Nothing makes us happier than when we see or hear about our bread helping people to live life to the fullest (or LivLife if you will 😉).
We receive a variety of wonderful feedback including beautifully written emails from recently diagnosed diabetes patients figuring out their new diet and discovering they can enjoy our bread – with advice from their dietitian. Along with sports enthusiasts who have been exploring the Keto diet to help reach their physical goals and discovering our half the carbs bread has enabled them to reach their targets.
It’s not just these big shifts in lifestyle that we’ve noticed our bread contributes to, it’s also the small moments, those that add up little by little to enhance your whole well-being. We’re talking about small Mindful Moments.
It was this tranquil post shared by @frankketo_ enjoying LivLife bread with comforting jam, a view of greenery and warm sunlight beaming in that inspired us to delve deeper into little moments of bliss and mindful eating ( we can all agree 2020 is THE year if any to find joy in the small things).
Pre Covid-19, more often than not, food was rushed – grab it on the go before a meeting or eating whilst in transit to the next location we were required to be at. The virus put a halt to that. A positive result has been we’ve all been forced to look inward, find joys in our homes, in the small tasks we could do within our restricted ‘lockdown’ lives and what bigger joy than food? But how often do you really stop to focus on what you’re eating and experience it with all senses?
The brilliant mindfulness app Headspace offers great advice on mindful eating along with a 30 Day Mindful Eating Course which encourages you to practice staying present when enjoying food. We loved their tips on how to fully experience each meal with every sense, so wanted to share with you.
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See
What does your food look like? How many different colours are there? What ingredients do you see?
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Smell
How does your food smell? Sweet, savoury, or somewhere in between? Do you smell a specific ingredient?
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Feel
Is your food hot or cold? Crunchy or soft? Are you touching it with your hands, or using utensils?
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Hear
Can you hear your food sizzling, simmering or being stirred? Does it have a crunch? Are there sounds happening around you?
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Taste
What flavours do you taste? Do you taste and specific ingredients? Does the flavour change over time?
We also found this infographic from Mindful.com really useful to quickly decifer the difference between Mindless Eating and Mindful Eating.
Another way to invest in yourself and fully tune into your body is to journal. Different foods affect our moods, if you’re surfing the Corona coaster as many of us are, your diet may be able to help balance mood swings and energy levels. For example, protein contains amino acids, which make up the chemicals your brain requires to regulate thoughts and feelings. You could have a food intolerance that causes you to feel sluggish and slow, or trigger spikes in your blood sugar levels.
Try it out, make a note of what you’re eating and drinking, the times you are consuming these and what your energy levels, mood and any physical responses are. You may see a pattern emerging which will enable you to eat more mindfully and live life to its fullest!
