Pre-Challenge Activity #5: Mindful Eating vs. Emotional Eating
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kaliswalker
Posts: 1,197 Member
In contemplating what Pre-Challenge Activities to explore for the 2023 Summer 5% Challenge a suggestion was made to explore EMOTIONS and their relationship with food … in chatting a little further and doing a little research, we came up with the title: Mindful Eating vs. Emotional Eating.
There are lots of articles written about this topic. One article which I will reference here (you can all read the full article yourself) discusses the fact that you can (and should) honor your hunger, enjoy what you eat and recognize when you are full.. It explains differences between physical hunger and emotional hunger.
Toward the end of the article, it discusses the HALT technique which is explored and explained. Please visit: https://www.sutterhealth.org/health/nutrition/mindful-and-emotional-eating
Another interesting site ~ Food Insight discusses mindful eating and also gives you information on HOW to eat mindfully. It also offers a fact sheet called the ‘Mindful Eating Fact Sheet’ that you can download (or print to put into a prominent place where you can reference if often).
https://foodinsight.org/your-guide-to-mindful-eating/
> > > > Of course, any and all of these recommendations NEVER, EVER supersede recommendations from your healthcare provider. We are all individuals and are all at different stages of life (and health) which sometimes dictate what we can and can't eat. If you are under a physician's care and a meal plan has been recommended for your specific needs, please continue following your doctor's orders! < < < <
📓Your assignment: PRE-CHALLENGE ACTIVITY #5: Mindful Eating vs. Emotional Eating
For this Pre-Challenge Activity ~ read the articles to help you to determine what your relationship with food really is.
?? ~ Are you a mindful eater or more of an emotional eater? If you are more of an emotional eater, consider trying the HALT Technique.
Consider visiting the second website and download (or print) the Mindful Eating Fact Sheet and become familiar with its contents.
For the duration of this Challenge, consider displaying the fact sheet in a prominent place: in your kitchen-on the refrigerator, for instance. Or, perhaps in the bathroom - near the mirror so you will see it when you get ready in the morning. Consider putting it in the bedroom on your dresser or taped to your closet door so that you will see it as a reminder of where you want to see yourself in the near future.
Use this pre-challenge activity to explore to take control of the emotional aspect of eating and transform that into mindful eating. Consider how you will practice eating mindfully vs. emotionally. If you have a day where emotional eating becomes the focus of your day, don’t beat yourself up, instead - acknowledge it and strive to restart for your very next meal.
Feel free to add your comments to this thread outlining your mindful eating vs. emotional eating plan and incorporate that to set yourself up for a successful 2023 Summer 5% Challenge (if you blog, you may add the link to your blog here or you may simply wish to copy/paste your writing here - or do both!), but please consider sharing!!
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PLEASE NOTE: The Seasonal 5% Challenge Teams are very active. You will be expected to participate to the best of your ability.
ALL challenge weeks run from Saturday through Friday - you will be expected to record your exercise and Living the Good Life points based on weekly Challenge Themes. You are expected to record these points daily or at least as often as you can during the week but no later than 11:59 pm each Friday (your local time). In addition, you are expected to weigh in one time per week by 11:59 pm every Saturday (your local time). Your individual team leaders and/or team mates will help to answer any and all questions about where to record your points.
🔮Our individual Summer 5% Challenge Teams are currently being set up.
✉️You will be invited to your individual team soon, in enough time to get to know your team leaders and team mates. Until then, get to know some of the Challengers that will be participating right along with you.
📢Announcements will be made when invitations to your individual teams are sent. Please visit this team, the 2023 SUMMER 5% COMMUNITY TEAM often as this will be the best source for up-to-date information.
Previous Pre-Challenge Activites (consider reading/participating in one or all of them):
** Countdown & Pre-Challenge Activity #1: INFORMATION and YOUR INPUT! ℹ️🔠
Here is the link: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10887289/countdown-pre-challenge-activity-1-information-and-your-input-ℹ️#latest
** Countdown & Pre-Challenge Activity #2: SET SOME GOALS!
Here is the link:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/post/editdiscussion/10887403
**Countdown & Pre-Challenge Activity #3: Meal Plan
Here is the link:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10887514/countdown-pre-challenge-activity-3-meal-plan/p1?new=1
**Countdown & Pre-Challenge Activity #4: Exercise Plan
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10887598/countdown-pre-challenge-activity-4-exercise-plan/p1?new=1
Heidi (hicim705)
Overall Co-Leader, Seasonal 5% Challenges (hosted on MFP)
Overall Co-Leader, Seasonal 5% Challenges (hosted on MFP)
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Thank you for the links to the two articles. Some of the best I have read.
I never could consistently avoid "craving eating". I could never walk past the candy dish without taking one. I always told people I was on the "See-food" diet, I would see food and eat food. I read about mindless eating, and self control, and motivation...but until I cut all sugar and most carbs out of my diet...I could not walk past the candy dish. Now I can stand there and talk with someone else and have no desire to take a candy. I had even tried filling the dish with candy I did not like, and every time I walked by, I still considered taking one.
Reducing sugar and most carbs made all those cravings go away in a couple of days. So far they have not come back. My husband can sit next to me eating ice cream out of the container...and I loved ice cream...now I don't have any desire for it.
I know everyone's body is different,. Everyone's journey to good healthy and a healthy weight is different. I just know I have found something that is working well for me. No cravings and losing 13 pounds in a month. Two wins for me right now.1 -
Challenge to me: keep reading more of these articles0
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I am not a mindless eater. I eat three meals a day and rarely snack throughout the day. About once a month my husband and I share popcorn. We haven't had cookies in our home for several months now. IF I feel the need for a snack I stick to something high in protein and low in sugar and fat. I wouldn't exactly call myself a mindful eater though. I watch my portions, only eat what I put on my plate, but I typically eat very fast. I raised 5 children, mostly on my own. I was the last to sit down and the first to have to get up to clear and clean up. The habit has never left me!1
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I’m a mindful eater, emotionally only when VERY upset.
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I suffered from binge-eating disorder for a very long time, and am finally on meds to curb that, so I definitely grew up living the emotional eating life.
That being said, I love food. My partner loves food. There are times when I will eat in excess simply because it's delicious. I've been making small adjustments to my diet overall, but I still leave room for nights at our friends' houses where we cook a huge meal and overindulge for the heck of it. I and my partner both grew up in environments where celebrating for no reason was encouraged and having seconds of something was a compliment to the chef. It makes me happy to see people eating something I cooked, and it makes me happy to think something someone else cooked was delicious; it's an expression of love to me.
To that end, my ultimate goal weight is on the higher end of "healthy"/lower end of "overweight" because I love indulgence and am totally okay with that.
My challenge this season will be to try to learn to be okay with having a tiny bit less of that indulgence so that I can really enjoy it when the time comes. I also want to learn more recipes that incorporate a lot of veggies that I think are delicious so that I rarely feel like I'm missing out!2 -
I have been an emotional eater for most of my life. I have always been amazed by people who only eat when they’re hungry because I’ve never been able to do it myself. I really struggled with binge eating disorder for most of my teens and early 20s. In my mid 20s, it started getting better though I was extremely overweight by then. Now that I’m in my 30s, I don’t deal with binge eating often. With depression, anxiety, and PTSD, food has always been a way of coping for me. Though I’m doing much better on that side of things, I’m definitely still a mindless eater. Because of my history, I am not in sync with my body at all. I rarely feel hunger and miss signs of satiety until I’ve over eaten. One goal for this challenge will be to get my body to talk to me again now that I’m ready to listen. In the past, this has meant eating on a strict schedule and not eating past fullness. Eventually that led to feelings of hunger around scheduled meal times. I WANT to feel hungry so that I can learn to fuel my body when it needs it, rather than when I feel like it. My goal for this challenge is not to be perfect by the end of the 8 weeks, but simply to feel hunger and fullness. I can work on proper responses to those signals once I have learned to hear and acknowledge them. I'm embarrassed to even type all of that out because I know it's something so many people have no problem with, but when I joined the challenge, I promised myself I would be honest about where I am. I'm determined to make this summer a turning point for me.2
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I'm not a mindful eater, I eat because food tastes good, not because I'm hungry. Even during my weight loss journey, I eat because it's "time to eat", not because I'm hungry.1
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I am a mindful eater until the afternoon, and then I will occasionally snack and eat things I probably shouldn't.1
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I am on my way to slowing down and enjoying the beauty of color, texture, flavor, smells.1
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Funny, I just came across the HALT technique the other day researching about hunger training for diabetics. Hunger training for diabetics is about eating only when hungry and eating below a personalized set blood glucose value. To lower your blood sugar, you keep chasing lower set values until you get them where you want them. I'm shooting for optimal levels of an athlete. Before, I ate within my IF window of eating, but now I'm eating to low blood glucose eating patterns and using HALT to get me mindful and engaged to my plan.0
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When I have eaten the best with respect to portions is when I listened to my body. It really is true. I am an emotional eater, so I do need to find a way to sort that out. Mindful eating is a must for me. That means not working or scrolling as I eat.0
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Absolutely a huge part of my plan. Setting at a table with no distractions is what I have been and will continue to do. Well if you can call having a 80lb Black Lab drooling at your every bite not a distraction..hee hee...Molly likes people food, especially salads!!0
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thank you .1
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I really enjoyed the articles. I tend to listen to my body and to eat nutritional food in healthy portions. However if I am extremely emotional it all goes out the window, ice cream here I come
. I tried the asking myself why am I eating this as they suggest but my answer is because it tastes good, No helpful.
I am now trying to replacing food with something else I love to do. I am seeing some progress, I find coloring works pretty well. It calms my mind and keeps my hands busy. Also my art room is a floor above my refrigerator. 1 -
You know, I've never considered myself an emotional eater. But, perhaps I have been. I have a sweet tooth; I've been baking most of my life.
Thank you for posting links to the articles. I look forward to reading & learning from them.1 -
I am definitely an emotional eater. One thing I have learned though is I am more of a bored eater or worried eater. I have learned that later in life if I am really stressing about something, I don’t eat. So that is a good thing I guess but still I am an emotional eater none the less. I would love to learn how to be a mindful eater. I also have taken a nutrition class in college to learn what food does to the body. I just need to learn how to control my body. I am going to try the HALT questions and posting the mindful eating printout. I hope this can become a routine.1
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I try to be very mindful especially tracking with the WW app. I’m not a sweet tooth person but I will keep jello and fruits on hand for any emotional moments in life.1
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I have been an emotional eater but plan to use the HALT method to overcome it. I have replaced additional salt for the most part with spices for flavor and sugar with fruit or stevia. I saute with water or vegetable broth rather than oil or cooking spray. I tailor my recipes to suit my needs and, for the most part, my family likes my healthier version better.1
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I am an emotional and bored eater. I need to put my phone away during meals and use the HALT method when I am faced with food. It will allow me to enjoy my dinners with my husband more, too!1
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I'm definitely an emotional eater. But I'm a food lover, so I am not tempted by fast food. I've NEVER eaten a free sample at Costco - a streak I hope to continue. However, I'm the cook in my home, so I take time to cook from scratch, and I really love the food I make. So it's always been an issue of portion control.1
