OH! Magazine - Australian Version March 2016 | Page 17

THE J Y OF EATING PART 3 f you need reminding that healthy eating can be enjoyable, then check out these tips to help you rediscover about the joy of eating. For previously published articles on this topic email [email protected] I Practice eating mindfully How often do you eat watching the television? While driving the car? Walking along the street? Or in the movie theatre? We cannot truly enjoy eating if we’re shovelling food into our mouths while our attention is elsewhere. These are all occasions when eating tends to be mindless and overeating, or eating the wrong foods, is often the result. Your challenge, therefore, is to practice mindful eating. Banish all those moments of eating on the run and give some priority to mealtimes. That means no eating at your desk in front of a computer screen! Take at least ten minutes, or longer if you can, to sit down properly and enjoy your meal, whether it’s something you’ve made yourself at home or bought in a café or restaurant. Avoid any distractions, including reading material, with the exception of a dining partner – eating with others is a good thing – and truly enjoy the meal. Put your cutlery down between mouthfuls and eat slowly. Try and be mindful of when you feel satisfied and stop eating then, rather than when you are full or the plate is empty. The Japanese call this ‘hara hachi bu,’ which translates as ‘eat until you are 80 per cent full’; it’s harder to do than you might think! But with practice you can recognise the point and learn to appreciate the food sufficiently and avoid over-consumption. DR JOANNA www.drjoanna.com.au ( Nutrition ) Dr Joanna shares even more tips to help you reignite the joy of eating. Enjoy truly tasty food Let’s be honest, if food doesn’t taste good you’re just not going to eat it on a regular basis. You might force yourself to eat those overcooked veggies on the plate, but they’re not bringing you any joy, so when the opportunity presents itself for something much tastier you’re probably going to take it! Healthy food has to be truly tasty food if it’s to feature on your life-long eating plan. Fortunately healthy food really can satisfy the taste buds. It’s just a matter of ensuring you really do understand what is healthy. If your perception of healthy food is a salad of lettuce, tomato and cucumber with a bought fat-free dressing, or steamed veggies with a piece of plain grilled fish, then no wonder healthy eating does not excite you! Or if you’ve bought into the latest diet plan that demonises whole food groups, then it’s not surprising you might find yourself craving those ‘forbidden’ foods. Your challenge today is to ensure each of your meals and any snacks are truly nutritious, but also truly delicious. The nutritious part is easy – just ensure it matches the Dr Joanna Plate (see www. drjoanna.com.au for details). Then to make it truly delicious think about what else you need to add. Recipes are a great means of menu inspiration and you’ll find plenty to choose from in my online Dr Joanna Recipe Bank. But there are also plenty of simple things you can do. Here are just a few ideas: • Drizzle steamed veggies with some chili-infused extra virgin olive oil and scatter with H[