Mindful Eating: Dine Together Intentionally at Home and on Holiday

Mindful eating helps to make meals more enjoyable, and it offers potential benefits for health and well-being. Because of these benefits, it has become a very popular philosophy. To get the most out of mindful eating, discover more about the concept and how to build it into a longevity-focused lifestyle.

An important part of mindful eating is fully experiencing food by committing to a sensory appreciation of taste, colour, texture and scent. To do this, you'll need to avoid distractions like electronic devices and multitasking while eating. Removing these distractions improves mealtimes because friends and families can focus on each other, discuss the food and enjoy new settings when dining out. Eating mindfully is also about understanding hunger and feeling full, as well as thinking about where food comes from.

Mindful eating forms part of an intuitive eating programme, which is a broader approach to self care. Intuitive eating encourages rejection of fad diets and social pressures in favour of listening to the body's needs. Unlike dieting, mindful eating and intuitive eating do not focus on eliminating certain foods.

Developing daily mindful eating habits is simple but takes a little practice. Here are a few family-friendly techniques.

The 3 Rs of mindful eating are Recognise, Respond and Reflect.
 

• Recognise means understanding your hunger. This involves noting whether you are genuinely hungry or driven to eat by emotions such as stress.
• Respond is about making conscious choices and listening to your body. Focusing on nutrition and eating slowly helps you to feel well after eating, avoiding digestion and feeling lighter.
• Reflect means taking a moment to appreciate your food. Enjoy being satisfied by a good meal and consider whether changing some aspect of your meal could improve it next time.

The 5 Ss of mindful eating is a concept developed by psychologist Dr. Susan Albers.
 

• Sit down: Whenever possible, take a seat to focus on your food instead of eating on the go.
• Slowly chew: Eating slowly is a big part of eating mindfully. Eating with your left if you're right-handed (and vice versa) may help.
• Savour: Appreciate every aspect of your food, including flavour, aroma, texture and appearance.
• Simplify: Organise your kitchen to be uncluttered so that snacks stay packed away and only the food you plan to eat stays out.
• Smile: A smile between bites provides a chance to appreciate the food, consider whether you're still hungry and enjoy company.

The 80-20 rule of mindful eating suggests eating healthy food for 80% of your diet and leaving the other 20% for treats. You might decide to save your indulgences for the weekend or have a little treat once a day. This is another example of how eating mindfully is not only about the meal itself. Planning your daily and weekly diet takes a little time and thought, but it ultimately leaves you with more energy for other tasks.

Physical hunger is when the body genuinely needs nourishment, and emotional hunger is when we seek food as a distraction from boredom, stress and other emotional issues. Suddenly craving sweet, salty or fatty snacks tends to be related to emotional hunger, whereas physical hunger can be satisfied by a wider range of foods. Experiment with alternative distractions to replace comfort eating, such as doing something creative, calling a friend or going for a walk.

Mindful eating during family meals has benefits beyond food habits. Preparing and appreciating food together strengthens bonds and promotes high-quality family time. Even though getting together for dinner isn't easy every day, sharing a meal a few times a week is very beneficial.

Cooking from scratch contributes to mindfulness of where food comes from. When children join in, they'll have a better understanding of what is on their plate. Home cooking helps to avoid ultra-processed foods, too, which in turn leads to better family health. When you sit down to eat, try to do it in a dedicated space without distractions.
 

Even when you don't have time to cook, try to eat natural foods that take a bit of work at the table. For example, nuts that need cracking or fruits that need peeling. You could enjoy shrimp with a shell that needs to be removed. All of this encourages slower eating and more focus on the food.

Family holidays naturally help with mindful eating. Exciting new locations provide lots more to talk about at the dinner table, and intriguing new dishes prompt children to think about their meal. Eating mindfully during vacations ranges from enjoying leisurely breakfasts to seeking dedicated mindful eating retreats. Whatever role food plays in your trip, encourage children to take a moment to look at the plate before eating and to savour each bite.
 

French food culture lends itself to mindful eating, and Provence is ideal for leisurely picnics and discovering small towns where gastronomy is at the heart of life. Picture Novotel Antibes Sophia Antipolis, nestled in a forest setting within 15 minutes' drive of both Valbonne and Antibes. Both towns have regular Provençal markets that offer a chance to connect with artisans and local culinary culture.

When children (or adults!) are not happy with the food on their plate, mindful eating becomes much more difficult. As children get a little older, allow them more control over what they eat. When they are involved in preparing their meal and can focus on favourite ingredients, mindful eating comes naturally. Here are a few ideas to make family meals for fussy eaters.

Along with greater appreciation of food and mealtimes, mindful eating has physical benefits too.

There is a significant connection between mindful eating and weight loss. Managing emotional hunger reduces snacking and unhealthy eating, which are major causes of weight gain. In addition, eating more slowly and savouring food allows your brain time to realise that your stomach is full. As you cultivate mindfulness, you'll become more aware of your body's cues relating to hunger and fullness.

Simple well-being habits practised every day gradually form a consistent lifestyle that promotes longevity. Novotel's Longevity Everyday philosophy prioritises these consistent, "quiet well-being" lifestyle changes over trends that come and go. Staying with Novotel allows you to focus on these elements, resulting in more rewarding trips.
 

Novotel Paris Centre Tour Eiffel is the perfect example of a hotel where leisure and business guests all benefit from Novotel's wellness outlook. Take your time over light Japanese cuisine at Benkay and seasonal fare at Greem. Feel well during yoga classes, workouts in the health club and swims in the indoor pool where the roof opens to the sun.

Why not start by trying mindful eating during a short family break? Discover walking holidays in France or Brittany's best cycling routes.

Mindful eating for families is easy to get into with simple steps like eating more slowly and appreciating the sensory experience of food. Benefits include avoiding stress-related snacking, reducing fussy eating and making family holidays more enjoyable. Techniques like the 80-20 rule help to make mindful eating part of a longevity lifestyle for the whole family.