Last month, I made a commitment to the raw vegan diet. This has been one of the best decisions of my life. In becoming a raw vegan, I have grown much more conscious about food as well as eating habits that can preclude me from attaining great health. If you are interested in optimizing your own wellness, you should consider whether or not you’re currently being deterred by the following bad habits:
1. You Eat While You’re Busy.
Eating while busy is a bad idea for several reasons. First, it doesn’t afford you the opportunity to enjoy the flavor and texture of the food you’re eating. This can preclude you from gaining a deeper awareness of which foods you truly love and those you are just eating out of habit or because they’re popular in the region or culture you’re embedded in. Another problem that can result from eating while you’re busy is a lack of awareness regarding the amount and calorie content of the food you’re eating. This can result in overeating that helps precipitate weight gain and the declining health that results from it.
2. You’re Not Trying New Foods.
Nature has provided us with a variety of amazingly healthy foods that can play a profound role in helping us optimize wellness. Yet if you eat the same foods all the time, you may be missing some of the great vitamins and minerals that can be found in these food products. For example, vegans who don’t venture outside of their food comfort zones to try mushrooms are missing an excellent source of vitamin D. In addition to precluding yourself from attaining the wide variety of vitamins and minerals that help our bodies function optimally, not trying new foods can result in boredom with your diet. This can make the experience of eating unfulfilling and unpleasant.
3. You’re Eating Too Fast.
As many nutritionists and dietitians know, eating too quickly is one of the worst things you can do for your system. This is the case for several reasons, including the fact that it precludes the food from being digested properly given that our saliva comes full of enzymes that help break the food down. Additionally, eating too fast can help precipitate obesity because it precludes the body from sending us signals that we are full. In discussing the dangers of eating too fast, Kathleen M. Zellman notes that “It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness. Leisurely eating allows ample time to trigger the signal from your brain that you are full. And feeling full translates into eating less.”
Conclusion
As many behavioral psychologists know, it takes about 21 days to successfully break a bad habit. Thus if you’re practicing any of the bad food habits listed above, it would behoove you to devote the next three weeks to systematically eliminating the aforementioned activities from your eating endeavors. Doing so will aid your digestive processes while also precluding you from becoming overweight. Good luck! :)
More Articles From Jocelyn:
Three Ways To Increase Your Food Consciousness