How many of us eat meals with family these days? Do we even sit in a comfortable position for eating? We always seem to be in a hurry, eating on the go, having fast food or standing in the canteen to gobble up a meal. Even worse, watching tv, scrolling through emails, reels or whatsapp while rushing through to complete our food.

In all of the above scenarios, are we looking at our food? As in, actually paying attention to what we eat? More importantly, do we feel satisfied after eating? Is there a sense of contentment?

Have you noticed that you tend to overeat when you do not feel satisfied? When you distract yourself from seeing your plate, you also dull your senses which prevent you from savouring food. This leads to a disconnect between what you eat and how you feel, adding to it the fact that you actually might not enjoy the food you just ate. Furthermore, if you are watching a murder drama or primetime news, the added stress and tension will only make you eat more food.

But why is it important to feel satisfied with our food? Let’s talk about satiety.

Satiety is a sensation of feeling satisfied. Visual satiety is this sense of satisfaction achieved just by seeing food without actually consuming it. It is a feeling of nothingness in an ideal scenario – you neither feel full, nor do you feel like eating more. You just feel satisfied.

Thoughts of food and cravings subside when you feel satisfied which is exactly why it is so important. How do we achieve this?

• Keep your meal time screen free – no news, no reels, no emails, no movies. Just spend 15 minutes and finish your meal before you go back to digital chaos
• Serve your food yourself – Your senses should decide how much food you need to eat
• Slow down – Assign specific time for meals during the day and focus only on eating
• Sit – Make it a habit to sit cross legged or atleast at a designated table to have your meal
• Have company – Eating with colleagues or family makes your meal time all the more enjoyable

These are small things, but have a big impact on our general wellbeing.