Learn mindfulness eating to transform the quality of your life
In this article we’ll explore mindfulness eating for weight loss, how eating mindfully can become a daily practice and we’ll learn a simple mindfulness eating meditation.
A simple mindfulness eating meditation
Let’s start with a simple minduflness eating meditation. Some years back, I sat a three-day meditation course at Tushita Meditation Centre. A beautiful place high in the Dhauladhar range close to Dharamkot.
We took lunch during this course at noon for one hour. On each table there was a small sheet of paper with an illustration of the Buddha with his arms wide open. The script on the page read: Aum Ah Hum.
Aum Ah Hum
The instructions were to eat slowly, imagining a tiny golden Buddha at the top of the heart centre, arms wide, gratefully receiving the food.
This surprisingly effective mindful eating exercise script is repeated silently during meals and is recommended as a first step towards eating mindfully. Aum ah hum is a simple mindful eating mantra to remember when eating mindfully.
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Mindful eating for weight loss
Now that we know the mantra for mindful eating we can consider how mindfulness eating for weight loss can be achieved.
Mindful eating for weight loss is a popular consideration. Mindfulness and weight loss in this context are symbiotic. Therefore, the more mindfully we eat, the less we’ll feel to consume.
Lose weight by eating mindfully
As we learn to diminish our cravings through mindfulness, so it follows that we desire less food.
Start this mindfulness eating activity by bringing awareness to the food we choose to eat, the preparation of the meal and how we feel as we eat.
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Mindful eating practices
Mindful eating practices are available to us at every meal. The key to eating mindfully is to practice often. Each meal is an opportunity to practice mindful eating.
Using the mantra from the beginning of this article as a starting point we can bring mindfulness to our eating habits. When forming a mindful eating habit or eating mindfully to lose weight it could be beneficial to start a mindful eating journal or log book.
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Mindful eating food journal
Many mindful eaters use a mindful eating journal to record the food they consume. A mindful eating log is a handy way to see how your eating habits and preferences change over time.
A useful trick is to write mindfulness eating quotes inside the pages of your food journal to inspire your progress.
“How we prepare our food, how we consume our food really makes a difference in how our food satisfies us and shapes the role we give food in our lives. Is it something we stuff in to satisfy an urge or something we savor to feed us physically and sustain us spiritually?”
― Mary DeTurris Poust, Cravings: A Catholic Wrestles with Food, Self-Image, and God*
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Mindful eating vs dieting
The key difference between mindful eating vs dieting is in the approach. A diet is a specific set of nutritional instructions whereas mindful eating is a holistic philosophy.
Once we make the leap from a fad diet and the dogma of nutrition towards a mindful eating practice we can enjoy a healthy relationship with the food we eat.
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A mindful eating guide
My guide for eating mindfully for weight loss is simple. Eat less and do more. Move your body and consume fewer calories. Choose nutritionally balanced meals; fruit and vegetables mostly. Cut the alcohol, sugar, meat, and processed food out altogether.
I crafted my mindful eating guide based on insights from two years of intensive intermittent fasting. My experience of fasting helped me to reset my relationship with food for good. You can learn more about intermittent fasting with Alice.
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