Mindful Eating By Demi Eckhoff and Jenn Parent

Objectives •  Define mindfulness •  Participate in mindfulness activity •  Define mindful eating and characteristics of mindful eaters •  Explain mindful eating BASICS •  Identify challenges and describe tips for mindful eating •  Summarize benefits •  Questions •  Discussion

Mindfulness •  How many people know about

mindfulness and mindful eating? •  Examples, experiences, etc.

Mindfulness •  Mindfulness: a state of active, open attention on the

present

•  Completely living in the moment and valuing present experiences, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future

•  Carefully observing your thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judging them as good or bad

5 Senses Activity 1.  What are 5 new things you can see?

2.  What are 4 new things you can feel?

3.  What are 3 new things you can hear?

4.  What are 2 new things you can smell?

5.  What is 1 new things you can taste?

Mindful Eating •  Mindful eating: “eating with intention while paying

attention” - Kati Konersman, RD CDE

•  Practice of enjoying your food and listening to your body’s hunger and fullness cues without judgment

Aspects of Mindful Eating •  Using all your senses to choose food that is both

satisfying to you and nourishing to your body

•  Acknowledging responses to food (likes, dislikes, or neutral) without judgment

•  Becoming aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decisions to begin and end eating

A Mindful Eater •  Acknowledges there is no right or wrong way to eat

•  Just varying degrees of awareness and experiences

•  Accepts that their eating experience is unique

•  Directs their attention to eating on a moment-by-moment basis

A Mindful Eater •  Gains awareness of how they can make choices to

support health and well-being

•  Becomes aware of their habitual patterns of acting, feeling, and thinking and starts actively making choices instead

Mindless Eating •  You may be mindlessly eating if:

•  You often feel overly full or sick after eating •  You don’t pay attention to the foods you are

preparing/eating •  You are frequently distracted (TV, phone, etc) while

eating •  You rush through meals •  You eat to deal with your emotions (stressed, sad)

Mindful Eating BASICS •  Belly check before you eat •  Assess and check your food •  Slow down •  Investigate hunger throughout meal •  Chew food thoroughly •  Savor your food

Mindful Eating BASICS ❖ (B)elly check before you eat: Notice if

you have sensations of hunger. How hungry are you? What are you hungry for?

Mindful Eating Basics

Mindful Eating Basics ❖ (A)ssess and check out your food:

What does your food look like? Notice colors. Does it look appealing? What does it smell like?

Mindful Eating Basics ❖ (S)low down: This can help you digest

your food, enjoy your meal, and be able to tell whether you are still hungry or full. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register fullness.

Mindful Eating Basics ❖ (I)nvestigate your hunger throughout the

meal: Keep bringing your attention back to eating, tasting, and assessing your hunger/fullness throughout the meal. Give yourself permission to continue or stop eating based on these cues.

Mindful Eating Basics ❖ (C)hew your food thoroughly: Your

body will process the food more efficiently.

Mindful Eating Basics ❖ (S)avor your food: Pick food that

nourishes your body and appeals to your taste buds. Be fully present for the experience of eating and truly enjoy your food.

Mindful Eating Plate

Challenges •  Culture of multi-tasking

•  Eating while driving, reading, watching TV

•  Rely only on external cues or emotions to guide how much/what to eat

Tips for Mindful Eating ●  Pick an eating environment that supports mindful eating. ○  Table, limited distractions

●  Think about why you are eating. Are you eating on “autopilot” or emotionally eating?

●  Make your own educated choices about food. ○  Media, other people

Challenges •  Medical conditions or other specific circumstances that

limit certain foods or affect eating patterns

•  Schedules don’t always allow for the ability or time to practice mindful eating

Tips for Mindful Eating ●  Rephrase the way you think about food in relation to your

medical condition or circumstance.

●  Remember mindful eating is NOT a diet.

●  Remember mindful eating is not all or nothing. You don’t have to do it perfectly or 100% of the time.

Benefits of Mindful Eating •  Can lead to positive, lasting change

•  Not a diet, not about restrictive choices

•  Food becomes something to enjoy rather than a temptation or regret

•  Slower pace of meal allows your brain to hear the “I’m full” signals from your stomach

Benefits of Mindful Eating •  Improved digestion

•  Can help decrease bloating, gas, and discomfort after meals

•  Improved sense of hunger and fullness

•  Weight loss or weight management

•  Increased self-esteem

•  Better relationship with food

Conclusion •  Mindful eating is not a diet, and it is not all or nothing.

•  Mindful eating is about using your senses to truly enjoy your food and nourishing your body in a way that makes you feel good.

Questions?

Discussion •  What are your thoughts on mindfulness and

mindful eating? •  Did your thoughts change any after the

presentation?

•  Do you see yourself using mindful eating? •  If so, how/when? If not, why?

References •  The Health Benefits of Mindful Eating. Michigan State University Extension. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/

the_health_ benefits_of_mindful_eating. Published November 15, 2017. Accessed July 19, 2018. •  Introducing Mindful Eating. The Center for Mindful Eating - Six Mindful Eating Activities that Promote Lasting

Change. https://www.thecenterformindfuleating.org/IntroMindfulEating/. Accessed July 13, 2018. •  Koenigsberger, D, Fortney, L MD. University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Mindful Eating:

Discovering a Better Relationship With Your Food. http://www.fammed.wisc.edu/files/webfm-uploads/documents/outreach/im/handout_ mindful_eating.pdf. Published September 2010. Accessed July 19, 2018.

•  Mathieu, J. (2009). What should you know about mindful and intuitive eating? Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 109(12), 1982- 1987.

•  Mindful Eating. The Psych Professionals. https://psychprofessionals.com.au/mindful-eating/. Accessed July 19, 2018.

•  Mindfulness. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/mindfulness. Accessed July 13, 2018.

•  Mindfulness Exercises (Worksheet). Therapist Aid. https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheet/mindfulness-exercises. Accessed July 13, 2018.

•  Nelson JB. Mindful Eating: The Art of Presence While You Eat. Diabetes Spectr. 2017;30(3):171 LP-174. http://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/30/3/171.