You might have heard talk about mindful eating and how helpful it is if mastered right. It may sound like a pompous new trend but actually, it’s a real and beneficial concept that has its roots in a Buddhist concept about mindfulness. But what is mindful eating? Basically, it is described as a technique that helps you gain or regain control over your once chaotic eating habits. Apart from making you feel a lot better, some say that it also helps you lose weight and makes you reduce binge eating.
In order to understand all there is about mindful eating, we should start at the beginning by answering one question: what is mindful eating? Well, it has mindfulness at its core, a form of meditation that helps you recognize and then cope with various physical sensations and with your emotions. It is considered a treatment for a lot of conditions like depression, eating disorders, and anxiety. Mindful eating means using this technique to grasp a better understanding of your eating experiences, cravings and cues.
Its weight loss benefits
Let’s face the harsh reality. The majority of those diets and weight loss programs only work on the short-term. Studies tell us that about 85% of obese people who at one point lost weight will return to their initial form or even surpass it. Things like eating when bored or stress-induced eating are very common nowadays. This is why mindful eating might be one of the best alternatives out there.
There are many studies which agree that mindful eating helps you lose weight by reducing the amount of stress you’re facing. The idea is to completely change your perspective about food and then associate those negative feelings with positive ones and self-control and awareness.
Moreover, mindful eating can also reduce and prevent binge eating. Everybody knows that eating a large amount of food in a short period of time without thinking about it is very bad. It’s also one of the leading causes of obesity. It seems that mindful eating can drastically reduce the frequency of those binge eating sessions and their intensity too.
What mindful eating involves
Mindful eating will make you replace automatic responses and thoughts with healthier and more conscious ones. In involves:
- Eating without any distractions around and very slowly
- Only eating until you’re full
- Making the difference between real hunger and boredom
- Engaging all of your senses: smell, sight, hearing, feeling and taste
- Learning to maintain a healthy lifestyle
- Learning to cope with anxiety and guilt about food
- Appreciating and being thankful for your food
In conclusion, should you try it?
The answer to this question is entirely up to you. However, considering the society that we are living in today, with the choices we have to make daily and how sometimes we don’t make the best ones, mindful eating might be a beneficial solution. It’s not only about losing weight (even fi it helps with this too), but it’s more about coming to terms with your inner demons when it comes to food.
So, what did you think about our guide on what is mindful eating and how does it help with weight loss? Are you willing to try this technique? Did you try it already? Tell us what you thought down below!
Image source: pexels