Mindful eating!

laurenista

laurenista

Full Member
Not sure if I'm in the right place but I've been doing mindful eating for the past two months and have lost a stone so far just wanted to see your thoughts on this.
Basically I read a book called eat what you love love what you eat. It was my last stop before the doctors to stop my emotional bingeing and it appears to have worked. The basic principles are to tap into your natural hunger instincts and to only eat when you are hungry, eat what you are hungry for and stop when you are full. It's a lot like Paul McKenna but worked better for me! It talks a lot about nutrition and exercise too.

So far today I've eaten

B- crumpets and light cheddar
2 cups of coffee with skimmed milk

L- 2 slices of breaded ham
Small bowl of red pepper and wensleydale cheese soup
Nectarine
 
Hi Lauren, I read a fair bit about mindful eating, but have not tried to really do it. Your post has spurred me on to do it. It seems so simple and logical x
 
Pleased to help.
It is very simple no fads no rules and your never deprived because you can have anything you want, when you want it :)
It gets rid of having good and bad food so there's no guilt
It's the easiest I've ever lost weight and I have never felt like I was trying to diet or exercising for weight loss I'm only doing the things I enjoy and want to do!
I'm the happiest I've been in a long time
Lauren x
 
I've read several books along these lines over the years, but I was never able to stick with the programme for long enough to make much of a difference. I struggled with suggestions that you should always sit at a table and not watch TV while eating, etc.

Slimpods (see the Slimpod sub forum) appear to have changed things for me, so that mindful eating is actually possible - it no longer gets drowned out by those inner urges to eat and eat and eat. I still find mindfulness useful in dealing with inappropriate eating urges (i.e. Not physically hungry but still want to eat) - sometimes I can mindfully notice that I have this urge, be curious about it, but refrain from acting on it. Doesn't always work, and I don't always remember to do it, but it usually helps me when I do.

If course, if I *am* physically hungry between meals I do eat something, but try to make it a healthy snack rather than a bar of chocolate.

Barbara
 
Eat what you Love Love what you eat hasn't really imposed any rules at all, its more like ways to detect hunger etc. i couldn't stick to any promgramme that imposed rules tried a few but failed at the month mark and just found it really difficult and depriving xxxxx
 
I had a look at this book on Amazon and it looks really good. There is also version for people with diabetes, which I have - that was one drawback of one of the early non-dieting approaches I tried (Overcoming Overeating), because the instruction there was to eat *exactly* what you fancied, even if that was double-rich chocolate cake - and that's just not a good idea for someone with diabetes.

At the same time - I have never done well with programmes which tried to control what I ate, whether that be counting calories, points or fat grams, or telling me to limit/avoid certain types of food. The good thing I'm finding lately is that I am losing my taste for many of the less healthy foods, such as cakes and fried things. Much of the time I don't fancy them. If I do, it doesn't take very much to satisfy me.... and I sometimes find that they are a bit disappointing, so I suppose that makes me les likely to want them next time.

That's the joy of slimpods - no rules about what you can and can't eat, just suggestions which work gently in your unconscious mind to change what you want to eat. It sounds like this book is having a similar impact for you, which is brilliant.

Barbara
 
I've just read up on slimming pods they sound great! And even better that they are helping so many people. I'd never heard of them until now.

On another note I ate 2 fajitas last night and it was far too much for me!! I spent the night after feeling sick and in pain. Usually I'll walk the dog to try get rid of the pain but an hours walk didn't cure it at all. Next time it's 1 fajita for me and just because it's my fave meal doesn't mean I have to eat it all I know I'll be able to make it again some time

Lauren x
 
What used to be the start of an eating splurge.... is now too much! I love it.

I've had the experience several times of forgetting to pay attention, and mindlessly eating enough to make myself uncomfortable. It really worried me at first that I was going backwards, but I have become more relaxed about it, and also about the occasional when I do have treats, or feel a bit of the old compulsions. They are learning experiences for me, and over time they are becoming less frequent. I'm looking forward to just being a natural eater who doesn't worry about food and weight - just got to accept that it will take a good bit of time to get there.

Barbara
 
Mindful eating is the way to go, not just mindful eating though mindfulness in the main is the way to go, I am doing mindfulness as part of my DBT (dialectical behaviour therapy) for my binge eating disorder and its working wonders for me. I have lost 2 stone 1 lb in 7 weeks through following the principles of DBT which involves mindfulness, loving kindness practice and distress tolerance, its all about working on your mind set and improving your mood, situation etc etc and at the same time being more mindful of what you are doing. I personally think its the best thing I have ever done, I have never been able to stop my binges, I starved all day and binged every evening for years as a way of pushing down my emotions now I face up to my emotions and have learnt new ways of coping with them other than using food and I am now not binge eating, its like a miracle in itself, its hard work learning new ways of coping, changing the habits of a lifetime takes time and practice and you will have slip ups when you go back every so often to your past ways of coping but it really can change your life for the better.

I know from working with eating disorder specialists the whole idea behind using DBT is its a much more balanced approach, it goes away from the all or nothing ideas, so very restrictive diets would be frowned upon as not being the way to tackle say an eating disorder long term as it feeds into the all or nothing tendencies people with serious eating disorders have. Its all about moderation/ the middle path so healthy eating with built in treats, nothing being off limits, no bad food no good food, everything allowed in moderation. I find this works for me like nothing has ever done before and I have been a binge eater since I was a young child and now for the first time in years food isn't as powerful , I am getting back in control of my life and the food I eat. Em x
 
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I agree Em. I am a nursing student and I took a mindfulness course and it really makes me appreciate everything more!

Lauren xX
 
This is something I keep hearing about! Sounds pretty interesting, just makes me think of going slowly lol :rolleyes:

Anyone recommend any books on the subject?
 
Eat what you love love what you eat is a great book
It gives you lots of ways to work on getting back to eating instinctively. It's gives you techniques of how to figure it out etc

I got it on my kindle for under £5

Xxxx
 
This is really interesting. When I had a lapse on lighterlife my counsellor asked me if my eating had been mindful and I din't have a clue what she meant so will definitely check this out.
 
Hi,

It basically means bringing your full attention to what you're eating - not allowing yourself to be distracted by TV/radio/doing something else. Then you deliberately notice the taste, smell, texture of every mouthful.... enjoy it fully before you swallow it. Notice how it feels in your mouth, as you swallow, and how your stomach feels once you've swallowed. Doing this will automatically slow your eating down, which has several advantages.

You may notice that what you're eating doesn't actually taste that good! Most of us eat an awful lot of highly processed food - but we stuff it down so quickly that half the time we don't even notice what it tastes like. And when you REALLY taste it, you will often find that it tastes like what it is - a conglomeration of chemicals. Mindful eaters tend to gravitate towards more natural foods.

Also, you give your body time to 'notice' that there is food coming in, and for the message to get through to your brain that you've had all you need. Mindless eaters tend to plough on regardless and finish the plate - mindful eaters often leave food because they realise they are satisfied, so they generally eat less.

Other features of mindful eating are that you eat when you are actually hungry, rather than because the clock says so. This can cause problems when you eat with other people, so you have to find a way of negotiating that. For instance, if you know that you don't usually want lunch much before 2 but your family are throwing a party for granny's 90th birthday at 12, you could decide to eat less for breakfast, or even skip it, so that you are ready to eat at 12. Or you could decide that, even though you are not hungry, you will keep everyone company because you love your granny, but just have a very small portion and eat it slowly.

Mindfulness is also about noticing your feelings around food, and realising that an urge is only an urge, and does not necessarily have to be acted on. This can be useful for dealing with emotionally-based cravings - you can choose to observe them and "cruise the urge" - just noticing that it's there - and you will discover that cravings which are not indulged will fade. You can also chose to cruise your physical hunger - for instance if you are fasting - and will discover that this also comes and goes.

It's a voyage of discovery. You learn that there are some things you can control and other things you can't. You can't control cravings - but you don't have to let them control you, either!

Barbara
 
Thanks Barbara,
That makes a lot of sense. I think for me, the key is to stop acting on urges which are only in my mind. I know they are not physical as I am in ketosis and therefore not hungry so it is all in the mind but up till now I have found it near on impossible not to act on them.
 
One aspect I forgot to mention is curiosity.... when you feel an urge to eat, examine it as a scientist would. Where do you feel it physically, emotionally? What does it feel like? What prompted it - what were you doing before it arose? How strong is it on a scale of one to ten? Urges arise, persist and fade - you can watch it come, and watch it go.

By doing this, you sort of detach yourself from the urge - you are outside it, observing it, even though it is inside you. All this means that it becomes easier NOT to give in to it. Every minute that you don't give in to the urge is a victory - and helps you believe you don't need to give in to it. Whatever the food is you're craving, you can tell yourself that you will include it in your next meal. (When you get to that meal, you can change your mind!)

All this, just from paying attention!

Barbara
 
just wanted to say your last post BarbaraG was fab, gives people out there who maybe don't know much about mindfulness and mindful eating a much better insight! I have to agree with everything you wrote, all the things you mentioned is what my dialectical behaviour therapy is concentrating on, its absolutely life changing in my opinion as I have struggled all my life as many have on here but for me its been the key this time to really feeling like I am turning my life around, Em x
 
Had a few days of non mindful eating need to get my head back in it!! I've sat this morning re-reading the important parts of the book to get me started!
It's been my grandads 70th birthday and he had an all say party yesterday so I've had a brilliant time!!! But back to acknowledging what I'm eating as I haven't really eaten too much just haven't been as healthy as I like to be

Lauren xX
 
Gutted - I can't find it in paperback on amazon other than the diabetes version. Will get the wife to get it on her kindle for me, but I much prefer real book.
 
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