You want to lose weight? How you eat is as important as what you eat

Most dietary advice focuses on what foods you should or shouldn’t eat for optimal health.

While the content of your meals is important, thinking about how and when you eat can help you address many health concerns, including weight loss, digestion and chronic diseases.

Vivamayr in Austria is one of the world’s leading medical spas, regularly winning awards and accolades. Doctors and experts there believe that improving your digestion will improve almost every other system and process in your body.

They even say it can help you become more resilient.This is the advice they give to those following Mayr’s treatment.

1. Meal time is a key factor

The ideal eating time is breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12pm and dinner at 4pm. The last of these is unrealistic for most working people, so instead aim to finish eating four hours before going to bed. Eating after 9 p.m. leads to the production of ghrelin, sometimes called the hunger hormone. This makes us crave sugar and carbohydrates.

As long as you’re not underweight or advised to eat more often, allow four hours between the end of one meal and the start of the next. This gives your digestive system time to do its job.

2. Don’t snack – even healthy foods

In order not to interrupt the 4-hour break between meals, do not snack.

Snacking disrupts digestion, feeds bacteria, and in the long run can lead to type 2 diabetes.

3. Your meal portions should not be the same

You may have heard the adage “breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar”. In vivamayrthey swear by it.

They say breakfast should be your biggest meal of the day, lunch a little smaller, and dinner even smaller, ideally just a soup or something light.

4. Chew, chew and chew some more

You should chew each bite 40-60 times. Counting can get tedious, so instead, aim for the food to become liquid in your mouth and swallow.

Chewing not only makes food easier to digest, but also forces you to slow down so you know when you’re full and don’t overeat.

5. Eat mindfully

It will be much easier to remember to chew properly and stop when you are full if you are not distracted while eating. This means no screens, no books, no newspapers, and even conversation should be kept to a minimum if you’re truly following the “Mayr Way” strictly.

During my time in Vivamayr, I initially found it difficult to just focus on what I was eating. But a few things made it easier.

I started focusing on the color, texture, and smell of the food. I think about all the steps, people, and work that went into putting food on my plate.

There are actually a lot of things to keep your mind occupied when you slow down and look at food in a different way.

6. Stop when you are full

If you eat slowly, without distractions, and chew properly, you’ll find it much easier to feel full.

As soon as you feel full, stop eating, even if this means putting a plate with one or two pieces left in the refrigerator for later or the next day.

7. Do not eat raw food after 4 pm

Never eat raw fruits, vegetables, salads, dried fruits or smoothies after 4 p.m. Always heat them up – any method will do. The exception is fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, which are not considered ingredients.

It’s hardest for our systems to digest raw foods, and our digestion is slowest in the evening so they sit in the intestines and create gas and other problems.

8. Dietary supplements can help with digestion

If you are frequently constipated, supplements like magnesium citrate can help you move your bowels. Always consult your doctor before starting new supplements, even if they are herbal.