, your body turns on its stress switch, thus your digestive system is switched off. Conversely, when you eat slowly and truly focus on the food you are eating, the part of the brain that turns stress off, turns on the relaxation response and you will experience greater digestion and assimilation of your food.
If you have challenges around eating and would like help in transforming your eating habits, please contact me to find out how Eating Psychology and Mind-Body nutrition can be a powerful tool.
I am offering a free 'Ditch Dieting Forever' one-to-one coaching session as an introductory offer to readers. Contact me at karen@karen-thorne.com
Karen is an Eating Psychology Coach. She is the creator of the Conscious Eater Programme: Changing your thoughts about food to transform your body and your life.
Find out more about Karen's work here.
In the coming months, I will be offering you some Eating Psychology and Mind-Body nutritional guidelines, and today we will start with one of my favourites, slowing down your eating.
In Eating Psychology and Mind-Body nutrition, how you eat is symbolic for how you relate to the outside world. If you look at your eating habits and patterns, you will get a clear idea of your relational patterns. For example, if you eat quickly and shove all your food in your mouth without it touching the sides, you are likely to see these patterns emerging in the rest of your life.
You’re likely to be overloaded at work, rushing through your tasks and grabbing fast food to eat on the go. This behaviour then impacts your relationships, especially when you’re not truly present with loved ones by shoving down your true feelings. Other areas of your life are equally rushed: you rush to the gym, rush to your appointments, not realising the impact on your inner world.
Metabolism is the sum total of all the chemical reactions in your body and it includes all of your thoughts, feelings, beliefs and experiences. The key here is understanding the brain and how it functions, the Central Nervous System (CNS) and how it works. In a nutshell, there are two branches to the CNS and when one is switched on, the other switches off. The portion that exerts the greatest influence on digestive function is called the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
Eating at a fast pace whilst worrying about your job, family, relationships, etc has a profound negative effect on your metabolism, meaning your body is experiencing stress. Whilst your body is experiencing stress, the digestive system is switched off, therefore it cannot digest its food.
So when you’ve rushed your food down and fretting over daily tasks, your body turns on its stress switch, thus your digestive system is switched off. Conversely, when you eat slowly and truly focus on the food you are eating, the part of the brain that turns stress off, turns on the relaxation response and you will experience greater digestion and assimilation of your food.
If you have challenges around eating and would like help in transforming your eating habits, please contact me to find out how Eating Psychology and Mind-Body nutrition can be a powerful tool.
I am offering a free 'Ditch Dieting Forever' one-to-one coaching session as an introductory offer to readers. Contact me at karen@karen-thorne.com