- The goal of mindful eating is to listen to your body's signals.
- Proponents of mindfulness eating say that the practice isn't about a limiting mindset
- "It's not about thinking; it's about feeling. What does it feel like when I eat too much?" Explained Dr Judson Brewer.
The concept of mindful eating can seem like a license to eat whatever you want. But proponents of this style of diet say perceiving it in that way could be an indication that a person doesn't pay attention to when, how or what they're eating. In other words, such a person might actually find the practice of mindful eating to be transformative.
"The goal is to listen to the body's signals. Our feeling body is much smarter than our thinking brain," Dr Judson Brewer from the Brown University Mindfulness Centre told The New York Times, reports Cover Media.
"It's not about thinking; it's about feeling. What does it feel like when I eat too much?"
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Proponents of mindfulness eating say that the practice isn't about a limiting mindset and that it "is all right to eat as much as we want."
"If we listen to the wisdom of our bodies, we're not going to overeat, and that's where we can shift our behaviour," said Dr Brewer.
In times of stress, when compulsive eating may be an issue, experts recommend asking yourself: "What do I need?"
"If I'm stressed, maybe I need a stretch or a walk break. If I'm stuck, maybe I need to take a moment and reflect or talk to a colleague.
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"The 'want' is a habit. Meeting your 'need' is going to help you not reach for food."
Dr Brewer continued: "Snacking isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if we snack a lot and it becomes our go-to when we have writer's block, it can teach us two things -- to eat when we're not hungry and to eat instead of doing something that might actually help with the writer's block."
Mindful eating could also help you shop more mindfully in order to avoid food waste.
