Consciously enjoy your food
You eat with your mind as well as your mouth
Our mental immune system, our resilience, helps us to cope with everyday life. It relies on a balanced diet, among other things, combining both enjoyment and health. This strengthens the body’s physical and mental defences. The key is to adjust the quantity to the energy you need i.e. consume less on days where you get little exercise and more on active days.
However, it’s not just what we eat, but also how we eat that plays a role: Those who consciously savour their meals gift themselves moments of satisfaction and allow themselves to slow down. Taking regular breaks like this not only boosts our well-being, but also our resilience – our mental immune system.
Those who consciously savour their meals gift themselves moments of satisfaction and allow themselves to slow down. Taking regular breaks like this not only boosts our well-being, but also our resilience – our mental immune system.
Eating with feeling – not for feelings
The diet is much more than just satisfying hunger and quenching thirst. It gives comfort, provides relaxation or lifts the spirits – a moment of genuine pleasure for the soul. But sometimes we reach for the snacks and sweets for other reasons: stress, boredom or frustration cause us to eat without actually feeling hungry. This is known as emotional eating, and the problem is widespread.
Signs of this are sudden cravings for certain foods, uncontrolled eating or feelings of guilt afterwards. It’s not so much about enjoying food but about distraction or suppressing negative emotions. In the long term, this can throw our diet and our well-being off balance.
Thinking consciously about meals helps to gain back control. Pay attention to whether you are actually hungry or just looking for a distraction or a quick sugar kick. If you are prone to emotional eating, try to distract yourself with other activities instead: going for a walk, chatting with someone or taking a relaxing break can also have a beneficial effect.
Making the change, bite by bite
Eating a conscious and balanced diet doesn’t have to be complicated. Even small changes can help to strengthen body and mind in the long term.
- Do the food shop with a plan: Write down all the ingredients you need on a shopping list before you set out. Stick to the list, don’t make impulse buys. Take your time when shopping and check ingredients are fresh based on smell or touch, for example.
- Prepare your food gently: Cook as fresh as possible and take your time in completing every step. Get attuned to the smells and flavours of individual ingredients. Experiment with herbs and spices to reduce the amount of salt and sugar.
- Consciously savour your meal: Plan set times for meals. Take your time, don’t let yourself be distracted. Enjoy the smells, flavours and the feeling of satisfaction.
Make sure that you also drink around 1.5 litres of liquid throughout the day in the form of water, light juice drinks or unsweetened herbal teas.
Have you been severely restricted by psychological stress for several weeks? This may indicate an illness. Please do not hesitate to seek professional help. You are not alone!
Fresh, regional and seasonal
The connection between food and the mind is often underestimated, but a balanced diet prevents fluctuations in energy levels and mood. The right mixture of variety and enjoyment makes all the difference. Fresh herbs, fruit and vegetables that you have grown yourself are particularly tasty.
Generally speaking, you don’t have to resort to trendy ingredients or dietary supplements. Quite the opposite, in fact. Regional and seasonal foods not only offer the obvious advantages, such as lower costs and less of an environmental impact, but can also compete with rival products in terms of the amount of important nutrients they contain.
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