Hello and question re: mindful eating practice

themyriadthings

Hi;

I am very new to myfitnesspal, having joined just last week. So far I have found it to be extremely easy to use, very informative and practical. The convenience of being able to find out how many calories are in something before I eat it , via the mobile application, has helped me a great deal. I can keep track of the 'math' so I can balance out the day properly with eating and excercise - but you all know that of course!! The community forum here also seems very supportive and kind, which is what prompted me to introduce myself rather that just continue lurking.

One of my main motivations for working towards acheiving a more healthy weight is my view that balance in all things is very important. I'm really trying to bring the concept of joyful moderation into my life in all areas. Which brings me to my question: has anyone here tried any 'mindful eating' practices? By this I mean really paying attention to the sensations of eating and doing nothing else but eating during meal times (except maybe enjoying the company of your meal companions I'm finding that using myfitnesspal has really got me slowing down and appreciating each bite of food I have, and enjoying each bite a lot more.

Any thoughts?

fansntt

For me Myfitnesspal serves a motivation to archive a goal. The website gives me a number and try to stay below of the calories count, just like playing sport and attempting to score the most points.

The another way that this website has worked wonderful is helping me to be conscientious about the amount of calories that I am consuming and yes I do enjoy more the taste of food rather than just being full.

In the past thanks to the useless nutritional label in food I just guessed the amount of calories that I was consuming per serving. Now I have an accurate calories count and surprised me how wrong I was, I would never have guessed how many calories a slice of French bread has.

Luckymam

I read a book calleed "I Can Make You Thin" by Paul McKenna. It really taught me to take notice of what I am eating. In the last 3 months I've lost 36lbs so I think that the techniques in this book, coupled with exercise and buying good food rather than processed and refined stuff. (I'm also partially breastfeeding which maybe helps too).

The main principals of the book are that you eat conciously; you eat only when you are hungry; you pay attention to your food - turn off the tv, eat slowly, put your knife and fork down between each mouthful, chew your food well before swallowing etc; and stop when you are full. You are even encouraged to purposefully leave food on the plate to symbolise that you are in control of the food, rather than the food controlling you.
That's something that was hard for me at first because I've always been encourage to clean my plate as there are starving kids in Africa that would LOVE my food!

lotusfromthemud

I eat mindfully. It was the last, and maybe most important step I made in my journey.

I blogged about it. A lot. If you're curious, here's the first post, and then I did a 30 day mindful eating challenge. One of the hardest changes I had to make (who knew eating took up so much time if you just concentrated on eating) but really, really life-changing.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/viviakay/view/in-which-v-makes-some-solemn-and-scary-promises-23897

themyriadthings

Thanks so much everyone for the warm welcome! I will certainly follow up by checking out that book and blog

lotusfromthemud

Oh, and there's another book called "Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life" that I found quite useful.

It's heavy on Buddhist philosophy, so if that's not your thing, you might not like it.

themyriadthings

Actually, that is totally my thing, and that is the book I have been considering getting. The little bit I've read out of it at the bookstore makes complete sense to me!