Photo courtesy of Kirsten Firminger
In a new research article being published in this month's Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Dr. Alan Kristal and colleagues found that people who eat mindfully (defined as those were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full) are less likely to be obese.
The actual article describes the process of developing and validating a way to measure mindful eating. I find it interesting because it can be used as a guide to examine my own eating habits.
Kristal and colleagues ended up with 5 factors, or categories, of behaviors that were thought to comprise mindful eating. They were:
- Disinhibition - this involves noticing when you are full and how much you eat. Negative examples would be agreeing to the following statements: "If there's good food at a party, I'll continue eating even after I'm full." or "When I'm at a restaurant, I can tell when the portion I've been served is too large for me."
- Awareness - paying attention and appreciating the food you are eating. For instances, agreeing with the statement that "I taste every bite of food that I eat." or "I notice when foods and drinks are too sweet."
- External cues - being aware of how situations trigger cravings or influence you to eat more. The researchers measured this based on peoples agreement with statements such as "I notice when just going into a movie theater makes me want to eat candy or popcorn." or "I recognize when food advertisements make me want to eat."
- Emotional responses - do you eat for emotional reasons? would you say that "When I'm sad I eat to feel better." or "When I'm feeling stressed at work I'll go find something to eat."
- Distraction - this last category is another indicator of how much you pay attention to the eating process. For example, how much would you agree that "I think about things I need to do while I am eating." or "I eat so quickly that I don't taste what I'm eating."
Some of the ideas I take away from this are means to reconnect with my body and my food during the eating process, including:
- Eat enough but not more - Learn how much food I need to
eat in order to be satiated or satisfied, but not so much as to be
full. Be aware of what being full feels like and do not eat beyond that
point.
- Love my food - Look at it, smell it, savor it. Enjoy every moment of eating it and take my time.
- Don't be seduced
- Be aware that I can be influenced by things such as advertisements,
being at a party, or being at a restaurants. Take the time to notice
if I am truly hungry or just being triggered to crave food because of
my circumstances.
- Don't feed the feelings
- Don't just eat because of how I feel. Eating a candy bar will not
make my stress go away. Moods are impermanent and will pass. Just be
patient.
- Just eat - Focus on eating when I am eating. Clear my mind and be present with my food.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
Lose weight can be such as a struggle because after so many efforts when a man have nothing in his hands.If you relly wants to lose weight you should have to make canges every day in your living and diet.
Lose weight can be such as a struggle because after so many efforts when a man have nothing in his hands.If you relly wants to lose weight you should have to make canges every day in your living and diet.
Losing weight is acievable to everyone but you have to look at it as a lifestyle change. What you eat and what you do (in terms of exercise). So in effect much of the inertia of losing weight is firstly in your mind set- do you want to lose weight? Well convince yourself fully that you do and commit to altering your lifestyle.
http://reduceyourwaistsize.weebly.com/
NO-ONE WILL LOSE WEIGHT UNLESS THEY WANT TO! Stop dieting; keep track of everything that you eat each day. Secret information will help you to get the body that you want. Each day keep your body properly hydrated with plain water and definitely limit your sodium intake. Keep mindless grazing to a minimum. Remember; eat to live, don’t live to eat! A daily regimen is needed by everyone and that regimen includes proper nourishment. Diets and diet aids do not help anyone! The only way to successfully lose weight and get the body that you deserve is by using secret information. This information is in the book Lose Weight Using Four Easy Steps which can be ordered through the website www.bbotw.com Everyone who has gotten a copy of these secrets has lost weight and become healthier.
Hi,
great post and it really hits the spot for me. The reason I lost weight is because I started to pay attention to what I was eating and why. My weight gain was when I lost touch with this natural focus. Insightful and on the mark, thankyou. Will return Davi
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.