Small change(s)
Little things add up over time. Let’s say you put $1 a day in a jar for your child’s savings. It may not seem worth the bother doing just a dollar a day but if you did that consistently each day until they turned 18 years old then they’d have over $6,550 (that’s not including interest). I think they’d be pretty happy about that!
Or if you’re trying to lose weight and you lost half a kilo a month that would be 6 kilos in a year!
Even if you’re goal was to lose 15 kilos, yes it would take 2.5 years to achieve but at least it’s at rate that wouldn’t be too hard to maintain each month and you’re much less likely to fall off the wagon and put all the weight back on and more.
Let’s look at something you may not have thought about. The smaller details matter!
Let’s look at not what you eat but HOW you eat.
A lot of us (including me) find ourselves eating in front of the computer. The usual position is sitting, hunched over with your head forward towards the screen. This could be at home or at work and you could be reading something work related, social or news orientated.
Now I’m going to break it down further:
Your alignment- With your head jutting forward, the food you’re eating now has to travel more sideways rather than straight down your throat. Being crouched over is also going to make digestion harder as everything inside your torso is getting compressed. Studies have shown increased cortisol levels (the so called stress hormone) just from being in a fetal position!
Distraction- Not paying attention to what you eat means you brain has less input on telling your body you’re getting full which means you’re more likely to overeat thus consuming more calories than needed.
The topic you’re reading- If it’s work or news related the chances are that this might add another level of stress to your body while eating. That’s the last thing you want for good digestion. When you look at the nervous system you can either be in “Rest and Digest” mode or “Fight or Flight” mode but not both at the same time. Studies have shown you can absorb up to 50% less nutrients from your foods when in a stressful mindset. This makes sense as in stressful situations the blood flows away from your digestive system and to your extremities in order to fight or make flight.
How you chew- do you use the same side of your mouth to chew your food. Even in the jaw we want to get even muscle use as well as balance the wear and tear from our teeth. If you don’t chew your food enough it makes it harder on your digestive system to break down and could be a contributing factor to conditions like IBS. As we age we have less acid in our stomach. We need the acid in the right amount to break down and absorb what we need from the foods. This is especially important for those who’ve taken any antacid medications on a regular basis.
The speed at which you eat- I’m always trying to slow myself down. Again, the slower you eat, the better you’ll digest it, the more nutrients you’ll draw from it and the fuller you’ll feel without needing as much food, saving you calories and money!
Remember the accumulative effect. You can get away with a fair amount for quite some time but it will catch up with you. Making very small adjustment now will pay dividend in the future.
So sit up straight with your head centered over your shoulders, switch off for 10 minutes and slowly eat and enjoy your food. Food is meant to be enjoyed and not just thrown down to fuel you for the next few hours to come.
Thanks for reading!
Rich
