Nov. 23--Eating dinner on the couch in front of the television is so easy.
But changing the way you eat can make a big mental -- and midsection -- difference.
Dr. Rahul Khare, who runs Innovative Express Care (http://innovativeexpresscare.com) in Chicago, said to follow what he calls the Table-Plate-Chair method.
His pointers: Make sure you eat at a table, make sure you eat on a plate and make sure you sit down, he said. This will make sure you're more mindfully eating.
Doing this knocks off your overeating, which often comes from mindless eating -- shoveling in that second plate of pasta while watching Netflix.
Think of getting a giant tub of popcorn at a movie theater, Khare said. Rarely do you intend to eat the entire buttery mess.
"At the end of the movie, it's gone, and it's like, 'What happened?'" he said. "It's mindless eating."
He speaks from experience: A few years ago, he lost 15 pounds, and he attributes some of that success to this. Every day, while working from home, instead of grabbing lunch and going back to the computer, he went to the table. It helped him focus on the act of eating -- the portion in front of him, what he was putting into his body.
"Also, this really helps you sense that you're eating for a purpose -- nutrition," he said. "You taste the food a little bit more."
Taking a moment to be mindful about a meal also can cross over into other parts of life, he said -- like sleeping. Taking a moment to prepare for bed, to think through where you are, is important.
"All those things are mindful," he said. "We should be doing that with food as well."
The One Simple Thing series appears weekly, offering specific and small ways to improve health.
abowen@tribpub.com
