Mindful Eating Roadblocks (part 3)

For this article, I will share with you the last three roadblocks to mindful eating adapted from my latest book and audio program, “It’s Not About the Food: A Woman’s Guide to Making Peace With Food and Our Bodies” (www.endyoureatingdisorder.com). I hope you enjoy them.

Roadblock #3: EATING THINGS YOU DON’T WANT

How often have you had the experience of pigging out on something and once you’d consumed a lot of it, realized you didn’t even like it? I know I have. Eating things we don’t really want is part of the “mindless eating” phenomenon that is so prevalent in our society. We can easily fall into this trap, what I recently heard someone refer to as a “snackcident”, when we’re not paying attention to what and how we are eating.

Also, many of us learned as children that it was a sin to not eat everything on our plates, and some were even forced to eat everything they were given so that they could leave the table! But if you can go back in time and recapture some of your childhood eating memories, can you remember how repulsed you felt by certain foods? Mine was turnip…Just smelling cooked turnip was enough to make me run for cover when I was little.

As adults, and especially as dieters, we may have become increasingly disconnected with our true food likes and dislikes, and will often eat things just because we think they are “good for us.” I’d like to help you reconnect with your inner child so that she can help you re-learn what foods “call to you” and those you’d rather avoid.

For Homework, try answering the following questions in your journal or on a piece of paper:

Make a list of foods you want but do not allow yourself to buy or eat.
What foods are you eating that you don’t really want?

If you allowed yourself to have the foods you want, whenever you are craving them, what do you think would happen?

Roadblock #4: EATING WHEN YOU’RE NOT HUNGRY

The Hunger/Satiety Scale

Hunger has a wide range of intensities. Pay attention to your hunger and fullness cues. Imagine hunger as a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is hunger to the point of light-headedness, 5 is no hunger, and 10 is “Thanksgiving full” where you may even start to feel pain. Ideally, you want to stay in the middle of this range between slightly hungry and comfortably full. If you allow yourself to get too hungry, everything starts to look good and it’s easy to overeat. On the other hand, if you are always eating before you feel hungry, you are ignoring the natural signals that help you maintain a regular body weight. It is important to stop eating just before you feel full because it takes time for the brain to get the fullness message. Some days you will be more active and require more energy than others, so respond to hunger cues appropriately.

Homework: To learn about satisfaction, at your next meal, try eating half the food on your plate, and then give yourself a rating of where you are on the hunger/satiety scale. If you are at number five or above, stop eating.

Roadblock #5: SNEAKING FOOD

This is a very important area to address, as there is a huge correlation between the phenomenon of sneak-eating and problematic relationships with food and body image. In the 10+ years that I’ve been working as a therapist specializing in disordered eating, I have not yet met one client who has made peace with food and their body without stopping the “sneak-eating” habit.

Homework:

Write a list of the ways in which you eat less than what you want because you are in the presence of others.

Write a list of the ways in which you currently sneak food.

Write a list of the specific foods you sneak. Is there a pattern? What do you notice?

Write a list of the ways in which you hide your eating. Is there a pattern? What do you notice?

More Homework: Commit to not sneak food at least once this week and eat it in full view of others. Then write about the experience in your journal. What was it like to tell the truth about what you eat?

An Eating Disorders Therapist shares tips from her latest book on practicing Mindful Eating.

Esther Kane, MSW, Registered Clinical Counsellor, is the author of the book and audio program, “It’s Not About the Food: A Woman’s Guide To Making Peace with Food and Our Bodies” (www.endyoureatingdisorder.com) and “Dump That Chump”(www.dumpthatchump.com), and “What Your Mama Can’t or Won’t Teach You”(www.guidebooktowomanhood.com). Sign up for her free monthly e-zine, Women’s Community Counsellor, to uplift and inspire women at: http://www.estherkane.com. Please consider this article for publication in your newsletter, magazine or website. Permission is granted to reprint for free with resource box and byline intact. Please send me a copy of your publication if you choose to include my article.

Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com. PositiveArticles.Com does not vouch for or necessarily endorse the contents of this article.

If you are copying this article for publishing on a website or ezine, please use the "Ezine Ready" button from the righthand menu.

Now try one of these popular topics:

Success - Career Skills - Dating - Relationship Advice - Work at Home - Online Degrees - Seminars - Life Coaching - Weight Loss - Alternative Medicine - Parenting - Debt Relief - Fitness Advice - Nutrition Advice

Article Search

Home

	Print This Article
	Add To Favorites
	Ezine Ready

Web resources

NLP
Self Improvement Tips
Diet & Exercise Tips

More Popular Topics: Success - Career Skills - Dating - Relationship Advice - Work at Home - Online Degrees - Seminars - Life Coaching - Weight Loss - Alternative Medicine - Parenting - Debt Relief - Fitness Advice - Nutrition Advice