What comes to your mind when someone says ‘healthy food’ or ‘healthy eating’? Many of us may think of boiled vegetables, food cooked without oil or just plain bland food! Whereas some people only focus on carbs or calories when they look at their meal, no matter what is served on the plate.  

Unless our understanding of ‘healthy food’ changes, we won’t be able to enjoy food for what it is. The food you eat offers you far more than just calories.  

Here are 3 ways to start enjoying real (unprocessed) food - 

Healthy Vs Unhealthy – Know the difference:  

Urban life hardly gives us the time and access to get to know where our food comes from. Our understanding of healthy or unhealthy food is limited to the number of calories it contains. Instead, we should be focussing to where it comes from and how much has it been processed. The lesser a food has been processed, the healthier it is. This makes unpolished rice a wiser choice instead of white rice; and whole fruits more preferable than packaged fruit juices. The closer the food is to its natural form, the better! 

Create an experience: 

One of the ways to enjoy real (unprocessed) food is to acknowledge it in every way possible. Look at your food for its vibrant colours, incredible textures, varied tastes and all its freshness! The more you observe, the more you will discover. Keeping an open mind will make you enjoy this process. Try as many new food groups as possible to get a variety of nutritional benefits. 

While eating, focus on food: 

Watching TV, scrolling through your phone or working on your laptop while eating is something that you should try and avoid. When you are distracted while eating, it is easy to miss the cues your body tries to give you when your stomach is full or when you feel thirsty. You can eat mindfully by focussing on what, how and how much you eat.  

Avoid eating fasting and running for meetings! Plan and keep your meal times free. Take your time to enjoy that plate of food. Eat slowly, chew your food. Let your mind, body, and heart enjoy the food you are serving it! 

Here’s what will happen when you start practising mindful eating - 

• You will feel more energetic and refreshed even at the end of a long day 

• You will feel lighter, not bloated and constipated 

• Your stomach will growl only to tell you that you are hungry, and not because of acidity 

• Your food cravings will reduce 

• You won’t feel famished 

• Your skin and hair health will improve 

• You will start noticing the subtle differences in the taste and textures of foods you eat 

• You will associate with healthy food better 

Hope you get to enjoy the ocean of healthy foods nature has to offer. 

Let’s celebrate the food we eat!