5 Ways to Lose Weight and Manage Chronic Illness with Mindful Eating

Multi-tasking is not only bad for the brain – it’s also bad for the waistline.

Why?

It leads to mindless munching, which is one of the biggest contributors to unwanted belly fat and weight gain. But, the good news is – you can relearn and reclaim your natural appetite, and get back to the healthy way we were all born – eating only when we are hungry – to satiety, (and feeling happy and relaxed afterwards – ahh . . . remember those times?)

So, what happened to our normal appetite? After toddlerhood, we start to be fed foods that have all kinds of additives, chemicals, and empty calories; and start to become addicted to foods and chemicals that are actually put there by scientists hired by Big Food to addict us, so we’ll buy more (sigh . . .).

Besides becoming addicted (literally) to these frankenfoods, we watch our parents eat when they aren’t really hungry, start eating school lunches, candies, ice-cream and other sugary foods, and so it all begins.

Then, and this is a biggy – we discover that foods can alter our moods. They can calm our anxiety, lift us out of sadness and depression, stuff our anger etc., and we get on the emotional eating roller coaster where most of us find ourselves forever if we don’t figure out how to shift out of these unhealthy eating patterns.

Fortunately, there is a way to change all this, which doesn’t require starving, yo-yo dieting, or gastric bypasses. Blessedly, we can return to (or get closer to) our natural, inborn appetite. It’s called mindfulness. In this case, mindful eating.

Below are 5 tips to get you started on your mindful eating path:

1. Before eating, I will ask myself 3 questions:

• Why am I here?
• Am I hungry?
• What is my emotional state?

Only after answering all 3 questions and remembering your personal goals (i.e. weight loss, increased self-esteem, better digestion, more energy, etc.) will I decide to eat. Before eating, I will take 3 slow, deep breaths, drink some water (at least 4-8 oz.) and wait for 5 minutes.

2. Each time I eat, I will follow these rules:

• Eat only when hungry.
• Before eating, take a moment to give thanks, and appreciate the food, abundance of the land, and those who helped get this food to my plate.
• When I eat, I will do nothing else and eat in a calm and relaxed environment free of distractions.
• I will eat a variety of healthy, nutritious foods (after increasing my knowledge of healthy foods), eat only until I am full, and eat no more than the amount of food I can hold in my hands at each meal.
• I will eat consciously, by becoming aware of my 5 senses: sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. I will be present to the food and my eating.
• I will eat slowly, chew my food thoroughly and savor each bite.
• I will eat on a regular schedule and not eat 2 hours before bed.

3. I will learn more about nutrition.

4. I will drink ½ my body weight or more in ounces of room temperature water per day.

Cool is permissible, but not cold – as it puts out the “digestive juices fire” in my belly and then my food can’t digest properly.

5. I will focus on meal planning, changes I am experiencing in my body and how I am feeling.

I will document in a food journal, or notebook, or a food journal app what I eat and how I’m feeling then and for two hours after I eat.

Lastly, remember to be patient with yourself as you begin eating mindfully. Learning to eat mindfully doesn’t happen overnight. Like anything else, it takes practice. Most importantly, stay focused on your true goals and weight loss will be a side effect of your new healthful relationship with food.

Please visit my Facebook page here, say hello, and let me know how eating mindfully helps you.