Want to know my best-kept secret for better digestion AND weight loss?

Wait! What? Digestion?

YES! We all know that suffering from digestive problems such as gas, bloating, reflux, stomach cramps, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, or inflammatory bowel disease can seriously make us miserable AND hinder our health goals, true?

Your gastrointestinal tract acts as your body’s “food processor” and if it’s blocked, overloaded, polluted with toxins such as food additives, pesticides, and preservatives, glutenous carbs, or otherwise irritated, it is going to let you know how it feels by having one of the reactions listed above. YIKES!

Your GI tract first breaks down your food by the mechanical process of CHEWING and then by a multitude of complex chemical processes that extract nutrients to “fuel" your system while eliminating toxins…IF it is functioning properly!

How can we RESCUE our system? The best way to ensure that we are helping make it easy for our bodies to digest our food is to CHEW A LOT so that our food mixes with our digestive juices. This way it aids digestion and is better absorbed for optimal nutrition.

So what is my best-kept secret to better digestion AND resultant weight loss?

SLOW DOWN AND CHEW!!!

Are you aware that saliva has important enzymes that help break down food which makes it easier to digest and assimilate? Amazing, huh? That means more of it gets used by the body vs being stored as fat…and we don’t want stored fat, right? So chewing our food multiple times, almost to the point of it being liquid, helps decrease the load on our digestive organs, make sense?

Learning how to chew your food properly (up to 30 times per bite) will help you extract the maximum nutrients from your food and get your digestive juices flowing right AND help keep your weight down and your tummy flat.

How? Because if you eat healthy food packed with nutrients that you CHEW properly with each bite, your brain will have the opportunity to experience satiety and therefore, you will eat less (vs. gobbling it up in a hurry and then wanting more)!

My clients find that learning how to slow down and chew has helped them to:

• Sense intuitively when they are full (satisfied)

• Experience a lot more satisfaction from the food they are eating

Improve digestion (less belly bloat, feel good in their jeans)

• Develop a healthier relationship with food (which means less sabotage and more weight loss too, if that is their goal)

Discover food sensitivities they had no idea they had

AND, most importantly, create SUSTAINABLE health habits

So HOW do you learn to chew better for optimal digestion & weight loss?

To get in the habit of chewing, try chewing each bite of food at the beginning of your next meal…30 times!!! Putting your fork down and BREATHING between bites will help. Even if you only have 10 minutes for a meal, let the chewing relax you and use it almost as a form of meditation. That way you’ll create a dining experience by enjoying the whole spectrum of sights, tastes, textures, and aromas that make up the meal. The result is that your body and brain will be satisfied even with a quickie. #winwin👌

What do you do now?

First of all, because this is a new habit (meaning you need to break the old habit of inhaling your food), I want you to consider a “pattern interrupter” in your eating space. What the heck is that? This is something that will serve as a REMINDER TO SLOW DOWN when you eat! So maybe put “SLOW DOWN” or “CHEW” on an index card or just a piece of paper in big letters and place it in your eating space. Many of my clients put it on their desk if they have a “working lunch” (which I don’t recommend by the way), or in front of their placemat at the dinner table, or on the table next to their chair if they eat while watching TV (something I also don’t recommend for a maximum “dining experience”)!

I also invite my clients to participate in a Chewing Game either alone or maybe have a contest with their family around the dinner table! Have fun with it! Each person counts how many times they can chew before swallowing…and then compare! See who completes chewing the most thoroughly!

In my coaching practice, I help clients understand why they eat in a rush and forget to chew and we come up with a how-to guide for chewing that is easy to implement and turns eating into a whole new enjoyable experience.

If you want to learn how to chew for better digestion that will lead to a flatter, firmer belly, and easier weight loss then click the link below to schedule a time to talk with me about it! Let’s explore some possibilities for you to improve not only your digestive health but also shed some unwanted pounds AND that nasty ole guilt/shame that goes along with it! Are you ready? Let’s chat!

Click here to schedule an appointment.

Your Transformational Body Confidence Coach, Dr. CAROL