Bloating: 3 Simple and Effective Ways To Prevent It

⅓ people experience digestive un-ease throughout the day. Bloating is one of the most common issues. Nobody likes a feeling of a bloated stomach.

bloated stomachYour body is a vehicle that allows you to create the change in the world that you want to see and to enjoy many pleasures of life. The state of your body is largely determined by the state of your digestion. If your digestion is assimilating the nutrients, your body is building healthy cells and blood, if your digestion eliminates all the waste efficiently and timely, you enjoy a clear mind and vibrant energy. When you take care of your digestion, your body gets into an optimal thriving state from which you can step into your full potential mentally physically and emotionally.

There is no clear mind, no inspiration, no lightness, in a body with a badly constipated GI tract. A bloated stomach is a worst mood killer and it creates a wall between your amazing potential and you.

To be able to step into your power, to act from the place of inspiration and clarity, your digestion should be assimilating all the nutrients that you need, eliminating all the waste, and doing it in a seamless fashion so that you can focus on living your life and changing the world.

So let’s focus on 3 simple ways to prevent post-meal bloating!

  • Slow  down – we often claim to eat food because we like the taste. Some people tend to avoid foods that they love because they are afraid to overeat. ‘It is so hard to stop! It is so good!’ I lose control over myself’ – they would say. However, we taste the food only while it is on our tongue. This is where our taste receptors are. If you rush and swallow one bite after another one without properly chewing and savoring the food, you are missing out on the taste. End result is that you overeat and don’t feel satisfied even after stuffing yourself. It is not a matter of maintaining control and relying on willpower! It is a matter to pausing and taking it slow. Good eating habits are a lot like good sex: it is all about being present, slowing down, and savoring! 🙂 If you commit to slowing down and savoring like a connoisseur, the amount of food you want to eat will greatly reduce and you will feel nourished and satisfied with smaller portions and avoid a bloated stomach. It is one of the lessons that has to be experienced to be internalized and fully understood. Join me next Wed, july 10 2013 to learn how to slow down without feeling awkward and artificial. Make some like-minded healthy friends at the upcoming workshop on mindful eating for weightloss and overcoming emotional eating. Register here.
  • Find food that works for you – this is a matter of experimenting and finding your inner wisdom. We are so bombarded with nutrition and diet information that it can be difficult not to feel overwhelmed. How do you make sense out of all the contradicting theories and approaches? Do you choose vegan, gluten free, paleo, dairy free, raw, ayurvedic? Nobody besides you can make this decision. Once you make it, it better be based on Inner Wisdom – feedback that you body shared. If you are having hard time finding your inner wisdom, start a detailed food log where you can mention how you feel after eating a certain food (2 hours after, 4 hours after, 24 hours after). It will help you to be more mindful of the internal shifts that food creates in your body. Soon you will start noticing trends and will feel more in-tune with your body. Once you feel that you can rely on your intuition and your sensations, you won’t need the food log anymore. Depending on the state of your digestion, you might need to reduce certain foods or change the way you cook them to avoid bloating. For example, soaking beans for 24-48 hours prior to cooking will help to reduce post-meal bloating and gas. Choosing yeast and gluten free bread might be another compassionate thing to do for your belly. If you have lactose intolerance be kind enough to yourself to avoid dairy. Chewing foods veggies well and keeping food combinations simple usually helps to prevent a bloated stomach after meals, as well.
  • Eat ‘just right’ amount of food – did you know that your stomach can fit only about 2 handfuls of food at a time? It is pretty small! Eating more food stretches it out creating a bloated stomach feeling. If you overeat on a regular basis, most likely you are not eating mindfully, not paying attention to satiety and fullness, and might be eating for emotional reasons and too fast. Eating about 2 handfuls and being satisfied with the meal means that you need to figure out the right amount of dense and water-rich foods. If you eat 2 handfuls of water-rich salad leaves, you might feel full for an hour but then you will be hungry again. If you eat 2 full handfuls of nuts or meat, you will feel full but probably also very heavy! So it is a matter of finding the right proportion for you. Add some oil to your salad or sauteed veggies, if having a fruit meal, sprinkle some hemp seeds or raw pumpkin butter on the side, balance out protein with lots of dark greens, and try not to load up on 2 handfuls of just cookies:)

If you have other tips that you use to keep your belly happy and flat, please shEMotionaleatingbannerare them in the comments! Everyone’s body is different, so your tips might really help another person out. Don’t hold back! Sharing is caring!

If you are in NYC, join me for the upcoming workshop on mindful eating for weight loss and overcoming emotional eating. Register here

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