Every meal is a “feeding opportunity.”
Every time you sit down to eat you can choose to get closer to your health goals or further away from them.
Remember this truth.
The daily decisions you make have the power to build your health up or slowly break it down. Choose to build yourself up!
If you want to improve the way you look, feel and perform then practicing the skill of Good Nutrition is a must.
Good Nutrition improves nearly every marker of health that can be measured.
It keeps your blood sugar stable, regulates your mood, supports your hormonal health and it even fuels your mental health, mindset and mood. Your body composition, daily activities and energy levels are also directly impacted by the foods you choose.
How do you enhance your nutrition to build lasting health and longevity?
Try the “5-10-15-20 food rule” during your next meal. Practice it at each meal and you’ll be on your way to improving your quality of life TODAY!
The 5-10-15-20 Food Rule
FIVE
Take five deep 360 degree diaphragmatic breaths. This will help calm you and communicate with the vagus nerve. This helps to set the stage for slowing down.
Slow and controlled breathing engages the parasympathetic nervous system which is the “rest, digest and recover” state.
Eating in this state allows us better awareness and digestion. It also provides a better overall eating experience. Who wants to rush through a meal?
Speaking of taking your time…
TEN
Take ten seconds in between bites.
Chew your food thoroughly. Put your utensils down. Check in with your hunger and company.
Much of fitness is externally focused while neglecting the internal.
By slowing down and focusing on your own hunger cues you will experience more satisfaction from your meal. You will be fuller longer and end up eating less. You may also have some better conversations during meal times, which builds connectivity and relationships are a huge part of health.
HarA Hachi Bu
Hara Hachi What? What does that mean?
It roughly translates to “eat until 80% full” – which is a crucial part of our Nutritional Mastery nutrition and lifestyle coaching.
It’s an Okinawan practice and not surprisingly, they eat a lot less than Americans practicing this way of eating and enjoying food. They’re also one of the “blue zones”: the five populations that live the longest. Not only do they have a greater quantity of life but they also have better quality as well! Who knew slowing down to eat your meals could add to your longevity?
Do you want to have more energy and feel light after your meals instead of weighed down? Want better digestion and absorption of your food?
Spend more time chewing your food and enjoying the experience!
Digestion begins in the mouth, after all, via several digestive enzymes.
Spend more time eating your meals so you can have more time to eat more meals…
Mindless eating is a big cause of overeating, feeling lethargic and packing on those extra unnecessary pounds.
The body stores the food we don’t need in fat stores to be used later as an energy reserve. Unfortunately, eating too much of the wrong types of foods is stealing our health away.
Remember this truth: too much of any food is a poison to your body.
It’s time to start paying attention!
Let’s practice mindfulness and get the most out of each meal- nutrition and enjoyment wise! This is also a good life skill and helps us live more fully- take your time living too.
Ten seconds in between bites may just change your life!
Fifteen
Take at least 15 minutes to each eat meal. You’ll feel fuller sooner and get in tune with your own hunger and satiety signals.
Everyone knows it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to let your mind know you’re content… And yet people eat their food in five minutes flat!
Here’s another nutrition truth: it’s not what you know, it’s what you do. Knowing is one thing but consistently doing is where change and transformation take place.
Aim for satisfied vs. stuffed. Remember you can practice this SKILL at each meal.
Twenty
Move for 20 minutes after your meal.
As a society we all sit too much. Get up and move! Do something active.
Go for a 20 (or 10-15) minute walk after your meal or any type of movement.
…The sedentary lifestyle is defined as taking less than 5,000 steps daily, and it’s part of what’s killing us, along with the excess consumption of calories, usually in the forms of processed hyperpalatable foods.
These lifestyle practices are wreaking havoc on our health: causing blood sugar swings, increasing waist lines and bringing an unhealthier future for us and our children if we don’t change.
By walking and moving more we can begin to restore our relationship with meaningful movement and health.
Your body is a made to move.
We’ve never lived in a time in history where movement was optional. If we continue to stand still, sit too long and neglect our bodies there will be a price to pay later on.
Let’s start a movement. Your move!
The One Food Rule to Rule Them All
I’m not a huge fan of “food rules” as they are usually things like:
“Just don’t eat sugar… for the rest of your life.”
And I’m really not a fan of the restrictive approach. It usually leads to a deprivation and scarcity mindset, that wires our mind to only focus on the negative – all the “foods we can’t or shouldn’t eat.”
I’m a much bigger advocate for the abundance mindset and adding health into our nutrition plan.
DOWNLOAD MY FREE FAT LOSS REPORT HERE TO LEARN MORE.
Instead of the deprivation mindset, think of adding to your nutrition by getting in tune with your body, spending more time with your meals and moving a little more than you do now.
Adding in some high quality proteins, vegetables, and healthy fats go a long way too!
Read my article The Five Food Rules that Every Successful Diet Follows to learn more.
If you need help improving your nutrition habits and skills I’d love to connect with you.
You get good at what you practice.
You practice what you want to get good at.
When was the last time you practiced eating?
Could your nutrition practices use some work?
Try the 5-10-15-20 food rule
When you sit down to your next meal say “5-10-15-20” out loud. Put up a Post-it Note at your table it to remind you of this food rule and make it a habit. Try it for the next few weeks. I guarantee you’ll start making progress towards improving your health, food experiencing and appetite awareness.
Here’s to a healthier you and a brighter future! One bite at a time!
want more help improving your nutrition and health?
Download The Nutritional Mastery Meal Planning Success Blueprint TODAY.
Seriously, this Blueprint could change your life!
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