Can Mindful Eating Help You Lose Weight?

Long ago I was on a run to pick up a piece of equipment that I wanted very badly and was anxious to put into use. I stopped at a Chinese restaurant where they knew me and we enjoyed each others company. Since I was alone i ordered and pulled out the manual. when my meal arrived I kept reading the manual. Suddenly I was aware one of the folks I knew there was standing at the table. "You must not do that." He said to me "Very bad for digestion and brain." I quite and kept track of that ever after and find this to be a very accurate statement.

Well done!

jdiehl of IN 11:38PM April 09, 2011

There seems to be a misconception around the concept and practice of Mindful Eating, and what that truly entails. I see this from the comments that have been posted in response to this article. True Mindful Eating practice is not about scheduling out what you will eat, measuring and/or counting cups/teaspoons/calories, etc, etc, in ANY way! Mindful Eating is about learning to pay attention to your body and it's true and authentic signals for what it needs, and responding accordingly. This means eating exactly what it calls for, whenever and wherever it needs to be nourished, eating in a way that you can truly experience everything possible from every morsel and bite, and stopping when you are sated (not full). This does not mean that you avoid fats, or eat only certain kinds of foods, etc - unless there is a medical reason (such as celiac disease or diabetes) for you not to eat certain foods or to limit them. The reason here is that your body has a wisdom and a knowing of what it needs that is innate, but over time we have been trained to ignore this inner knowing and to shut it down. So, it can take a while to "re-prime the pump", learn to hear these signals again, and begin to trust them. It can and will happen however - it has for me.

cls of VT 2:36PM February 24, 2010

I think mindful eating can help out. There are articles about that on http://www.foodpyramid.com

Also interesting to see the different food pyramids.

Food Pyramid 1:43PM November 24, 2009

My mindful eating started in 2006, October. As to date, I lost 40 pounds eating at intervals by planning a diet of 2 servings from every good group and stretching out over 12 hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. I rise at 5:30 a.m. and usually get to bed about 10:30 p.m. My eating pattern goes as follows:

5:30 a.m.- 1 cup of regular coffee with Sweet & Low and 1 tsp. Low Fat Creamer/

1 Cup Smoothie(Blender: 1 C. Skim Milk, 1 packet S&L, 1tsp-"On-the-Go water flavor)

5:45 a.m.-Walk 3 miles/ 10 -minute work out in the work-out room.

6:45-Get ready for work and school.

7:15-Leave for school

7:30--2:00 p.m.: School (semester will be completed in 3 weeks)

9:00 a.m.-1 medium apple

10:30-11:30-Lunch- salad (heaped with lettuce-natural carbohydrate-corn, red beans,

any incomplete protein goup)with any fresh vegetables, Lite

Italian Dressing, Non-fat cottage cheese

2:00 p.m.-Skim milk smoothie

2:30-11:00-Work-telemarketer-sitting job for 8 hours

4:30-Break-1 cup regular coffee/ part of dinner: salad/Lite Ranch Dressing)

6:30-7:00-Dinner-small, baked potatoe, 2 oz. lean meat, green vegetable,

Regular/Decaf coffee

Optional FRESH fruit for desert (never canned or even in lite syrup)

I lost 40 pounds from October 23, 2006-June, 2007 on this eating pattern.

I suffer from Celiac Syndrome as do many menapausal women. Dumping the "white calories" for me meant eliminating any foods with flour, yeast, and sugar. Also, gluten from rice caused severe sleepiness and bloating, so that was also eliminated. I turned 60 this year and have the energy of a teen-ager. I require 5-6 hours per night for sleep and am putting in a 16 hour work day (work and school). I am also enter the Medical Administration field from Music Education.

The American people have to change their concept of the norm. I am still working on 30 pounds. People tell me I don't look 60. The human race started in caves. They did not eat 3 times per day. They had no cakes, candy, cookies, etc. and survived. Disease killed many communities, not lack of food. If you can't pick, pluck, or kill, the food, it is not healthy. We don't need three meals a day, nor do we need to perpetuate this neurotic obsession of "healthy eating" with all its grams and milligrams of mineral and vitamins.

Our energy comes from warding off disease and regulating stress, not food. Vitamins help to maintain homeostasis, thus preventing viral and bacterial infections that drain our energy. If we, as a society, could ambulate by other means than cars and mobile apparendi, we would kill obesity. Look at European people. They walk from the rail or just plain walk to where they need to go. All this racing in mobility to be on time, to do the best job, to be the most important person in the firm, is just causing us to die slowly. Obesity cannot survive if we eliminate boredom and put activity first before food consumption. Eating is not entertainment!

Cameron Anderson of FL 1:37PM November 14, 2009