Weight Loss without Worry

     Does your hand put food in your mouth without any conscious thought?  Do you eat in front of your computer, television, or while on the phone?  Do you have trouble recalling what exactly you ate?  Then you might be a Zombie Eater.  Zombie Eaters eat mindlessly, paying little if no attention to what they eat; food is just one more multitasking item.

     This unconscious eating can lead to a multitude of unwanted results, namely weight gain and poor food choices that leave us feeling sluggish.  If you are trying to lose weight, then work on becoming more aware of what exactly you are eating by practicing mindful eating.  Mindful eating is a term we hear batted around often in healthy eating circles but I think the best description of how to go about it comes from Dr. Carol Solomon, a PhD. and expert in emotional eating issues.

     I interviewed Dr. Solomon, you can listen to the interview by clicking here, and she shared how eating mindfully allows you to be satisfied with less food and without fighting with yourself to stop eating.  She suggests that you stop multitasking when you eat.  In other words, when you eat — just eat, don’t be watching TV or working.  She goes on to say that you need to be more aware of the food you are eating even when you are with a group of friends.  When eating at a social event it is easy to overeat because you attention is elsewhere.   

     Here is an experiment for you to try that will help you break out of Zombie mode and become a Mindful Eater.  For one day pay attention to everything you eat.  I mean really pay attention.  Use all five of your senses when you eat, how does it really taste?  What kind of texture does it have?  Smell it, hear it crunch or not, and take in the morsel of food with your eyes before putting it in your mouth.  Do this for one day and I think you will be surprised by what you notice.  Foods that you thought you couldn’t live without might not have quite the appeal you always imagined they had, and foods that you just dismissed before may be tastier than you thought. 

     When we eat mindfully it becomes easier to distinguish between your true hunger and head hunger or emotional hunger.  When you eat mindfully you become keenly aware of times when you are reaching for food because you are experiencing an emotion you would like to be rid of such as stress, anxiety or boredom.  In this way, mindful eating is a great tool for weight loss. 

     Mindful eating takes some work at the beginning because you are not used to being focused in this way but within a week or so you will be doing it like a pro and any Zombie eating will be a thing of the past.