At a recent conference, I heard an interesting talk! I know….I go to a lot of conferences….but; it gives me lots of material to share.  The title of the session was “Improving self management with Mindful Eating? The concept of mindful eating is over 25 years old; however it appears we haven’t evolved yet…people are not very mindful when it comes to food consumption. But…It’s a lot more complicated than I thought. We have to first understand the cycles of consumption. Why do we eat…When, What, How, How Much, and Where? These are questions to be assessed… at various points along the cycle.

A few take away messages:

Some people are Over-eaters, some are Restrictive-eaters and others are Instinctive-eaters.

We should all strive to become “instinctive” eaters.

The Over-eating cycle starts with eating based on triggers…like “it’s time” or “I’m stressed”. If hunger (the physiological drive), doesn’t tell you to start eating….when do you STOP? Usually when to food is gone! So, as you can imagine ….THE WHY, we eat…doesn’t start in a good place…and you end up with excess fuel. What is the body to do with food it doesn’t ask for? It stores it in the form of excess adipose tissue…or more commonly known as “fat”. OUT of CONTROL

The Restrictive eating cycle starts with eating based on “THE RULES”…or a book that encourages the ONLY path to weight loss is to follow a set of restrictions. People usually end up living their life with a constant stream of diets and rules?  You will eat ONLY according to the rules. Usually “good” or “allowed” foods can be eaten under certain guidelines. I’ve said it before …diets don’t work. This model is   IN-CONTROL...but flawed. There will never be a positive relationship around food with this approach, it creates yo-yo dieting.

The Instinctive eating starts with the cycle being driven by the body’s need for FUEL.

Why eat? For Fuel

When? When the body tells you …when you are hungry

What? Whatever you choose

How? This is the good stuff…

Intentionally…mindfully with awareness! Use your senses. Look at the food’s color and shape with full concentration. Smell the aroma, and taste the food by letting it LINGER in your mouth. Chew with intention…extracting all the flavor the food has to give. Feel the detail of a foods texture and hear the crunch, munch and pop as your mouth fully embraces the foods brilliance.

(adapted from: The Center for Mindful Eating- Mindfulness Practices)

How Much? Enough to satisfy hunger!

Where? Living your life, while enjoying FOOD!

Babies do this instinctively…WHY NOT YOU?

Le Greta