Tag Archive for: mindful eating

3 Truths About What Happens When You Stop Dieting

Are you thinking about giving up dieting, but you don’t know what to expect when you make this life-changing decision?

Have you already made the decision to stop dieting, but you’re not so confident in this decision?

It makes sense! You’ve been on the diet roller coaster for a LONG time. It feels weird not to be following a set of food rules, even though deep down you know they’ve never worked. But what happens once you give up the food rules?

Let’s look at what your thoughts and fears might be. Then, let’s tackle what you really need to know.

 

Typical Thoughts When You Give Up Dieting

It’s common to have some uncomfortable thoughts and fears when you think of no longer dieting. Here are some common thoughts:

  • “I will gain weight!”
  • “I will eat out of control!”
  • “I won’t know what to eat.”
  • “What do I do without rules?”
  • “What if it doesn’t work for me?”

It’s important to be realistic in your expectations when you decide to not diet and to begin your journey towards Intuitive Eating.

What You Need to Know

1. You will want food all the time – and that’s normal!

When you first decide to get off the diet roller coaster and you begin throwing away your food rules, you will want to eat all those foods that were forbidden. And you will want to eat them a lot, and often. This happens because for months, years or even decades you’ve been restricting these foods. So, this reaction is totally “normal”.

Your mind and body are sort of saying “hey, what’s up?” It’s not used to you eating these foods, and it’s thinking “I’m never going to get these foods again! I better stock up while I can because these won’t be around forever!”

This will continue to happen as you continue to test the process of Intuitive Eating. “Can I really eat what I want?”

Yes you can.

2. It is a long process.

Please have realistic expectations. You cannot expect your body to adapt to giving up dieting and shifting to Intuitive Eating overnight. The communication between your mind and body has been suppressed for quite a while. Hunger, fullness, and satisfaction have been ignored—so you must rebuild this communication!

You might be feeling that it’s difficult to stay motivated and invested in the journey, especially if progress isn’t immediate. But that’s your diet mentality speaking. You are programmed to want immediate results but it’s important to build your patience muscle as you work on changing your relationship with food for the rest of your life.

Focus on the long game!

3. No two journeys are the same.

Working at your own pace is totally okay.

As a dieter, you likely have an “all or nothing” mentality—”going all in with something full force, or not doing it at all”. Having this mentality can hold you back.

Instead of diving headfirst, trying to rush the process and being “good”, take one step that you feel confident in and let it be that—just a first step. Once you feel ready, take another step forward and so on.

Take the journey at your own pace, be true to yourself. Don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s journey because you don’t know their story!

There is no race to any finish line! Intuitive Eating is a practice. It’s not something that ends when you get to a goal.

Want to know more about the 3 phases you will go through when you stop dieting?

Join me today for a LIVE training on this topic, right in my Facebook Group.

 

How to Stop Mealtime Battles

Do you look forward to your meals? Or are they often a battleground?

What about the buffet at a party?  Or the smorg at a wedding? Or just plain old Thursday night pizza night?

Do you constantly hear yourself say…

  •  “should I or shouldn’t I?”
  • “I can have, I can’t have?”
  • ” I want it, but I shouldn’t have it”
  • “darn, I can’t believe I ate that”

The inner voices of the chronic dieter are constantly shouting rules about what you should or shouldn’t eat. It makes food the enemy and mealtimes a battle ground. All in the name of weight loss!

But it shouldn’t be this way. In fact –

Food is supposed to bring us pleasure!

Yes, we are supposed to walk away from a meal feeling satisfied and happy. But all to often, if a dieter enjoys their meal, it comes with a side of guilt.

Ending the Battle with Food

So, how do you end the battle with food and regain the pleasure in eating?

By practicing food freedom.

Food freedom means YOU are in charge of the food choices you make and what you choose to eat, instead of letting outside food rules dictate this to you!

The goal is simple: decouple the act of eating from the thought that you need to be losing weight.

If you keep making food decisions with the end goal of weight loss, you will not recapture food freedom and experience the ultimate pleasure in your meals.

4 Ways to Start Practicing Food Freedom

1.Decide to commit:

Commit to not following food rules anymore. Commit to throwing them out the window. Commit to doing the best you can at this moment to start taking charge of your eating.

You will have to be tough with yourself on this one. It’s all too easy to fall back to another diet when you’re just not feeling great one day.

Nope. Draw that line in the sand that symbolized that today is the day that you won’t fall prey to the dieting messages anymore. YOU are in charge of your food choices and your eating! YAY!

2.Slowly start to eat one “forbidden” food at a time.

You know all those foods you fight with at mealtime? No more! There are no good or bad foods, remember that.

Slowly, begin to enjoy once-forbidden foods again and again until they lose the power they once had over you

This is not easy, I know!! If you need help, just reach out to me HERE.

3.Write a letter to yourself as to why you are choosing food freedom

 I’m sure there’s a LOT you could write in this letter. So go ahead and give it a try.

Why are you choosing food freedom now?

Here are some examples to get you started:

  • “Dieting has never worked for me in the past.”
  • “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life focusing on food.”
  • “I might “overeat” once it a while, and that is okay. It’s a choice I am making, and it does not define me”

4. Join us!

Come on over to the Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life private Facebook Group. Join other women on the journey towards food freedom. It’s free!

3 Ways to Create A Home Environment to Support Intuitive Eating

Among some of the challenge’s clients express as they move along on their Intuitive Eating journey is creating a home environment that encourages mindful eating. Many homes are set up in a way that promotes easy access to food, prompting mindless eating and snacking.

External Cues that Trigger Mindless Eating

Look around your house. What do you have at arm’s reach that you find yourself mindlessly snacking from?

Cookie jar on the counter?

Dish of nuts on the living room coffee table?

Cereal boxes lined up on the counter?

Growing up, my mom always had a dish of nuts on the living room coffee table. Come to think of it, she still does. And my grandmother always had a candy dish on her living room table. I guess that’s where my mom got it from. I always used to think that this is the “proper” way to set up a home.

The only problem with this is that it encourages “refuse-not” unconscious eating. What does this mean? Let’s explore.

Refuse-Not Unconscious Eating

The “refuse-not” unconscious eating style is just as it sounds. You eat what you see regardless of whether you are hungry or not.

Consider a work meeting. You and your colleagues are sitting around the conference room table and centered in the middle are plates of mini danishes and cookies. As the meeting is going on, you reach for a danish, and then a cookie and then another etc. You don’t even consciously realize you are doing it. Until you do.

The same thing can happen at home. You walk in the house and into the kitchen. Your daughter had started to eat a muffin, but left some over on the kitchen table. As you open the mail, you start nibbling on the muffin. When it’s gone, and you’ve finished reading the mail, you realize you just ate the muffin, mindlessly.

Mindful Eating as Part of the Intuitive Eating Journey

Mindful Eating and Intuitive Eating are different. Yet, mindful eating is a part of the Intuitive Eating journey.

Here are 3 tips to set up a mindful home environment:

  1. Put All Foods in their Designated Places

While you may not literally have a cookie jar on the counter, look around your kitchen and home and see where you have food “hanging out”. Then make a plan to put all foods away in the cabinet. This will cut down on the mindless picking and snacking.  And when you’re hungry for a fuel snack (or even a fun snack), you know where to go.

Remember, it’s not about the food. It’s about the how of eating.

  1. Store Leftovers in Opaque Containers

I always advise my clients to store their leftovers in opaque containers. Why? If those leftovers are in clear containers front and center of the fridge, you may feel tempted to “take another forkful” as you remember how yummy it was at dinner. Therefore, once you’ve enjoyed the food mindfully at dinner, go ahead and store them away in opaque containers towards the back of the fridge, and know that they will be there for you tomorrow to enjoy.

Here’s something to think about. If you eat when you are not hungry, you don’t have as much pleasure from the food as when you do when you are comfortably hungry.

  1. Create an Inviting Eating Space

I have a client who would eat her meals at the kitchen table in between piles of newspapers and mail of the day. This led to lots of distracted and mindless eating for her.

While you may not have a formal dining room table, you likely have a table somewhere in your home that you sit down to meals at. Take the time to reserve this eating space for only eating, and not doing work or piling the days mail. A cluttered space takes away from eating enjoyment and creates a distracted eating environment.

The Intuitive Eating journey is all about listening to your body. There are things that can disrupt that attunement process. Creating a home environment that supports your journey is an important step you can take and is key to success.

5 Ways to Ensure a Thanksgiving that Honors Your Body AND Tradition

It’s November which means soon enough it will be time for turkey and all the delicious side dishes you enjoy on Thanksgiving. Many people who are starting the Intuitive Eating journey, and even those who have been on it a while, struggle with this holiday. The whole day is centered around eating, leaving you uncomfortably full by the end of the evening. No wonder it’s a challenge for so many people!

I want you to know it doesn’t have to be this way. Thanksgiving does not have to be a source of anxiety at all. It can be a day full of love and gratitude for all the things in your life that you are thankful for.

Here are 5 Ways to ensure a Thanksgiving that honors your body and tradition

  1. Reframe Your Beliefs

If you go into Thanksgiving Day thinking you will “blow” it, then it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your thoughts/beliefs inform your feelings, which inform your actions which inform your results.

Maybe in years past you went into the holiday dieting, and with the first bite of a food you deemed “bad”, you figured “I blew it, I’ll just start again after the holidays”. Well, now you are going into the holiday as an Intuitive Eater, or an Intuitive Eater in training. Therefore, changing your self talk can greatly impact your beliefs and ultimately your actions.

Try saying this to yourself: “I am capable of enjoying the Thanksgiving feast while honoring my inner signals of hunger, satiety and satisfaction.”

  1. Eat Breakfast and Lunch on Thanksgiving Day

It can be tempting to skip breakfast or lunch when you know that you have a holiday dinner ahead of you. However, this is forcing your body to ignore its hunger cues earlier in the day and when you finally sit down to dinner, you will be ravenous. Then what happens? You eat past the point of comfortable fullness!

Instead, enjoy a well-balanced breakfast and lunch and you’ll see how much more you enjoy dinner.

Hint: Skipping meals to save calories for a big dinner is part of the sneaky diet mentality. What other ways is the diet mentality sneaking back into your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!

  1. Be Aware of Competition Eating

Family dinners with lots of people can be challenging! You might find that you take extra or larger helpings of food out of a fear that there won’t be anything left if you are still hungry. This is a form of “rebound eating”. Just the thought of being deprived leads you to “overeat”.

Here’s the thing! Even if you have a big family, there’s likely going to be enough food for second helpings should you still be hungry (who doesn’t have Thanksgiving leftovers!)

Try to resist the urge to overfill your plate. When you first sit down to dinner, assess your hunger level, and take the amount of food you think will fill your hunger. Keep in mind that if you are not quite satisfied when you finish eating, you can always take more. YOU are in charge!

  1. Create A Colorful Balanced Plate

 Some people think that nutrition is not considered in the Intuitive Eating philosophy. That is the farthest thing from the truth! Gentle Nutrition (Intuitive Eating Principle 10) takes into consideration taste and nutrition when making food choices.

When filling your plate at your Thanksgiving meal, consider whether most of the food groups are present. Protein, whole grains, veggies, and healthy fats all make for a balanced plate that will leave you feeling satisfied, energized and will keep your blood sugars stable.

  1. Check-in with Yourself

 Being around the family at holiday time can be a source of stress for many people. And this stress can be a disruptor to attuning to your hunger and fullness signals. Take the time before the big dinner to center yourself and focus on you. Then throughout the meal, take some time outs to check in with yourself to assess how you are feeling. If you are feeling overwhelmed, take a few breaths to refocus your attention on your meal and to check in with your fullness cues.

Thanksgiving is a time to think about all the goodness in our lives. While this year has been challenging for all, we can probably find something we are thankful for. Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

By the way, if you want to try some new and delicious recipes for Thanksgiving, check out my cookbook, Enjoying Food Peace. Enjoying Food Peace Book

Recipes from the cookbook that I’ll be making include: Roasted Chestnut Soup, Pomegranate-Orange Glazed Turkey, Moist Stuffing, Crunchy Brussels Sprouts and Pumpkin Muffins!

Get your copy of Enjoying Food Peace in time for Thanksgiving on AMAZON!

 

3 Ways to Create A Positive Eating Environment at Work

With our perpetually busy schedules, it can be impossible to carve out some time to enjoy a nice meal. Often mealtime is sandwiched between meetings or may even be during a meeting. It used to be that when I was at work, I ate at my desk and returned emails and phone calls in between bites of my lunch. This ultimately worked against me.

 

I found that I wasn’t taking the time to appreciate what I was eating. My meal became a background activity while I did more work. I didn’t take the time to listen to what my body’s hunger and fullness cues were, I was just mindlessly eating what was in front of me.

 

When I realized that this is what I was doing, I knew that I needed to make a change. Every day I carved out 20-30 minutes in my schedule for lunch. During this time, I walked away from the desk and sat at my kitchen table to eat lunch so I can focus on the food I was eating. Only then was I able to appreciate my meal and listen to my body’s fullness cues.

 

Creating a positive eating environment does not have to be a burden. When work is busy, taking an extra twenty minutes to eat can seem impossible, but it doesn’t have to be. Those 20 minutes should be a time to refocus yourself and can be a much-needed break from work. You can pack lunch ahead of time, as not to waste time waiting for your food to be prepared. Then, take the time you need to eat your meal and decompress.

 

Here are 3 ways you can create a positive eating environment

 

  1. Step Away from the Desk 

Most people are now working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether this is the case for you, or you are still going into the office, do your best to step away from the desk to eat. If not, it’s all too easy to just turn to the computer monitor and keep working through your lunch break. Find a nice bench outside or a table in the kitchen and have a sit-down meal. Create an eating space separate from work.

 

  1. Turn off All Distractions 

 When you’re away from your desk, treat it as a true break from all work distractions. Don’t check email or text. Do your best to turn off those distractions and focus entirely on the meal in front of you. Any work issues will surely be there when you return to your desk.

 

  1. Don’t Talk Shop

 If you decide to eat out with a coworker, commit to not talking about work. You have left your workspace and deserve a nice refrain from all the stress involved there. Refocus the conversation to something positive.

 

I realize these tips are probably things you’ve heard before. But the question is…are you consistently doing them?

It’s often NOT a lack of knowledge that trips people up. It’s LACK OF CONSISTENT BEHAVIOR.

So, which tip above will you commit to this week? Let me know in the comments below.

 

3 Tips to Help You Eat Mindfully

“I think before I eat now”.

This is a quote from my client Melinda (name changed to protect her privacy) who I’ve been working with. She originally came to see me with some GI disturbances. But as we got into a discussion in that very first session, it was apparent that she was stuck in a diet mentality with lots of food rules.

Melinda is a busy working mom. She’s constantly trying to balance her family life and work schedules, not an easy feat. She found that her eating was haphazard, and she wasn’t feeling at her best. While she wanted to make changes, she also wanted me to tell her exactly what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. She told me that she’s a very good “rule follower”. But I proposed something different to Melinda, learning the art of mindful eating.

I introduced Melinda to the concept of mindfulness, the state of being present in the moment without judgement. First we started with mindfulness in her every day activities, and then we moved into mindfulness in her eating. As she began practicing mindful eating, she realized it’s not just about what she’s eating (as she always thought), but how she is eating.

Mindful Eating

Mindful eating encourages you to think about your food choice, consider the taste, texture, aroma and temperature of your food, and stay aware of how eating this food makes you feel during and after the eating experience. It helps you stay tuned in to hunger, satiety and satisfaction.

While mindful eating is something you can learn, the reality is that when life throws you a curve ball (i.e. a pandemic, death, job change etc), it’s easy to fall back into the rushed, haphazard, grab-and-go lifestyle you were doing for a while. However, it IS possible to continue your mindful eating practice during these times.

Here are some tips to help:

  1. Set up your home environment to support mindful eating practices. This means put all food away in the cabinets and pantry and not laying around on the table or counters. You will be less apt to grab on your way in and out of the kitchen.

 

  1. Avoid distractions during mealtime. While it may be tempting to catch up on the news while eating dinner, this takes your attention away from the food you are eating. Make a commitment to keep the television off and keep all phones away from the table (this goes for your family members too).

 

  1. Pause mid-meal to check in. A quick break mid-meal can help you determine if you are enjoying the food you are eating, and if you are starting to get satisfied. This practice will help you stay mindful and honor your body and taste buds.

 

You don’t need food rules. All you need is to slow down and be aware of your surroundings and food choices. You will find that you have a greater satisfaction with the foods you are eating, and you’ll feel a renewed energy.

 

3 Behavior Changes to Improve Your Health (Without Dieting)

Steve walked into my office and said, “I’m ready”. When I asked him “ready for what?”, he answered “I’m ready to take care of myself and make some changes in how I eat”. This was a relief to his wife who accompanied him to the visit. For years she’s been trying to encourage him to be more mindful of his food choices, exercise a little and care more about his health. But her requests weren’t heard.

Today, things were different. Steve wasn’t feeling well, his blood pressure was high, and he got scared with the lightheadedness he often felt these days. As we began talking, Steve shared that he didn’t want to feel restricted in his eating. This was a major reason why he wasn’t interested in “dieting” in the past. He was quite happy when I told him he doesn’t have to go on a diet. In fact, when I told him that I don’t believe in dieting, his eyes opened wide and he wanted to learn more. How can he possibly lower his blood pressure and improve his health if he didn’t diet?

Ahh, that’s the question of all time isn’t it. Most doctors will send you on your way with a script for “weight loss”. The problem is weight loss is not a skill you can learn or a behavior you can adopt. Rather, weight loss is an outcome of habit and behavior changes. If you are holding onto weight that is above what is natural for you based on your genetic blueprint, then it is likely that when you make some changes in your habits and food choices that you might release weight. The key word here is might.

I always tell my clients that I don’t know what your body will do when you make changes, and neither do you. Only your body knows, and your job is to trust it.

The Scale Ruins It All

Imagine this scenario. You determine that you are “sodium sensitive”, meaning that when you eat foods high in sodium it causes your blood pressure to rise too high. So, you start choosing lower sodium food choices, use less salt in cooking and have been experimenting with herbs and spices to flavor your foods. You’ve started taking a short walk after dinner and you are feeling pretty darn proud of yourself (and feeling physically good too!). You are toying with the decision to get on the bathroom scale…”I just want to see if I lost weight” you think to yourself.

Does it really matter though? You’ve been making changes; your blood pressure went down and you are feeling good.

You can’t resist. You get on. You stare at the number, get off the scale, get back on and do this another 3 times. Can it be? You only lost 3 pounds? “Man, this isn’t worth it, forget about this”, you think. You then head to the kitchen and open the package of Oreos and fall into a numb state as you eat cookie after cookie.

The Scale Does Not Determine Your Health

Every day I debunk the idea that your body weight equates with your health. And to be healthy, you need to lose weight.

Truth: you can be in a larger body and be healthy.

Truth: higher weights are associated with certain medical conditions, but this does not mean it is causative! Remember, correlation does not equal causation!

The bigger issue is this – there is no known way to lose weight and keep it off. The data is strong in showing that 95-98% of people who lose weight on a diet will regain that weight within 1-5 years. And the small 3-5% that might keep the weight off often do so with disordered eating behaviors such as counting points, tracking calories, exercising off what they ate, omitting major food groups etc. And by the way, when the majority of dieters gain the weight back, one third to two thirds do so with some interest…they gain even more than they lost.

Weight cycling, gaining and losing weight over and over, has been shown to be more detrimental to your health than staying at a stable weight, even if that weight is on the higher end.

Focusing on Habits and Behaviors

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight, after all we live in a society that sends a loud message that to be worthy, one needs to be skinny. But…

Putting weight loss on the back burner without actively working on it will most likely be what improves your health.

3 habits and behaviors you can start to focus on right now (that has nothing to do with dieting and food restriction but will bring you better health):

  1. Engage in Mindful Eating: instead of rushing through your meal, allocate enough time in your day to sit down and mindfully eat. Mindful eating doesn’t focus on the what of eating, it focuses on the how of eating. Slowing down, putting your fork down between bites and focusing on the taste, texture, aroma and other qualities of the food will bring you great pleasure and satisfaction. It will also help you stay tuned in to your satiety signals as your guide to when you will end your meal (versus a diet where you will finish the plate regardless if you are full or not because that’s the amount of food you are “allowed”).

 

  1. Choose Foods from a Gentle Nutrition Lens: consider the nutrient density of your foods while also considering the taste. Choose what you enjoy eating while paying attention to how you feel after you eat. Does your blood sugar crash? Do you experience reflux? Are you feeling more energetic? Does your blood pressure respond well to this food choice? By doing this, you are the one in charge what you eat, and that’s the way it ought to be!

 

  1. Participate in Joyful Movement: think about what type of activities or movement is gentle on your body and joyful to do. You may want to consider what you liked to do as a kid. Maybe swimming, bike riding, playing tennis, or dancing. Adding some exercise into your life doesn’t have to be torture and should never be something you don’t enjoy doing. Think FUN! If it’s fun, you’ll want to keep doing it.

Remember Steve? He started practicing mindful eating, is choosing foods that he likes but that also won’t raise his blood pressure and he starting walking more instead of using the car. He doesn’t feel restricted and he just got a great health report from the doctor.

If you want to work on improving your health but don’t want to have to diet, send me an email or call me at 516-486-4569.

I look forward to speaking soon!

4 Tips to Increase Food Appreciation

We live in a society that is go-go-go. We might be doing one thing, but we are probably thinking about the next thing we have to do. Which makes me wonder how many people actually pay full attention to their food when they are eating.

 

In speaking with a lot of people over the years, I find that most people do not take the time to eat slowly and instead, rush through their meals.  They eat breakfast in the car on the way to work, work through lunch and eat at their desk, or grab a quick bite from the drive thru for dinner on the way home.

 

An important practice when working on your relationship with food is to learn to appreciate the food you are eating. Consider where the food came from, how it got into your kitchen and onto your plate, and who was involved in making that possible (farmers, factory line workers, mom). This also means appreciating what food does for your body: fuels you, give you energy, and supplies you with vital nutrients.

 

Here are 4 tips to increase your food appreciation:

 

  1. Eat Breakfast at Home: When you’re running late in the morning, the first thing that goes out the window is breakfast. You tell yourself that you’ll eat when you get to work. And you may do just that. But chances are you’re eating while you’re checking the morning emails, returning messages and writing your to-do list for the day. This means you are paying minimal to no attention to what you are eating.

 

Try waking up a half hour earlier each morning so you have planned time to prepare and eat breakfast. Even better, do some meal prep ahead of time, such as set the table with a bowl, spoon and cereal choice, or prepare overnight oats that are ready in the morning.

 

  1. Sit Down at the Table to Eat: It’s so tempting to eat while you’re meal prepping or to open the fridge and grab a snack. Remind yourself that eating happens when your butt is in a chair and you can fully be present with the food. This means even if you are alone. I know how difficult this may be, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll really enjoy this time.

 

  1. Take a Lunch Break: Years ago, I didn’t schedule a lunch break in my day. I wanted to be available to my clients which meant that inevitably, I didn’t get to eat lunch. Or if I did, it was a quick grab and run, or eating in front of the computer, and it felt as if I never even ate.

 

I realized how that practice was not in my best interest and I started blocking out lunch time in my schedule. Not only did I feel better, but my clients benefited as well as I had more energy and was more productive.

 

So go ahead and schedule that lunch break for yourself. Consider it an act of self-care.

  1. Avoid Distractions at Dinner: I get it, habits are hard to break. But watching Jeopardy while you eat dinner (or sports or whatever show you like) takes away from mindfully eating your meal. Instead, engage in conversation with your partner or kids, and savor the flavor, texture and aroma of the food. When doing this, you are also better able to attune to your fullness signals and will stop eating when you are comfortably full. Go ahead and DVR Jeopardy and have a date night watching with your partner after dinner.

 

Implement these suggestions at your own pace and over time you will see how it’s impacted your appreciation for the food you are eating. Let me know how it goes in the comments below.

 

 

 

5 Mindful Living Tips to Cultivate a Healthy Relationship with Food and Body

I’m really enjoying my focus of Mindful Living so far. I wrote about this intention for myself in last week’s blog…if you didn’t read it yet, click here.

I am making a concerted effort to be present in everything I do. Last Saturday night, my husband and I went out with some friends. I told my husband that I planned to NOT look at my phone the entire night so I can be present with my friends. I invited him to do the same. We had a great time, engaging in the conversation and laughing…A LOT! Laughter is so good for the soul, let me tell you. It was great.

I gave some thought as to what other areas I can be more mindful and I am sharing them with you in today’s blog. You may find these helpful for yourself on your journey towards a healthier relationship with food and body.

5 Mindful Living Tips

Tip #1. Be Present While Prepping Your Meals

In truth, when I am cooking, I am often listening to a podcast, talking on the phone or daydreaming. Very rarely am I engaging with the actual food prep. I’ve decided to change that. I’m practicing being fully present while chopping the veggies for the salad and hearing their crispness, stir-frying the onions and peppers and listening to the sizzle, and taking in the wonderful aroma of the simmering chili. All this awareness has increased the satisfaction of my meals.

Tip #2. Get More Quality Sleep

I find that doctors don’t talk enough about sleep, but sleep is critical to well-being. While the general recommendation is to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, each person is individual and some need more or less. Sufficient sleep allows your body to rest and repair and be more attentive and productive the next day.

I’ve had some trouble sleeping lately and it’s really affected my energy level. My husband surprised me and bought me a weighted blanket. I had never really heard of them, and when I did some research, I found that weighted blankets are useful for a number of conditions, including difficulty sleeping.
It took me some time to get used to it, but I have to say that it has helped my sleep. It’s not only quantity of sleep (in other words how many hours you get) that’s important, but it’s also quality of sleep. This weighted blanket is allowing me a deeper, more peaceful sleep. I’ll keep you updated as to how this progresses for me.

Tip #3. Find a Physical Activity You Enjoy

Moving your body in a way that feels good for you is very important. If you exercise because you think you “should”, chances are you’re not really loving it and you’re going to burn out. For me, I love exercise and moving my body. But I have found over the years that the type of exercise I enjoy has changed.

As part of my mindful living intention, I’ve been staying fully present during my workout sessions. When my mind wanders (which is does!), I gently bring it back to the present moment. What I’m finding is that by being fully present in this manner, I am more tuned in to how I feel during and after the exercise.

Just today when I finished my workout at the gym, I thought to myself, “I really don’t enjoy the treadmill and elliptical anymore”. I generally mix up my workouts during the week…sometimes I take a class at the gym, sometimes I walk/run on the treadmill/elliptical and sometimes I work out at home using my DVDs. I used to really enjoy my time on the treadmill/elliptical because it was a time that I can catch up on my TV shows that I don’t get a chance to watch. But today, I realized that I don’t enjoy that anymore. My body feels so much better after I take a class, be it kickboxing, dance, weight training etc. I love moving to the music and the comradery of the other ladies in the class.

My new mindfulness practice has made me aware of this, and I will be making a change in how I move my body.

What about you? What feels right in your body?

Top #4. Experiment with Meditation

As much as I talk about the benefits of meditation, I’ve had trouble getting into a consistent practice. My initial vision of meditation years ago was sitting on a cushion, feet crossed , thumb and pointer finger pinched together – you get the idea. But I’ve since learned that there is no one way to mediate. Do what feels right for you.

I’ve used some apps such as Calm and Headspace, but nothing regularly. So I will be experimenting with using these apps more consistently, likely before I get under my weighted blanket in the evening.

Do you have any tips for meditation? Let me know in the comments please!

Tip #5. Put an End to Negative Body Talk

When we talk to ourselves, we can be our own worst critic, do you agree? Most often, when we are being harsh with ourselves, we say things that we would never think of saying to a friend.

Why is that okay? It’s not!

In my experience working with my clients, this negative talk comes up mostly around body shape and size. Thinking of your body in a negative, shameful manner causes damage to your self-esteem. Your body’s job is to keep you alive, and it works hard to do so.

What if you tried to treat yourself and your body with pure compassion and kindness? Pay yourself a compliment each day about your amazing characteristics that others love about you.

In my quest to live more mindfully, if I try on an outfit and don’t like the way it looks, I will pay attention to the words I say. It’s not my body that is the problem. This dress, pants, or outfit is just not cut for my body. Period, end of story.

There you have it. Five mindful living tips to help you cultivate a healthy relationship with food and body in this new year. Which will you join me in? Comment below?

 

Need help living your life more mindfully? Click HERE to schedule a complementary chat. Looking forward to connecting.

My Decision to Live More Mindfully (and 8 Tips for Mindful Eating)

I’ve been giving thought to what I’d like to see for myself in the New Year.  As we kick off 2020, I’m feeling really good about the intention I set for myself for the coming year which is (drum roll please…) MINDFUL LIVING.

There’s a lot of buzz around mindfulness and as I’ve been teaching more and more about it to my intuitive eating clients, I realize that sometimes I run through my days without being as mindful as I’d like. So, I’ve made a commitment to myself to utilize the strategies that I teach my clients as part of my self-care plan.

Let’s Explore Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a Buddhist concept defined as “an awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.”

Mindful living, therefore, is paying full attention and being fully present to each and everything you do, from taking your morning shower, to sending your kids off to school, to driving to work and cooking dinner. There is so much to learn when you pay full attention to the tasks you take on every day.

Mindful Eating

When applied to food or nutrition, mindful eating is “using mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings, and physical cues when eating.”

Mindful Eating Day is tomorrow, January 4th. It’s a great time to begin the practice of mindful eating to improve your eating experiences.

Learning to eat mindfully takes time, patience, and consistency. The more mindful you become, the more benefits you will experience. Some of the pros of mindful eating includes easier digestion, reduced stress or anxiety around food, and increased enjoyment of meals.

You can start to become a mindful eater by implementing a few of the following practices into your eating routine. Start small by eating one mindful meal a day. Once you settle into a rhythm, you can begin to eat all of your meals mindfully.

8 Tips for Practicing Mindful Eating

1. Eat slowly and intentionally
2. Avoid distractions while eating (i.e. cell phones, television, computer, etc.)
3. Take small bites and chew your food thoroughly

4. Pay attention to and listen for your body’s hunger cues
5. Eat to the point of comfortable fullness
6. Notice the tastes, textures, smells, and flavors of the food you eat
7. Pay attention to how food makes you feel before, during and after a meal
8. Appreciate the food that you are eating

Is Mindful Eating the Same as Intuitive Eating?

No, it’s not.

In my practice, I encourage my clients to practice mindful eating as part of their journey to becoming an intuitive eater.

It should be noted that while intuitive eating shares certain values with mindful eating, they are different concepts. Mindful eating is about being present at the table in a non-judgmental way. Intuitive eating is a self-care feeding model that helps reacquaint people with their inner body wisdom and discover what satisfaction and fullness feel like individually. The emphasis is on rejecting diet culture and honoring health and taste buds together through gentle nutrition.

It’s possible to engage in mindful eating and not be an intuitive eater, but intuitive eating isn’t really possible without some mindfulness.

Will You Join Me?

As I move into more mindful living this year, I’m excited to see what comes. Will you join me in this venture? Let me know!

Support is Available

If you need support to reclaim your birthright of being an intuitive and mindful eater, click here to schedule a complementary chat with me.