Mindful Eating

surfstarved

Hi has anyone tried mindful eating?

I have struggled with my relationship with food for many years, in terms of how I think about it.

I have tried eating mindfully quite a few times and it has really helped me feel better about food and even maintain a healthy weight.
But I haven’t been able to stick to it for very long. Usually I become stressed out or sad or excited or experience an intense emotion i can’t deal with and resort to eating mindlessly. As soon as i do this it’s hard to get back into the habit of eating mindfully and feeling relaxed about food.

Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with stress/intense emotions without food
Tips on how to deal with boredom without resorting to food
Anyone who has tried mindful eating and could give me some insights into their experience, how they dealt with challenges etc.

Thanks so much!!!

Annesoucy1957

Hi, mindfull eating equates to slowing down when you eat, making better choices according to your personal needs and goals.

I was counting calories for a long time and now I am only doing it when not sure about a certain food so the mindfull eating is important to me.

No matter what method you choose you must stay focus, calorie counting, ww, etc and find ways to avoid excess.

Walking is something I do when stressed and if I cannot I drink a glass of water and repeat to myself that food wont solve the problem.

On the subject of boredom, I realised that it does not take much to keep my mind busy, sitting watching tv use to be a time when I would eat without thinking just gobbling down the food, now I double task watch and do some drawing while watching or knitting, mindless activities that focus my attention to something else than food.

When I sit down to eat, I put my fork down between each bite and drink some water between each bites, if I dont do that again gobble gobble.

Going to the gym occupies some of my time and takes care of some of the boredom, I also find activities with family and friends that have nothing to do with food.

I love food did not get overweight just looking at it, but I came to realise that yes it is a pleasure that is easily attained but the consequences are not worth those few seconds.

So I talk to myself all the time saying that the way I feel at a lower weight is so much more than a few spoons of heavy cream on my strawberries.

Good luck and dont give up, keep at it and if you fail once in a while it is not the end just a new beginning.