Mind Full or MindfulA Different Approach to

Food

Carol Gray, MHAAccount Executive, ACS Benefit Services

October 14, 2015

What is the annual revenue of the U.S. weight –loss industry, including diet books, diet drugs and weight-loss surgeries?

$20 Billion

How many people are on diets in the U.S.?108 Million

How many attempts per year are made by a dieter?

4 to 5

Weight Loss Industry

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/100-million-dieters-20-billion-weight-loss-industry/story?id=16297197

We eat for so many reasons besides hunger … Cultural (meetings, family

gatherings, church) Emotional (sad, happy, anger, fear) Holidays & Events (Valentine’s,

Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Super Bowl, Celebrations)

Stress (work, family, time management)

Food (taste, variety, colorful, texture)

Why Do We Eat?

Food is good.Food is meant to be enjoyed.

Who knew???

SURPRISE

Compare Ourselves Guilt Media Self Acceptance Family / Peer Pressure Health Concern For an Event

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Why Do We DIEt?

Shoulding all over ourselves Need to be Superwoman / Superman Negative self-talk Comparison trap The Expectation Gap…

Where We Are & Where We Want to Be

“Shoulding”

“When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who

they are.”

–Donald Miller

Perfection is NOT the Goal

Also known as intuitive eating

Comes from Buddhist teachings

Aims to reconnect us more deeply with the experience of eating — and enjoying our food

Mindful Eating

Based on the idea … there is no right or wrong way to eat, but rather varying degrees of consciousness about what we are eating and why.

The goal … to base our meals on physical

cues, such as our bodies' hunger signals, not emotional ones — like eating for comfort.

Mindful Eating

Physical builds gradually; Emotional develops suddenly.

Physical strikes below the neck (growling stomach) & Emotional strikes above the neck (taste for cake, ice cream).

Physical is satisfied after eating food; Emotional leads to guilt after eating food.

-Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink

Physical vs. Emotional Hunger

Physical enhances taste; Emotional does not.

Physical occurs 3+ hours after a meal; Emotional hunger occurs at random times.

Physical goes away when full; Emotional still persists after a good deal has already been eaten.

-Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink

Physical vs. Emotional Hunger

When cheating is no longer possible, the forbidden food no longer looks appealing. When you allow yourself the ability to taste any food- experience the texture, color, flavor, the urgency of eating it goes away.

No more anxious eating No more “last suppers”

No more guilt NO MORE DIETS

Is the Effort Worth It?

Pick a non-emotional food you enjoy… red velvet cake? If you knew you could have 1 slice of the cake each day and you had 1 slice every other day or even every day, then racing to the kitchen to devour some red velvet cake probably would not enter your mind.

Why? Because it is familiar. Because you have eaten it mindfully several times. You know and have experienced the cake. AND IT WAS GOOOOD

EXAMPLE

Expect to screw-up! Gratitude Benefit of the doubt

Be Open To Mistakes

It’s not about the table, whether it’s square or round. It’s not about the chairs- plastic or wooden. A good meal is enjoyed when we turn off the TV and our cell phones and concentrate on those we’re with.

Sometimes we are more concerned about what others- sometimes miles away – have to say than what the person just across the table is saying. - Keila Ochoa

Be In The Moment

Make dining an event. Set the table. Remove anything from the table that means

nothing to the meal. Add flowers and/or a table cloth. Use the fine china Turn off all phones, TV., and computers. Play music you like that is peaceful yet

pleasant.

For Singles

You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

Limit time spent with “Negative Nellie”

Sleep deprivation and stress … Guides you to sweets and starches

It is the first bite, not the last that stimulates serotonin.

Every bite needs to taste as good as the first bite.

Be Aware

Make your eating environment enjoyable and rewarding:

Get out of the office Eat Slower Pay Attention to Flavor Get away from televisions, phones and loud

music Listen to enjoyable music, view picture

album, travel magazine, or house decorating

Find merit in what you eat

Helpful Tips

Awareness of your physical and emotional cues

Recognition of your non-hunger triggers for eating

Learning to meet your other needs in more effective ways than eating

Do your best Slow Progress is Still Progress #1 Predictor of Success… PATIENCE

Helpful Tips

“You are the CEO of the most magnificent organization in the universe- the human body.”

Glenn Mueller

Don’t Forget

www.amihungry.com Intuitive Eating by Tribole & Resch Google “Mindful Eating” Google “Intuitive Eating”

Helpful Resources

“How the Rich Get Thin”, Glee Magazine, by Glenn Mueller.

www.amihungry.com Jill Coleman, 2013 Women’s Retreat. Feeling Light by Katzman and Shankin-Cohen Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink “Mindful Eating: 5 Easy Tips To Get Started”,

Huffingtonpost.com by Jennie Grover

References