A Mindful Eating Exercise to Unlock Weight Loss Success
When a client wants to lose weight, the first questions are about the meal plan and exercise routine. What should I eat for breakfast? How long should I work out? In the natural, it seems like this is where the results will come from – but what about mindful eating exercises?
In fact, one of the most impactful transformations on your weight loss journey isn't about shifting what you eat but how you eat – that's what mindful eating is all about! As you develop a positive relationship with food and a deeper appreciation for your body, you'll uncover a peaceful path to a healthy weight.
More About Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a buzzword for mental health and stress relief but is also a key factor in sustainable weight loss. In a nutshell, mindfulness means focusing on the present moment and savoring your experiences.
A mindfulness practice places value on the following:
Honesty
Compassion
Non-judgment
Non-striving
Kindness
Generosity
Curiosity - also known as "beginner's mind."
If you've struggled with your weight, body image, and eating habits over the years, then it's essential to pause here. As you reflect on these values, how does that change your views and internal dialogue related to diet?
What does it look like when you examine eating and your body with compassion, kindness, and curiosity – not judgment? Undoubtedly, if you practice gratitude and invest in a little mindful eating exercise, you'll have a healthier relationship with your rumbling stomach.
You can cultivate mindful awareness through informal and formal mindfulness practices. Here are some examples specific to mindful eating.
Informal practices might include:
Preparing meals from scratch
Noticing the sights, smells, and textures in your meals
Reflection on how certain foods make you feel
Thinking about why you are eating
Formal practices might include:
Meditation
Guided exercises or recordings
Writing in a journal
A mindfulness eating exercise such as the raisin meditation (grab some raisins and find out how to do it here)
Mindful eating activities help you discover emotional triggers, pay attention to physical sensations, and develop intuitive eating. Plus, they will reduce eating mindlessly and help you break free of fad diets!
If thoughts of food consume your every waking moment or you have a history of eating disorders, please take a step to reach out for professional help and counseling. It's time for us to be healthy in all areas.
Food nourishes and sustains your body and should also be enjoyed. Let's move from battling food to embracing a healthy relationship and eating practice.
Getting Started With Mindful Eating
When you eat mindfully, the goal isn't just to focus on what goes into your body and how you feel before, during, and after you eat.
Practicing mindfulness helps reduce stress, cravings, and mental distractions so that you can make more intentional decisions about everything, including your health.
When you're mindful, you're more in tune with your body's emotional and physical signals. If you're willing to slow down to uncover your eating behaviors' root causes and triggers, you can understand why you make your choices and improve self-control. You'll be able to build stronger healthy eating habits.
Enter mindful eating, a practice that can dramatically transform your relationship with food, aiding in weight loss and overall well-being.
5 Benefits Of Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is an approach that involves paying full attention to the experience of consuming food and drink, dialing in on what's going on both inside and outside the body. It's about noticing the colors, smells, textures, flavors, temperatures, and even the sounds of our food.
But more than that, it's about tuning into our body's hunger and fullness cues and acknowledging our emotional responses to food without judgment.
Eating mindfully means being aware of what you eat, how much you consume, and why you want to eat in the first place.
Read on to unpack the five benefits of mindful eating and how to start eating more mindfully today!
Transform Your Relationship With Food to Friend, Not Foe
Diet culture often demonizes certain foods, turning eating into a guilt-ridden activity. Mindful eating changes this narrative. It allows you to see food as a friend, not an enemy or unhealthy coping tool.
By paying attention to how different foods make your body feel, you can start making choices that nourish and satisfy you rather than cause cravings and deprivation. This shift in perspective is a key step for sustainable weight loss.
In addition, you'll appreciate balanced choices that help you feel energized, not sluggish and bloated. You want to be in touch with your physical hunger and satiety signals. And as you observe your eating patterns, you'll build the bridge to a healthier mind-body connection.
2. Manage Stress and Eliminate Emotional Eating with Mindfulness
Emotional eating — or using food to cope with stress — can significantly hinder weight loss. Stress eating is extremely common. When we've had a stressful day, we may reach for an alcoholic beverage or comfort food.
Mindless eating due to stress and boredom was an issue during the 2020 lockdown due to the pandemic.
Mindful eating helps eliminate unproductive habits and cycles by bringing awareness to your emotions and how they influence your eating habits. You can reduce binge eating and impulsive eating habits with the right time, attention, and mindful eating exercises.
Recognizing and addressing underlying emotions head-on – instead of numbing, stuffing, and avoiding them – is essential for your physical and mental-emotional well-being.
General mindful practices to help with stress include:
Mindful breathing exercises
Meditation
Journaling - You can even keep a food journal and include reflections on why you ate and what you were thinking and feeling at the time.
You can also investigate ways to cope with stress other than eating. Brainstorm a list of activities such as:
Taking a walk
Calling a friend
Playing with your pet
Watching a funny movie
What else can you add to this list that you love personally and will help focus your mind and lighten your mood?
3. Moderate Your Food Intake Without Feeling Deprived
One of the primary benefits of mindful eating is its ability to help you tune into your body's natural hunger and fullness cues. Eating slowly and deliberately gives your body time to signal when it's had enough.
This helps you moderate your food intake and avoid overeating, leading to better portion control and, ultimately, weight loss. The Japanese concept of hara hachi bu — eating until you are 80% full — is a great strategy that promotes mindful eating!
4. Prevent Mindless Munching and Become Aware of Your Habits
We've all found ourselves mindlessly snacking out of boredom or stress. I'm prone to trekking to my pantry to procrastinate, especially when tackling a difficult project—mindless eating almost always leads to consuming more calories than we need.
In contrast, mindful eating encourages you to be present for every bite. That means questioning why you're reaching for that snack. Are you truly hungry, or are you bored, stressed, or tired? By becoming aware of these habits, you can make conscious decisions that align with your weight loss goals.
Another issue might be constant caffeine intake. Caffeine can be great for an energy boost (especially when paired with healthy food choices), but it can also lead to an unhealthy dependence and perpetuate the cycle of relying on external sources to mask deeper issues – like being stressed or overcommitted.
Stop and consider why you're reaching for coffee or energy drinks. Then, you can determine whether your body needs them. Maybe some deep breathing, a power nap, or walking outside is a better option.
5. Cultivate Compassion and Acceptance for Your Body with Mindful Eating
Lastly, mindful eating promotes self-love and acceptance. It encourages you to treat your body respectfully and kindly, regardless of shape or size. This positive body image can motivate you to make healthier choices and sustain your weight loss efforts in the long run.
Too often, our relationship with food and our weight is combative. It can be loaded with shame, disgust, and comparison. But it's exhausting to be in a battle constantly! And in a fighting mentality, someone has to lose.
Who is winning and losing when you're fighting a battle with your body and weight?
Maybe you've heard of the concept of a zero-sum game versus a win-win or infinite game. In a zero-sum game, one party's win means another's loss. The other option is that both parties can find a mutually beneficial arrangement.
That's what eating should be! With a positive relationship in eating, we provide our bodies with essential energy and nutrients, and these healthy choices taste good and fill us up. With the right healthy habits + mindsets, our weight should be in a healthy zone while we enjoy our mindful eating plate as part of our daily routine.
Eating Mindfully Exercise: Practical Steps for Mindful Eating
Wondering how to put all these principles into practice? Here is a mindful eating checklist to help you apply the principles above:
Recognize Your Hunger: Before eating, take a moment to ask yourself how hungry you are on a hunger scale of 1 to 10. This will help you decide how much food you need to feel satisfied, not stuffed.
Consider Your Mood: Are you eating because you're physically hungry, or do your emotions trigger automatic eating as a response to sadness, boredom, or stress? Acknowledging your emotions can help you identify "emotional eating."
Appreciate Your Food: Take a moment to appreciate your food's appearance, smell, and texture before you take the first bite. This can help create a moment of gratitude for the food you're about to eat.
Eat Slowly: Take small, mindful bites and chew slowly. This gives your body time to recognize when it's full and can prevent overeating.
Check In With Yourself: Regularly check in with yourself during your meal. What are your hunger cues and bodily sensations? If you're getting full, it might be time to stop. Try to avoid eating past the point of fullness.
Limit Distractions: Eat without distractions like television, smartphones, or work. This can help you focus on the experience of eating, notice your body's cues more accurately, and be in the moment.
Show Kindness to Yourself: It's important to remember that mindful eating is not about being perfect. If you overeat or indulge in a treat, show compassion to yourself and remember that it's just one meal. The next meal is a new opportunity to practice mindful eating again.
The more you practice these mindful eating activities, the more they'll become second nature.
Another tip for eating healthy foods is finding a natural rhythm for refueling with healthy snacks throughout your day. Keep a stock of healthier snack choices on hand and avoid getting uncomfortably hungry. This will allow you to have a mindful decision-making process about what to eat because you won't be ravenous and overwhelmed!
The Mediterranean Diet is a healthy eating pattern and ideal for Mindful Eating.
How to Eat Mindfully Every Day: Eat Slowly and Pay Attention
Starting your mindful eating journey can be as simple as taking a few moments before each meal to appreciate your food. Take small bites, chew thoroughly, and savor every flavor. Put your utensils down between bites and check in with your hunger and fullness levels throughout the meal.
Remember, mindful eating is not a diet or a quick fix. It's a lifelong journey towards a healthier and happier relationship with food. So be patient with yourself and celebrate every step forward on this path to mindfulness and well-being.
Health & Wellness Coaching
In conclusion, the ultimate aim of holistic Health and Wellness Coaching isn't only achieving physical wellness goals. It also involves fostering a healthy, sustainable relationship with food and nurturing your mental well-being. Coaching is about cultivating strategies and habits that are beneficial in the short term and have a long-lasting, positive impact on your overall quality of life. Remember, your journey to wellness is not a race but a lifelong commitment to making mindful, health-oriented decisions that benefit both your body and mind. Embrace every step of this journey with patience, positivity, and self-love, and witness the transformative power of holistic wellness in your life.