A key to a healthy lifestyle change and a diet is consistency and determination. The human body needs and likes consistency. Mindful eating or eating consciously is a technique that helps you gain control and regulate your eating habits. It has been shown to cause weight loss, reduce binge eating, and help your overall health. Unconscious eating patterns are the most common theme and struggle among clients. Usually weigh gain is accidental; the outcome of a busy life, emotional stress, mental stress, or even mental weakness. All of these can lead to unconscious eating habits and accidental weight gain.

Unconscious eating can be identified through physical, emotional, or mental symptoms and causes. Physical symptoms of unconscious eating are weight gain an physical causes could be mindless eating, an injury, or an unwanted lifestyle change. Emotional issues can drive unconscious eating and form a reliance on food as a coping mechanism. Mental causes are noticeable when you find yourself justifying poor eating decisions by statements such as “I don’t want it to go to waste…” or “it was a rough day, I deserve this…”. It is important to notice and correct these habits when trying to maintain consistency to improve a healthy lifestyle.

How often do you find yourself in the kitchen breaking into you stash of junk food that you bought with the intentions of saving it or eating it sparingly? You typically eat a couple pieces and then a couple minutes or hours later you find yourself back inside the kitchen picking through the same stash. How about eating the appetizers such as ships and salsa when going out to eat? After about 15 minutes you look down and notice the ENTIRE basket of chips are gone and you’re in need of more. These mindless habits are hurtful to the body and mind.

Not all people are aware of the consequences of their eating habits and choices. The belief that a calorie is a calorie and they’re all the same is a common myth when watching caloric intake. Different calories sources have different effects on hunger, hormones, metabolic rates, and expenditure. Therefore strictly counting calories is not necessary to lose weight but instead changing the source of the calories! It is important to be aware of eating decisions and the nutrients that are being received from them!

“Mindful eating is about awareness. When you eat mindfully you slow down, pay attention to the food you’re eating, and enjoy every bite” -Susan Albers

A good way to practice mindful eating is to be aware of your body, how it feels, what it needs, and your actions. Since people eat for reasons other than physical hunger the first question to practice asking yourself is “why do I eat?”

Why do I eat? This helps to realize the reasons other than physical hunger that you turn to food; it can include stress, fatigue, social events, and other reasons.

When do I eat? This can depend on physical hunger but also can be dependent on the clock/ time of the day, a busy schedule, or emotions.

What do I eat? This examines the reasons as to why you choose the foods you choose. It can be taste, nutrition, comfort, or availability.

How do I eat? This indicates if you eat quickly, rushed, secretly, or mindful.

Where do I invest my energy? Eating different types of foods may cause you to feel sluggish and cause you to drag behind. Eating the right types of food will help your energy levels and lead to more productive days.

This cycle is implemented in the Nuviva lifestyle program and it helps to promote wellness throughout your lifestyle. It is important for us, not only to advise clients on the food that they eat but also to break the mindset and lifestyle that got them in the position that they are unhappy with. With this practice and mindset it makes this process easier, more pleasant, and more permanent for clients This fosters a healthful relationship with food and pushes the clients to become more aware of the nourishment available through the process of food preparation and consumption. The phases throughout the program not only work to reduce carbohydrates, sugars, and caloric intake but also to break the habit of unconscious eating and to form mindful, conscious eating. Conquering this also is detrimental to the success of starting a new lifestyle.

Metabolism is the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life. It is a very common word when it comes to the topic of nutrition, health, and weight loss. The metabolism is a system made up of two types of processes; turning what we eat and drink into energy, and using that energy to keep us surviving through vital functions such as breathing, circulation, digestion, and movement.

The metabolism relates to food but there is a lot more to it. Metabolism is affected by multiple circumstances while we age. Steps should be taken to improve the metabolism for a healthier life.

Below are some things to practice that will help maintain or improve the metabolism

Snack and don’t skip. Snacking is a great way to improve the metabolism. The right snacks can keep the metabolism running smoothly and efficiently. These snacks are important to have every 2 to 3 hours. They should most definitely include fiber. Snacking is better than skipping meals because it helps the body from feeling exhausted. It makes it easier to lose weight.

Keep moving, exercising helps to burn fat, build muscle, and keep the metabolism regulated. If your job requires sitting down to much, stand up. Sitting down too much is not healthy. Long periods of sitting can burn fewer calories and lead to weight gain.

It may sound weird but eating spicy foods can help to boost the metabolism. Peppers contain capsaicin, a substance that can boost the metabolism. It may be intolerable for some people but eating peppers at an acceptable amount is supposed to burn an additional 10 calories per meal. It does not account for a large portion of weight loss but helps to boost metabolism for an overall healthier lifestyle.

Getting good nights sleep is also important for improving the metabolism. Sleep deprivation negatively impacts the metabolism. Lack of sleep has also been related to increased blood sugar levels and insulin resistance. It also can boost the hunger hormone and suppress the fullness hormone. Lack of sleep decreases the amount of calories burnt, changes the way the body processes sugar and disrupts appetite-regulating hormones.

Improving the metabolism is easier than it seems and those same healthy habits help with weight loss and meeting nutrition goals. Making small lifestyle changes and incorporating these tips into the routine can drastically increase the metabolism. Improving the metabolism can help lose weight and keep it off.

A healthy lifestyle is a sure way to combat obesity issues in America and globally. More than one- third of adults and 1 in 6 children in the United States suffer from obesity. It is linked to a large amount of chronic diseases and deaths.

Obesity is the leading cause of death in the United States and globally. It is also the leading cause of diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and even some types of cancer. It is associated with a reduced quality of life and poorer mental health. It increases your risk to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, coronary heart disease, sleep apnea and breathing problems, clinical depression, anxiety, and some cancers.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention provides strategies to prevent and manage obesity; among this topic is healthy living.”A key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn’t short-term dietary changes; it’s about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating and regular physical activity.”

Assessing your BMI and waist circumference are two tools that help estimate disease risk and weight category. It is important to create a healthy food environment to make a lifestyle change. It is important to have healthy food available at home and understand how to eat healthy at places away from home. It is important to understand nutritional information on restaurant menus, schools, workplaces, and more. In order to make a lifestyle change more permanent it is necessary to educate yourself on the topic. Try to understand what foods are ok to eat and what foods are not and try to apply it throughout your everyday life. Try to avoid negative situations and environments that may potentially damage your good habits.

With a better understand of the risks that come with obesity and the approach to combating or preventing it.it is important for you and your household to tackle this epidemic.

One of the BIGGEST misunderstandings when it comes to weight loss is that it will not happen unless you exercise.

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