Mindful Eating 101

Mindful Eating 101: What Is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is eating with the intention of paying attention. It means deliberately tuning in, without judgement, to the thoughts and body cues that guide eating choices, as well as the sensory experience of eating (i.e. taste, smell, etc). Bringing nonjudgemental awareness to the process of eating can help you get curious, observe, and understand your eating choices and behaviors. To learn more about mindful eating, read the principles of mindful eating here.

Mindful eating stems from the practice of mindfulness, which is both a secular cultural and religious practice in Hinduism and Buddhism. Essentially, mindfulness is bringing nonjudgemental awareness to thoughts and experiences occurring in the present moment. Mindfulness became a part of Western science and psychology with mindfulness-based stress reduction, a stress reduction program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, who studied mindfulness under several Buddhist teachers, including Thich Nhat Hanh. Since then, mindfulness has taken on a massive role in the field of psychology, and is integrated into several therapeutic paradigms, including positive psychology, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy, and there are thousands (tens of thousands?) of studies validating its use, and hundreds of different mindfulness techniques that have been developed.

Mindful Eating 101: Mindful Eating vs. Intuitive Eating

Mindful eating and intuitive eating are two tools that are frequently used by non-diet/Health at Every Size practitioners. The terms mindful eating and intuitive eating are often used interchangeably, especially by those who are less experienced in the practices. While there is quite a bit in common, mindful eating and intuitive eating are two different things.

Intuitive eating is a paradigm/framework, guided by 10 principles, with a goal of helping you make peace with food and kick the diet mentality. It goes beyond eating, with principles addressing movement, body image, and nutrition.

Mindful eating is a practice/skill that can be used within intuitive eating, or outside of intuitive eating. Within intuitive eating, mindful eating can help you put the 10 principles into action. For example, eating with mindfulness could help you better identify hunger and fullness cues, or notice what food you like, so you are able to discover the satisfaction factor. That said, part of intuitive eating is being OK with not eating mindfully! One of the goals (and joys!) of intuitive eating is not thinking about food all the time, and sometimes that means eating with distraction - because life! While mindful eating is a pretty essential skill within the broader application of intuitive eating, it doesn’t mean each and every meal should be eaten mindfully. Essentially, within an intuitive eating framework, mindful eating is consider a tool that can be used to help apply the 10 principles, but is not a rule.

You may also see mindful eating used outside of an intuitive eating framework, for a variety of eating and nutrition concerns. There are many therapists and dietitians trained in mindful eating techniques, who use this practice as their primary therapeutic approach, or in conjunction with other therapeutic approaches, to address things like binge eating, picky eating, disordered eating, general nutrition, and weight loss.

Mindful Eating 101: Benefits of Mindful Eating

There are many benefits to applying the skill of mindfulness to eating:

• Mindful eating can help you can back in touch with hunger and fullness cues, better understand your physical needs, and eat an amount of food that feels good for you.

• It can help you identify maladaptive thoughts and beliefs about food that can create stress around food and eating, and may influence eating behaviors. Identifying these thoughts gives you a chance to investigate them, see if they’re really true, and/or reframe them.

• Mindful eating can making eating more pleasurable, by helping you slow down and savor your food, and by helping you get back in touch with what foods and flavors are most satisfying for you.

• Mindful eating may benefit digestion, by slowing down eating and reducing stress at mealtime. There’s also quite a bit of research examining the role of mindfulness for reducing symptoms of IBS.

• Mindful eating can help improve dietary quality (i.e. variety, nutrient content, balance, etc).

If you'd like to learn more about how to start incorporating Mindful Eating into your life, please book a free discovery call with Lindsey.

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