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Mindful Eating by Shambhala Publications

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The audio tracks accompanying the book, Mindful Eating.

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An exercise for practising eating mindfulness, or mindfulness of eating. You can practise this exercise with one simple sultana or raisin, a piece of chocolate or a selection of fruit or biscuits on a plate.

Eating mindfulness mp3

Before you choose what you will be eating, come to a place of mindfulness: Sense what your body needs. Notice whether saliva production increases as you look at the platter. Take your time to choose one thing.

Focus with clear awareness on each movement and each moment of the experience as you move your arm and hand and fingers towards the object and pick it up, place it on the palm of your hand or hold it between your fingers.

Imagine you have just come to Earth and awakened to this substance you have not encountered before. Explore it with all your senses as if you have never seen it before. Scan it; explore every part of it with your eyes as it sits on your palm or in your fingers. Turn it around.

Notice the texture, the light on it, its shape; whether it is soft, hard, coarse, smooth. Notice any thoughts that arise (like "why am I doing this?") and see if you can just notice the thoughts and let them be... before bringing your awareness back to the object.

Take the object beneath your nose and carefully notice the smell of it. Bring the object to one ear and squeeze it, roll it, listen for any sound coming from it. Begin to slowly bring the object to your mouth, noticing that the arm knows exactly where to go and perhaps noticing your mouth watering. Gently place the object in your mouth, or take one bite if it is larger than one bite-size, but do not chew yet. Feel it on your tongue: its weight, temperature, size, texture. Explore the sensations of it in your mouth.

When you are ready, intentionally bite into it. Does it go automatically to one side of the mouth? Notice when the taste releases. Slowly, slowly chew, noticing the change in consistency, until you are conscious of the impulse to swallow. Sense the food moving down to your throat and into your oesophagus on its way to your stomach. Sit with the experience, noticing any vestiges remaining in your mouth, on your tongue, any taste, feelings... satisfaction, pleasure, aversion.

Take a moment to congratulate yourself for taking the time to experience Mindful Eating.

Please feel free to download the MP3 for your own personal use.

Exercise 3: Mindfulness of eating

Other mindfulness exercises

Get the mobile version

The mindfulness exercises are one of the features available in the free Living Well App for iPhone and Android. Be mindful anywhere, anytime.

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An exercise for practising eating mindfulness, or mindfulness of eating. You can practise this exercise with one simple sultana or raisin, a piece of chocolate or a selection of fruit or biscuits on a plate. Before you choose what you will be eating, come to a place of mindfulness: Sense what your body needs.

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YWM2014: Mindful Eating: Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat

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Extreme hunger and fullness are pretty easy to identify, but the subtle differences can be difficult. Of course, understanding the less extreme shifts in hunger and fullness is important, since you want to steer clear of the extremes.

To learn how these subtle shifts feel, start practicing the hunger scale. Before taking a bite of food, rank your hunger on a scale of 1-10, 1 being famished, 10 being post-Thanksgiving dinner stuffed. When you've eaten about half of your plate, rank your hunger again. Do the same immediately after eating and again 30 minutes after eating. Over time, you'll begin to notice the slight differences in hunger levels. You'll also start to pick up on how much food it takes for you to feel satisfied for different levels of hunger.
PHYSICAL VS EMOTIONAL
It can be difficult to identify when hunger is real, or when it is stemming from an emotion. After practicing mindful eating for years, there are still instances that I'm not 100% sure. Sometimes it can be a little bit of both!

Although hunger feels different for different people, there are common characteristics of physical and emotional hunger. When you think you feel hungry, run through these characteristics and see if you can identify which one it is.

Physical hunger is usually felt in the stomach. You might notice an empty feeling or your stomach growling. Physical hunger grows gradually as time passes since your last meal or snack. Low energy, headaches and feeling moody (aka hangry) can be signs of severe hunger.

Emotional hunger generally comes on rapidly, often immediately after a specific emotion. This hunger is usually for specific foods, like sweets or comfort foods. When emotionally hungry, it often occurs immediately after eating. It may feel like food isn't satiating you and that you can't get enough.
EMOTIONAL EATING CHECKLIST
The feeling of hunger is often induced by a trigger rather than true hunger. Understanding if your hunger is real, or simply a response to a specific trigger, help you decide if you want to eat or not.

Before eating, run through a checklist of possible triggers to see if any fit. Here are some of the most common ones:

Negative emotions: Are you eating to dull or distract from a negative emotion?

depression

sadness

anxiety

Positive emotions: Are you eating to enhance a positive emotion?

joy

celebration

pleasure

Smell: Are you eating because a food smells particularly good? Consider the fast food effect - sometimes food smells much better than it tastes.

Visually appealing: Do you want it because it looks pretty?

Social: Do you want to eat because someone else is eating it?

Procrastination: Are you eating to avoid doing something else?

Low energy: Are you eating for an energy boost?

Practicing these strategies regularly makes it easier to tune into your bodies hunger and fullness cues. It takes time, but it's possible!
Do you struggle to identify hunger and fullness cues? What is most difficult for you, understanding the physical cues or identifying emotional versus physical hunger?

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Wellness Wednesday: Tuning In To Hunger And Fullness Cues

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Years of yo-yo dieting and emotional eating makes it difficult to hear your body's hunger and fullness signals. Learn the strategies to help tune in to your body's hunger and fullness cues so you can eat when hungry, and stop eating when full.

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by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD

What if peace on earth could begin at the dinner table? Imagine experiencing an inner peace, free from incessant worry about what to eat. It's hard to enjoy the holidays when you are preoccupied with eating or worried about what to say to relatives who have an annual tradition of telling you what and how to eat.

Consider your Intuitive Eating Bill of Rights, as we enter the holiday season, to help you foster inner peace with food, mind and body.

1. You have the right to savor your meal, without cajoling or judgment, and without discussion of calories eaten or the amount of exercise needed to burn off said calories.

2. You have the right to enjoy second servings without apology.

3. You have the right to honor your fullness, even if that means saying "no thank you" to dessert or a second helping of food.

4. It is not your responsibility to make someone happy by overeating, even if it took hours to prepare a specialty holiday dish.

5. You have the right to say, "No thank you," without explanation, when offered more food.

6. You have the right to stick to your original answer of "no", even if you are asked multiple times. Just calmly and politely repeat "No, thank you, really."

7. You have the right to eat pumpkin pie for breakfast.

Remember, no one, except for you, knows how you feel, both emotionally and physically. Only you can be the expert of your body, which requires inner attunement, rather than the external, well-meaning, suggestions from family. (Note this was originally posted in 2010).

Copyright © 2010 by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD Published at www.IntuitiveEating.org

*Rights to Reproduce: You may reproduce this post, as long as you leave it unchanged, you don't charge for it, and you include the entire copyright statement. Please let us know you have used it by sending a website link or an electronic copy to Etribole at gmail dot com.

DISCLAIMER: The information is intended to inform readers and is not intended to replace specific advice from a health care professional.

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Intuitive Eater's Holiday Bill of Rights

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by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD What if peace on earth could begin at the dinner table? Imagine experiencing an inner peace, free from incessant worry about what to eat. It's hard to enjoy the holidays when you are preoccupied with eating or worried about what to say to relatives who have an annual tradition of telling you what and how to eat.

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Can you tell the difference between emotional hunger and true physical hunger?
Imagine you're sitting on the couch enjoying a cozy night at home when you see a commercial advertising scrumptious looking cookies. Suddenly you have a severe hankering for some chocolate chips. Where did that come from? Are you really hungry or just impacted by the power of suggestion in advertising? This all-too-familiar scenario has many of us questioning how to tell when we are truly hungry or dealing with an emotional craving.

Oftentimes food cravings caused by emotions are confused as physical hunger cues. Food is tangled with many emotions in our culture such as boredom, celebration, pleasure, reward, etc. Most people can relate to noshing on a little something when there's nothing else to do and that's okay. But if emotional eating is impacting your happiness or your health, it's important to learn how to recognize the difference between emotional and physical hunger.
What is Emotional Eating?
The term emotional eating is often used interchangeably with compulsive overeating and food addiction. Regardless what you call it, emotional eating describes a behavioral pattern of ignoring physical cues of hunger and satiety and eating in response to an emotion. Emotional eaters may engage in frequent episodes of uncontrolled eating, or binge eating, during which he or she may feel out of control -- often consuming food past the point of being comfortably full. Emotional eaters may also engage in grazing behavior, (eating continuously throughout the day) resulting in a high number of calories consumed even if the quantities eaten at any one time may be small.
How to tell the difference between emotional and physical hunger:

Emotional hunger comes on suddenly; physical hunger comes on gradually

Emotional eating tends to be more mindless (in front of the TV, computer, while playing on a gadget)

Physical hunger is usually felt in the gut, with a growling stomach or nausea. Emotional hunger comes more from the head (fantasizing about the taste of a particular food item)

Emotional food cravings are usually specific; physical hunger is open to various food options

Emotional eating passes the point of fullness (satiety) and often results in negative feelings (guilt, shame, etc.)

Tips to Combat Emotional Eating
Most people succumb to emotional eating from time-to-time, so don't beat yourself up if this blog post describes your behaviors. However, if emotional eating has interfered with your quality of life in some way, it's important to take steps to combat it.

First, identify your triggers. Take notice of the times you tend to crave food. What time of day is it? How long has it been since you last ate? What are you feeling and what is going on around you?

Have an alternative behavior or action ready before cravings begin. If you notice that you tend to feel hungry when you are bored, think of something pleasurable to do instead of going for another helping of food. Eating is a rewarding behavior and it can be overused when we feel deprived of life's pleasures. Think of a handful of enjoyable things to do that don't include food.

Add more tools for coping. Find ways to cope with feelings rather than using food as a way of soothing. Make peace with all foods and challenge negative internal/external messages about eating. Nurture yourself and strive for a balanced and rewarding life with breaks from stress. And as always, make sure you are getting enough rest & exercise.
What is Normal & Healthy Eating?
In short, normal eating is nourishing your body with nutrient-rich foods and enjoying treats free of guilt. Normal eating is honoring your hunger and your fullness. Normal eating is flexible (it's okay to have cake!) and it is also responsible. Healthy eaters do not restrict or abuse food.

In counseling those who struggle with disordered eating patterns, several specialists ascribe to a non-diet nutrition philosophy called Intuitive Eating. I.E. is based on the belief that most people instinctually know how to eat. It emphasizes an adaptive relationship between food, mind, and body by making peace with food and normalizing eating patterns. Intuitive Eaters recognize and distinguish the difference between physical and emotional feelings and maintain a stable, healthy weight without depriving themselves or overindulging in food. Two dieticians-Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch-coined the phrase Intuitive Eating in their 1995 book which is now in its third edition. Click here to learn more about their nutrition philosophy.

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Copyright © Finding Cloud9, Dr. Jamie Long

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Can you tell the difference between emotional hunger and true physical hunger? Imagine you're sitting on the couch enjoying a cozy night at home when you see a commercial advertising scrumptious looking cookies. Suddenly you have a severe hankering for some chocolate chips. Where did that come from?

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When I work with clients on intuitive eating, one of the first things we do is work on the hunger and fullness scale to get back in touch with the body's internal cues for when and how much to eat. I've touched on the hunger and fullness scale in a few different posts, but haven't really given an in depth run down (whoops, thought I did!). I think most people who are familiar with Intuitive Eating are pretty well informed of it, but just in case, here's the basics...

Eating disorders, disordered eating, dieting (which I loop in with disordered eating), as well as stress, certain medications, and digestive disorders, can all disrupt the connection to your body's hunger and fullness cues. If you're suppressing hunger and only eating when you're ravenous, when you finally eat, not only will you crave energy-dense foods, but you'll probably eat so fast that you overshoot satisfied and end up stuffed.

Basically, when you're not listening to hunger and fullness, eating gets pretty chaotic.

The hunger and fullness scale helps you get back in touch with the subtle signs of hunger and fullness. If you eat when you're just getting hungry, and stop when you're satisfied, but not uncomfortable, you'll eat just the right amount of food for your body, an amount that changes from day to day based on multiple factors (physical activity, how much sleep you got, stress, etc). Here's the scale I use with my clients:

The goal is to try to stay closer to the middle, eating when you're around a 3-4 and stopping at a 7-8 (but there's times you may over/under eat for various reasons and that's OK!).

Seems pretty cut and dry, right? In practice though, it can get a bit more complicated. My clients have a lot of the same questions and concerns pop up about it, so I thought it'd be helpful to share a hunger and fullness scale 2.0. If you have a specific question I don't hit on in this post, leave a comment below and I'll get to it!

I've got a funky work/school/travel/whatever schedule.

In an ideal world, you'd have the time and food available to eat exactly when you're hungry. But we all have things like jobs and classes and errands and long airplane flights and meetings where we might not be able to pause at that exact moment when we hit a 3 on the hunger scale.

This is where planned overeating comes in. If you know or suspect you might not be able to eat again in the next 3-4 hours, it makes sense to eat until you're slightly uncomfortable, more like an 8. It also might make sense to choose something a bit richer, with a good bit of fat and protein and maybe a bit less vegetables.

You also might have a schedule where your snack/meal breaks don't fall at a time when you're hungry. If you know you won't get a chance to eat again for awhile, even if you're not hungry, eat! Or, experiment with switching up meal and snack times. So if your lunch break falls at 11 and you're not usually hungry, have a substantial snack that might hold until you can break again in the afternoon, and have your real meal.

No longer hungry vs. satisfied

One point of confusion on the fullness side of things is when I see clients eat to the point where they're no longer hungry (a 5), rather than eating until they are satisfied (a 7-8). It makes sense in the dieting world where you're trying to eat as little as possible. But when you look at it on the scale, it's easy to see why at a 5, even though you no longer feel the discomfort of hunger, it won't be long before you drop back to a 4 or lower. Instead, eat for satisfaction. You should feel a sense of fullness. Stop just before you start to get uncomfortable.

When you don't feel hunger in your stomach.

Most people think of hunger as an emptiness or gnawing in their stomach, but hunger can present itself in different ways. For example, while I notice hunger as a sensation in my stomach in the late-morning, afternoon and evening, in the morning, I never notice a physical sensation of hunger. For me, I know I'm pushing it too long without eating if I start to feel anxious. That's my sign that I'm 3 or below on the scale and need to eat pretty immediately.

Other signs of hunger you might notice - low energy/fatigue, moodiness, poor attention, headache, stomach upset, dizziness or shakiness. If you notice one of these physical signs pop up 3-4 hours after you last ate something substantial, it's a good chance it's hunger.

Can I eat when I'm not hungry?

Yes! Let's not turn intuitive eating into the hunger/fullness diet. I've already talked about eating when you're not hungry because that's what works in your schedule, but pleasure is a perfectly acceptable reason to eat too. There may be times that the opportunity to enjoy something really delicious when you aren't feeling hunger, so why miss it? Maybe you're at a five on the hunger/fullness scale and eat till a 6 or a 7, or maybe you're at a 7 and you eat until an 8!

I think of this a lot with traveling, when I'm exposed to a lot of different foods I won't have the opportunity to eat again, so even if I'm not hungry, I don't want to miss out. This happens in everyday life too. The other week my husband brought home really delicious looking cookies, and even though I wasn't hungry and we were having dinner in an hour, I really wanted one then. So I ate it (err, ate a quarter of it and then I realized there were raisins hidden in with the chocolate chips - what kind of evil person does that??). Intuitive eating is eating mostly out of hunger/fullness, but not always.

I'm so hungry I'm not hungry/I'm so hungry my stomach is killing me

I know I'm not the only one who deals with this. When I get to a 1-2 on the hunger scale, I just don't even want to eat anymore. Like, I'm so hungry I'm not hungry. And when I do eat, I feel absolutely miserable, like my stomach is a balloon that's about to pop. I try to prevent this from happening, but sometimes you can't help it, like last week when our takeout delivery took an hour and a half to arrive (😡 😡 😡 ).

Sometimes I see clients get to this level of hunger, and just skip their meal and go to bed, because they think they shouldn't eat anything when they're not hungry. But that doesn't really solve the problem, and they just wake up the next day feeling miserable again. Or, because they're so hungry, they're craving something really rich, and usually rich food + empty stomach = digestion disaster.

Based on my experience and what I've heard from clients, when you get to that extreme level of hunger, basically everything will make your stomach feel bad, but some foods will make it worse. So although this may sound counter to intuitive eating, I've found it's best to ignore what I'm craving and just eat something that will settle well. Please note, that doesn't necessarily eat something super "healthy." A salad with lots of raw vegetables would be an AWEFUL idea on my empty stomach! I just mean get something that's easily digestible, like soup, a smoothie, a peanut butter sandwich, dumplings (<--- that's my go-to when my stomach hurts). I might be craving something else, but I've found that rarely do I actually enjoy that food when I'm super hungry.
For those who are familiar with intuitive eating or the hunger and fullness scale, I'd love to hear your thoughts, as well as any questions/barriers that I didn't touch on in this post. Leave a message in the comments!

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If you're familiar with Intuitive Eating, then you know about the hunger and fullness scale, a tool to help you get back in touch with your hunger and fullness cues.

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Kernel of Wisdom - Mental Health & Mindfulness

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3-Minute Urge Surfing Mindfulness Meditation

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published on

This is the set of guided meditations to accompany 'The Little Mindfulness Workbook' written by Gary Hennessey, Co-founder, Breathworks. The meditations are led by Gary Hennessey as well as three Breathworks associate senior trainers: Dr Colette Power, Andrea Cygler and MJ Stephens. The book includes everyday techniques to help you combat stress and enhance your life by helping you put mindfulness strategies in place from an expert teacher with over 35 years experience. With these meditations and practices, it will help you to: Combat Stress, anxiety, and depression Learn the Value of acceptance Choose how to respond to unwanted experiences Improve your happiness and wellbeing You can purchase the book from the Breathworks Mindfulness website at: http://www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk/the-little-mindfulness-workbook

Genre

Mindfulness and Meditation

Contains tracks

License: all-rights-reserved

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The Little Mindfulness Workbook by Breathworks-Mindfulness

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This is the set of guided meditations to accompany 'The Little Mindfulness Workbook' written by Gary Hennessey, Co-founder, Breathworks. The meditations are led by Gary Hennessey as well as three Breathworks associate senior trainers: Dr Colette Power, Andrea Cygler and MJ Stephens.

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A Simple Way to Break a Bad Habit | Judson Brewer | TED

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Tylka.Intuitive Eating Assessment.JCP.06 - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Describes study and assessment tool to identify the key traits of what constitutes Intuitive Eating. www.EvelynTribole.com

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Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

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Disclaimer Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations.

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I've previously written quite a few blog posts about mindful ph apps. (read HERE to start). However, more and more apps have come on the market, so it's time for an update!

Are you new to Mindful Eating?
If you aren't aware of the concept of Mindful Eating, you can read up all about it by clicking here and also here. In a nutshell, Mindful Eatingis eating with AWARENESS.

Why would you want to use a Mindful Eating App?
Using outside influencers like a phone can help us to hone in on some of the core components of Mindful Eating. We know eating slowly, being focused on the meal and the experience of eating and becoming more in-tune with our hunger, fullness & satiety signals can be super beneficial in creating healthier relationships with food.

What makes a great Mindful Eating App?
When I first wrote about Mindful Eating Apps in 2012, there were hardly any on the market. Therefore not a great deal to be picky about. Now with more available you will see quite a difference in the ethos behind each app. You will notice some Apps involve documenting or tracking what you eat. Be aware for some people this may be problematic. It can start to feel like a food diary, "calorie counting" and more about body weight. So if that sounds like you steer clear of those ones. The best apps are those focused on bringing awareness to the eating experience by looking at the speed we eat and our emotions or decision making around food.
Two questions to ask before you download that Mindful Eating App
1. Is weight loss mentioned in the app info? - if it is, the app is not truly mindfulness based. Mindfulness and Mindful Eating are centred around bringing presence to the moment and not focusing on the future. As weight loss goals are something of the future (and for many folk are not helpful anyway), they don't actually fit with the Mindfulness concept. The same goes for calorie counting.
2. Is there information on the developer and any "further support/help" info included? Accessing further credible help for your personal situation is super important (and helpful), so check for this one.
Ok, so here they are (in no particular order)....

1. Am I Hungry? ® - This App is based on Dr Michelle May's Am I Hungry ® Mindful Eating cycle. Every time you would like to eat the app takes you through a series of decisions to make mindful choices.

2. Mindful Bite - Mindful Bite is centred around the time we take to eat. It flashes at either 30 or 60 seconds and you take a bite then. It also gives you periodic prompts to think about your hunger and fullness levels.

3. Before I Eat (A Moment in the Zone) -This App is useful for people who have been experiencing binging or urges to eat that don't feel helpful. It is centred around acknowledging how you feel before eating (e.g. hungry, anxious, sad, bored etc) and guiding you through strategies for each feeling. It also has some health coaching and goal setting components.

4. In the Moment - Similar to Before I Eat, this App takes you through strategies to address what you are feeling rather than using food to manage certain feelings.

5. Mindful Eating Tracker - Based on mindfulness, this App allows you to notice a food idea or thought (and decide what to do with the thought), rate and track levels of gratitude, hunger, thirst and satisfaction and food enjoyment.

6. Eat Drink and Be Mindful - This App from Dr Susan Albers allows you to record your hunger level and kind of hunger. It also shows how you respond to food (mind, body, thoughts & feelings) and includes reminders to eat mindfully.

7. Rise Up and Recover - Although specifically designed for people with eating disorders (and by the way there are some brilliant apps for Eating Disorders such as Recovery Record) this App still has some really useful tools for everyone. Meals can logged, emotions and behaviours can be tracked and it has a large inbuilt extra support and resources section.

8. Mindful Meal Timer - Currently only available in Google Play, this useful app guides you to eat slowly and has a timer for main meals and snacks (with an alert halfway).

9. Mindful Eating - Encourages taking photos of food eaten along with rating hunger, any sensory perceptions, level of pleasure etc from the particular meal.

10. Eat, Chew Rest - Based on the concept of slowing down, the apps takes you through 3 eating steps as it moves to each colour you can move to the next step of eating 1) Put the food in your mouth (green), 2) Chew (yellow) and 3) put eating utensils down, reflect and express gratitude (red)

I hope you find the list useful. If you know of any other apps, please let me know. You are welcome to send us an email to us (just click here). Thanks x

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I've previously written quite a few blog posts about mindful ph apps. (read HERE to start). However, more and more apps have come on the market, so it's time for an update! Are you new to Mindful Eating? If you aren't aware of the concept of Mindful Eating, you can read up all about it by clicking here and also here.

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Binge and compulsive overeating is where someone feels compelled to eat when they are not hungry and who cannot stop when they have had enough. It affects more people than both anorexia and bulimia. We know that 1 in 2 people who seek help for their weight problem eats compulsively. Put another way, about 12 million people in the UK suffer from compulsive overeating to some extent.

Statistics

Two eating disorder experts, Fairburn and Beglin, have identified rates of binge eating in community studies as follows:

About 1 in 2 individuals trying to control their weight say that they have binged in the last month (not stating what is in the binge). 1 in 4 adults of both sexes trying to control their weight have Binge Eating Disorder as defined below. 6% individuals in the adult community as a whole describe themselves as "Compulsive Eaters" with 2% meeting the criteria for full blown Binge Eating Disorder.

Another community sample cited by Fairburn 1992, in Oxford hire identified 15% of young women aged 16-24 reporting at least one binge in the previous 3 months.

Definitions

Experts and the general public differ in their understanding of compulsive overeating and binge eating disorder.

Binge Eating Disorder is the name of an eating disorder in which a person is unable to prevent himself or herself from eating large amounts of food, often in a mindless state and in a short space of time; and the eating feels out of control. One difficulty in knowing whether you have Binge Eating Disorder is that no-one knows exactly what kind of eating constitutes a "binge". One man's binge may be just another man's hearty meal.

Compulsive Overeating is not the name of an eating disorder, it is a term that sufferers use to describe eating patterns that feel out of control and which can feel like an addiction to food that could make them gain weight. People who describe themselves as compulsive eaters feel that they cannot control their eating and thus they end up eating more than they need. As a result, compulsive overeaters usually struggle to control their weight. Compulsive overeaters have cravings that they cannot master, and may overeat small or large amounts of food, or just pick and nibble some of the time.

So Binge Eating Disorder and compulsive overeating are much the same thing and the differences between them do not really matter. Because compulsive overeaters feel that they cannot control their intake of food, they are likely to describe themselves as lacking in "willpower" and they would usually say that they are eating for comfort rather than for genuine physical need.

"Expert" Definitions of Binge or Compulsive Overeating include some or all of the following features which occur with regularity at least 3 times per week:

Eating faster than usual

Eating past the point of fullness

Eating when not physically hungry

Eating alone or in secret

Feeling upset or guilty after overeating

Feeling that you are abnormal

Feeling "taken over" or "driven" as if by an other presence in respect of eating

Trying to compensate for overeating by dieting or restraining food or purging ( in the latter case you are suffering from bulimia)

Sufferer descriptions might include comments like the following:

I cannot control myself. I'll open the fridge and eat. No matter what time of day, even if I've just finished breakfast or dinner. I'll still search for food. I'm not necessarily hungry, I'm just addicted - its like a drug. The more I have the more I want. I eat it so quick, like there's no tomorrow. And it's always in secret. I even bring food to bed, and in the morning I put the wrappers in an outside dustbin so no-one knows what I've eaten.

If I know that my family and husband are going out, I'll make up an excuse to stay home, that way I can eat and eat and eat.

I'm so disgusted and ashamed of myself. I hate myself for doing it. I know it's wrong while I am doing it but I will carry on. That is what I can't understand, while I'm bingeing. I know what I'm doing but I don't stop. Food is ruling my life. I just wish I could take it or leave it. But it's never enough.

I eat properly in front of other people and eat masses when I get home and on-one can see me.

I go backwards and forwards to the fridge looking for something to satisfy me and nothing seems to.

I start a diet on Mondays and by 11 o clock I am in the biscuit tin, saying here I go again.

I am fine for a while then I say just one bit of chocolate won't hurt then it's like I've blown it so who cares and I will start again tomorrow.

I eat in the car before I get home stuffing my face and if people knew what I was doing I couldn't bear it.

I get this craving in my head and my mouth for chocolate and I can[t relax until I have had it.

Who are compulsive overeaters?

This affects men and women of all ages, unlike the other eating disorders which are heavily biased toward females. However, women are more likely to ask for help and this is probably because women are more concerned about the effects of overeating on their appearance.

Some common factors are interesting:

Most but not all begin to eat compulsively after a period of dieting

Most, but not all would describe themselves as kind

Most put others first and attend to the needs of other people and not themselves

Most, but not all have some difficulty knowing or expressing their needs

Many, but not all lack clarity about how they feel and cannot manage their feelings properly

Most, but not all have low self worth

Most , but not all need to be liked

Psychologically they are otherwise not different to people who eat normally except among those who are particularly overweight

Some of these observations are useful in helping the expert to treat the condition and help someone to regain an enjoyable relationship with food.

Making sense of compulsive overeating

Is compulsive overeating:

A dieting disorder?

A food addiction?

A bad habit?

A lack of willpower?

Comfort eating - to manage difficult and troublesome feelings?

A stress disorder?

A body image problem?

A sign of a deeper emotional problem?

A Dieting Disorder

Many writers have blamed dieting for provoking compulsive eating problems. They claim that dieting makes people deprived and depressed - and thus increases the desire for food which they are not supposed to eat. The solution would therefore be to forgo dieting, stop worrying about one's weight, eat to excess all the foods on the forbidden list and eating would then settle down.

Formal studies of dieting have shown that dieting provokes cravings, impulsive eating (you must eat something just because it is there), low mood, and the inability to stop eating when satiated. These symptoms persist well after someone has stopped dieting and even if they are eating normally. But not all people who diet become compulsive overeaters so obviously something else must be true those who develop a very unhappy relationship with food.

Not all people who ditch their diets regain control of their eating. Also, while the importance of prior and ongoing dieting cannot be ignored, other personal influences will bear on whether one dieter will develop a problem and the other will not.

Food Addiction

Food can feel like an addiction, a desire to eat something that is forbidden; that will make you feel better in the short term even though it may harm your health and your weight in the long term. Both addicts and overeaters refer to preoccupation with the "substance", the sense of craving for particular foods, giving in, and not being able to stop when you have had a reasonable amount. Both addicts and overeaters talk of repeated attempts to give up "tomorrow". Like the traditional addictions to alcohol and drugs, compulsive eating can interfere with your life and cost a great deal of money and remorse.

Food like ice cream, chocolate, biscuits and French fries which are rich in fats or sugars affect the same regions of the brain which are stimulated by drugs, cigarettes and alcohol. Trying to stop eating these foods can lead to withdrawal symptoms.

There is a popular theory that certain people are "addicted" to refined foods and sugar and must abstain from them. But when such persons are given white flour and sugar in blind trials, they do not show increases in cravings or loss of control. This suggests that the addictive effects of these substances are largely psychological.

So, addictions and compulsive overeating share some features but at the NCFED we firmly believe that it isn't helpful to think of compulsive eating as the same as, for example, alcoholism because we can live without alcohol but we cannot live without food. We do not like to think of people as addicts and we can treat compulsive eating effectively.

A Bad Habit

Much of what we do is habit and some habits can be very stuck. Where food is concerned some of our habits track right back to our childhood. Food habits are predictable, we all tend to eat what we like and we eat more at the weekend than we do at the start of a week. Even our indulgences are a habit. None of us change our habits very easily.

Treating compulsive overeating must involve treating that part of the disorder which is a habit. But this is one aspect of the problem, even if it is a very important part.

Lack Of Willpower

People who try to control their weight but fail to do so often say that they lack willpower. They may try many different kinds of diets, or resort to slimming pills or other more dangerous practices to control their weight but nothing works in the end. Some people say that they have just given up trying to lose weight but this does not change their damaging relationship with food.

Compulsive overeaters do not have less willpower than people who eat normally and healthfully. They do however have more cravings for food and stronger cravings. It follows that to treat compulsive eating means getting rid of the cravings and then it will be far easier to stay in control of food and weight.

Eating For Comfort

We all eat to change our emotional state to some extent and we all learn to do this early in life. We might reward ourselves with food at times, eat to share a social occasion, nibble in response to anxiety, eat to fill up the time when we are bored, or have a special meal to calm ourselves down when we have had a bad day. However research clearly shows that people who eat compulsively are often triggered by mood changes, whether the moods are good or bad. Feelings such as anger, guilt, sadness and anxiety can often trigger episodes of overeating.

What does this tell us about the inner world of someone who eats compulsively? Psychologists believe that comfort eating is not so much a way to feel better as it is a way to avoid or manage emotions that might lead to shame or emotional discomfort. The events which have given rise to this situation are varied.

Treatment of the overeating involves helping people to manage these emotions without needing to turn to food instead. It may also involve providing a person with a new range of skills dealing more effectively and assertively with other people.

A Stress Disorder

People with binge or compulsive overeating problems are very stressed. Stress can come from the disorder itself; after all, overeating and blaming yourself for your behavior is very stressful. People are very ashamed of their behaviour and try to hide it from others. And this may lead to more overeating.

Sometimes life is very stressful and the sufferer has learned that overeating provides a short term remedy for feeling overwhelmed, also offering a way of coping with the ups and downs of life.

Sometimes the stress comes from within. If you suffer from perfectionism, and are always trying to perform to your own high standards, if you never feel quite good enough, overeating can be both a way of consoling yourself for the pressure or even beating yourself up for not being as effective as you would like.

Learning how to manage stress is an important part of treatment but the therapist must first discover where the stress comes from and how to address its roots.

A Body Image Disorder

People who binge eat generally hate the way they look and have poor body image. They always feel that they should be eating less even if they can't always do something about it. Horrible feelings of fatness means that even when they do eat they can't enjoy it properly. Poor body image has many effects, from avoiding social situations, not taking care of yourself and not being able to enjoy a holiday. Compulsive eaters believe themselves to be fat even when they are not and they feel instantly fat after eating foods which are considered forbidden.

The consequence of feeling fat and feeling terrified of weight gain leads to constant attempts to compensate for taking in unwanted calories by dieting, starving, taking slimming pills and so on. Sadly these strategies usually make the eating problem even worse. There are some overeaters who feel so hopeless about their weight that they give up trying to control it. I'm fat anyway, so why bother, they might say as they reach for another piece of cake.

Helping a person think more kindly of their body is an important part of treatment and will have knock on effects on self esteem. Treating body image helps a person be kind to themselves with food and predicts recovery from the eating disorder.

A Deeper Emotional Problem

Many people believe that compulsive or binge eating is a sign of deeper psychological difficulties. There is little evidence that this is the case, although severely overweight binge eaters have a greater lifetime risk of depression, alcohol abuse and anxiety disorders.

Compulsive overeaters who develop harmful weight control practices such as vomiting or laxatives have a greater likelihood of traumatic events in their early childhood such as physical or sexual abuse, or even neglect. It is only necessary in treatment to go back and resolve these issues if it is felt that the person is still being affected by these events.

Treating Binge and Compulsive Overeating

The first part of treatment is a very good assessment with a professional who understands eating disorders and who will identify what kind of compulsive eating is going on from the checklist above. A full eating history will allow the therapist to identify the events and challenges that predisposed you to the problem. The assessment will also pinpoint what is keeping you stuck right now.

Treatment will then be directed to both the physical and emotional factors which are maintaining the unhelpful relationship with food, depending on what has emerged at the assessment.

Treatment of compulsive overeating is more than giving you a positive relationship with food. We would attend to the "whole person" and our outcomes would include all or some of the following;

Dealing effectively with your feelings

Eating comfortably in a wide variety of situations

Managing problem situations like parties and Christmas effectively

Sleeping well and feeling healthy

Managing stress and being happier

Handling personal relationships well

Building self worth

Being able to say "no" to food and people when you need to

And much more...

Drug Treatment

Antidepressant drugs do not work well for binge or compulsive overeating and what happens when you stop taking the tablets. This is why we do not recommend drug treatment for binge eating. If someone has other problems such as phobia or a severe depression, then drugs may be useful to help the eating therapy to work more effectively. We suggest careful consideration before doctors reach for the prescription pad and in our experience drugs are needed for very few people.

Appetite suppressants also do not work in the long run for compulsive overeaters and can often make the problems worse in the long run. Good therapy will give control back where it is most needed - from within.

© Deanne Jade 2010

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National Centre for Eating Disorders - Compulsive Eating & Binge Eating Disorder

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Binge and compulsive overeating is where someone feels compelled to eat when they are not hungry and who cannot stop when they have had enough. It affects more people than both anorexia and bulimia. We know that 1 in 2 people who ... Continue reading →

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As we come out of the holidays and start the New Year, many people resolve to change their eating habits. Because of this popular trend, I see many pop-up ads on my computer with optimistic promises like, "Lose Your Belly Fat", "Celebrity Secrets To Hot Bodies", "Why Wheat (or fill in the blank with any food) is Not Your Friend".

While I have no opinion on your friendship with wheat (and PLEASE do not use this forum to discuss why wheat should or should not be removed from one's diet), I agree there are many things that are "not friends" to those who want to alter their eating habits. If you are one of the many who are looking to make permanent changes in your diet, here are some nasty enemies to watch for while trying to navigate this difficult road.

When we are more tired and stressed out, we tend to eat more. Our brains make sure of it by the chemicals that are released during both of these states. Food becomes an effective way to reward and relax ourselves under stress. Food also provides stimulation when tired. And so instead of getting the rest you need to decrease stress and feel energized, many people tend to mask the underlying issues with food. If you can't change your sleep or stress, please know that shifting your eating is going to be all the more difficult.
2. Deprivation
When we deprive ourselves of foods that we love, we are more susceptible to bingeing and overeating. If you want to make long-term shifts in your patterns of eating, I strongly recommend you decrease portion sizes and eat all foods in moderation. Do NOT deprive yourself of foods you enjoy. Believe it or not, eating all foods in moderation is way more difficult to carry out than any other type of eating plan. And keep in mind that, research shows that deprivation of food leads to eventual bounce back binging and weight gain.
3. Self-Criticism
There is NO WAY to hate your body into the body you love. If this approach worked even a little bit, no one would need weight loss help-we would already be self-hating our way to thinness. Berating yourself for indulging in certain foods leaves you in a twisted bind. If you don't have the food, you feel deprived and resentful (see above) and if you do have (or binge on) the food, you hate yourself. Finding a happy medium in all of this is of utmost importance. Balance does NOT include body hate or self-flagellation when you make mistakes.
4. Impatience
We've become a society with great disdain for slow change over time and long-term payoffs (just look at those pop-up ads!). And when it comes to food and our bodies, we want change and we want it NOW. Unless we can rework this approach and attitude, lasting change in our eating patterns is not likely. Remember it took you a long time to develop these patterns, so it will take some time to undo them. No shortcuts! If we want the changes to last, the shifts in our eating have to happen gradually. Changing takes practice and time.
5. Perfectionism
This enemy is best friends with Impatience and Self-Criticism. Many people have in their minds that in order to change eating patterns, they must maintain a strict meal plan. Usually this is unrealistic. Those who adopt black and white attitudes of success and failure are often the same people who think losing 1-2 lbs. per week is not enough. Friends, I know you are overachievers and like to work hard and get quick, excellent results. But when it comes to your relationship with food and your body, you have to let these attitudes go. This process is not elegant and it's not perfect. It takes tons of grit and messing up and compassion. The sooner you can integrate an appreciation for an imperfect process into your eating patterns, the sooner you can make some progress.

The road to change is a difficult one. In a culture where food has come to mean so much more than nutrition, change requires a multi-layered effort. As you navigate this complex process and begin to identify what works and doesn't work for you, keep the above enemies in mind. As you watch for and avoid them, I suspect you will find your journey a bit more manageable.

---

Twitter: @JenKrombergPsyD

Facebook: www.facebook/Dr-Jennifer-Kromberg

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As we come out of the holidays and start the New Year, many people resolve to change their eating habits. Because of this popular trend, I see many pop-up ads on my computer with optimistic promises like, "Lose Your Belly Fat", "Celebrity Secrets To Hot Bodies", "Why Wheat (or fill in the blank with any food) is Not Your Friend".

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Tapping for Weight Loss and Body Confidence - Jessica Ortner

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It should be easy to stop yourself from indulging in a bad habit. In the immortal words of Nancy Reagan, "Just say no!" But anyone who's ever tried to change a bad habit knows the truth: "just saying no" is like spitting into the wind.
Why do habits have so much power over us?
As psychotherapists who have helped thousands of patients overcome bad habits, Phil Stutz and I start with the actual feelings we experience when we try to change ingrained habits.

Try this:

Choose a bad habit you often give in to. It might be eating sweets, answering a text while driving, buying stuff you don't need, or anything else that comes to mind.

Create the urge to give in right now. Feel how intensely you want the thing you chose.

Now imagine holding yourself back - forbidding yourself from indulging.

Notice your reaction: how does it feel to be denied the thing you wanted so badly?

You might have felt sad, anxious, frustrated, or angry. But whatever you felt, most people are startled at how painful it is to even think about depriving themselves. It's surprising because logically you know you'll get over it. If you stop yourself from getting high, having an extra slice of cake, or overreacting to a driver who cuts you off, it'll hurt momentarily, but the pain will go away. In a short time, you'll move on and forget about it.
Why is self-denial so painful?
On a conscious level, we know we'll survive not getting what we want. But deep down, on an unconscious level, we're convinced of the opposite: we believe it will kill us. As evidence, watch a little kid who's been told he can't have something he wants-a sugary drink, a toy, another ride on your back, etc. He's instantly overwhelmed with intense feelings of grief and anxiety. Deep down, he believes the loss is insurmountable. These feelings still live inside every one of us.

If you need further proof, just look at the damage otherwise rational people inflict on themselves to avoid feeling deprived. Nearly every month we witness the spectacle of another politician, sports figure, business leader, or clergyman destroy their lives because they can't control their bad habits. Deep down, they can't tolerate denying themselves what they want.
How do you train yourself to tolerate deprivation so you can free yourself of your bad habits?
You have to start by taking a different view of deprivation. It isn't what you think it is. Being deprived of something isn't a permanent endpoint, a death from which you never recover. It's the opposite. Deprivation is a portal into more life. Not only can you tolerate it, it's the pathway into living more fully than you ever thought possible. Once you can live through it, deprivation frees you from being enslaved to your bad habits.

But it's not enough to believe this; you have to experience it. That requires a shift in focus. We normally focus outside ourselves, on the thing we're denying ourselves: sex, a piece of jewelry, "one last hand" of poker, etc. Even if we're able to deny ourselves of what we want, we stay focused on it, wishing we could have it and feeling robbed of it. This keeps us focused on the outside world.

If there's something we crave outside us to make us feel more complete, then it stands to reason there must be something missing inside us-an incompleteness or emptiness. What would happen if we forgot about the thing we want in the outside world? In fact, what if we forgot about the outside world as a whole, and shifted our focus to this hollowness that exists inside?
What is the hollowness inside each one of us?
We don't know much about what's inside us, because we've spent so much of our lives trying to fill ourselves up in the outside world. Given that you've avoided it most of your life, start by having no opinion about it. Surprisingly, when you stare patiently into the inner emptiness, you begin to sense something you would never have expected. What felt like a dark, barren, dead zone lights up with life.

Don't try to make logical sense of this, just see if you can experience it for yourself:

Put yourself in the same state of deprivation you created in the last exercise: you want something very badly and you are barred from getting it. Make the feelings of deprivation as intense as you can.

Now let go of the thing you want. Forget about it completely. As you do, imagine that the entire outside world disappears as well; it's no longer a source of gratification for you.

Look inside yourself. What was a feeling of deprivation is now a vast empty space.

Face it. Remain calm and perfectly still. Stay focused on the void and see what happens.

Most of our patients, when they do this exercise, start to sense a stirring, a movement in the void, like there's something down there. Some have to repeat the exercise before the void reveals its true nature. But eventually, the nothingness turns into a something-ness.

This something-ness is your potential-an infinite body of fullness and light that's been buried under the weight of your bad habits. I know ... that sounds unlikely. But mankind used to have a much deeper, intuitive understanding of how pure potential can be hidden inside a vacuum.

The mystical Jewish tradition of Kabbalah teaches that before the creation of the universe, God was everywhere. In order to allow space for the universe to come into being, God had to contract, leaving an empty void. That nothingness was where all of Creation flowered into its full potential.

In a similar vein, the Hindu/Yogic concept of "Shiva" means "that which is not"-a formless void. Simultaneously, it is the womb into which all things come into being.

What these disparate traditions describe as a cosmic process that, in modern times, occurs inside of every human being: there is an inner void into which the seeds of your potential can flower.
What is the best way to change a long-standing bad habit? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
by Barry Michels, psychotherapist and coauthor of The Tools and Coming Alive.

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How Breaking Bad Habits Can Catapult Your Growth

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It should be easy to stop yourself from indulging in a bad habit. In the immortal words of Nancy Reagan, "Just say no!" But anyone who's ever tried to change a bad habit knows the truth: "just saying no" is like spitting into the wind. Why do habits have so much power over us?

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Binge eating feels like the ultimate loss of control. Those who suffer from it often worry that their self-destructive relationship with food will define their lives forever. However, a recent study identifies a path to healing: yoga.

The study, conducted by researchers at Deakin University in Australia, found that yoga can help obese women who struggle with binge eating. The 12-week yoga program included postures, breathing, relaxation, and meditation. All of the practices emphasized mindfulness, or non-judgmental awareness and acceptance of thoughts, sensations, and emotions. The women attended one 60-minute yoga class per week and were encouraged to practice at home for 30 minutes a day. By the end of the 12-week program, the women reported less binge-eating, higher self-esteem, and a more positive body image. The group also showed statistically significant decreases in BMI as well as hip and waist measurements.

To find out more about how yoga might have helped the women make peace with food, themselves, and their bodies, I talked to Maggie Juliano, director of Sprout Yoga, a non-profit organization that provides yoga to people with disordered eating.

According to Juliano, yoga gives people the skills to stay with what they are feeling, rather than turning to food to escape. People who are obese or suffering from eating disorders have a tendency to dissociate from their bodies-to choose not to feel what they are feeling when they are angry, anxious, or sad. Often, they turn to food to numb themselves. "There's this sense that I have to feel better right now, " Juliano says. "There is a complete intolerance of what is happening right now." This need to escape unpleasant feelings triggers a binge.

When you eat to escape what you are feeling, you lose touch with the experience of eating, as well. This is one reason binges can spiral out of control. "You have no understanding that you are full, way past full, into uncomfortable, because you're so out of it," Juliano explains. "You have no connection to what you're eating. You're eating a pint of ice cream and can't even taste it. Or you go to make yourself some toast and before you know it, half the loaf is gone."

Mindful yoga directly challenges the habit of dissociating from your body and your present-moment experience. "The whole point of yoga is to stay connected to your body. You learn it through practice, through breathing, and through breathing through the sensations."

Juliano teaches her yoga students how to use what they learn in class to connect to their bodies when they're feeling the urge to binge. "It can be as simple as bringing your palms together and pressing your hands together as you exhale. Or standing in mountain pose, rooting your feet into the ground, and feeling your breath." The physical sensations become an anchor for the mind, making it possible to pause and find the space between a craving and automatic eating. "Yoga lets you say I'm feeling really overwhelmed, but I'm going to breathe through this now." As you breathe, you can acknowledge that where you are right now-this craving, and this bad feeling-is a moment in time. It won't last forever, and you can survive it.

By teaching you how to accept your body as it is, and what it can do, yoga also teaches self-compassion-a necessary component of healing from any eating disorder. Women who binge often feel shame and guilt about their behavior. "Women hear all the time that lack of willpower made you fat, made you binge. That message is that if you do binge, you're bad," Juliano says. But research has shown that beating yourself up only increases your suffering and the need to escape feeling bad.

Self-compassion, on the other hand, can interrupt an episode of overeating and prevent a full binge. It allows you to recognize that all humans experience suffering, and the desire to be free from suffering-even when it expresses itself as a binge-doesn't make you a bad person. When you can see this desire to be free from suffering as the need behind the behavior, guilt and shame can give way to acceptance and self-care.

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End the suffering of binge eating-one breath at a time

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Binge eating feels like the ultimate loss of control. Those who suffer from it often worry that their self-destructive relationship with food will define their lives forever. However, a recent study identifies a path to healing: yoga. The study, conducted by researchers at Deakin University in...

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How often do you actually taste the food you eat? Most people tend to acknowledge the first few bites, just to ensure they're eating what they think they're supposed to be, and then slip into a semi-conscious state of eating. As it's not particularly complicated to move a fork back and forwards from a plate, or a sandwich from hand to mouth, we've developed an ability to carry out the task without even thinking about it, in much the same way we have with walking.

What would it be like to be fully present for every mouthful you eat? What might your experience of food be if you tasted every flavor and if your meal or snack was actually an opportunity to connect with the moment? What would it be like to have a healthy relationship with food, to give up any feelings of guilt, anxiety and craving, and instead regain that sense of healthy appreciation and enjoyment that all good food deserves? And what if that same approach showed you how to make genuinely sustainable change, toward better physical health and a body that made you feel confident and comfortable? Below is a practical exercise from the mindfulness experts at Headspace to introduce you to the multi-faceted benefits of mindful eating.

1. Sit down at a table, preferably alone, and free from any external distractions. Don't worry too much if there are sounds that are out of your control; you can build these into the exercise. Before you even pick up the food to eat, take a couple of deep breaths -- in through the nose and out through the mouth -- to allow the body and mind to settle.

2. Next, take a moment to appreciate the food. Where has it come from? What country? Was it grown or was it manufactured? Try to imagine the different ingredients in their natural growing environment and even the types of people who would have been looking after the crops or animals.

3. As you're doing this, notice if there is any sense of impatience in the mind, of wanting to get on and eat the food. Perhaps you're thinking of all the things you need to do. Whatever the reaction, it's most likely just conditioned behavior -- a habit -- but one that you may find surprisingly strong. Regardless of the feeling, take at least a minute to reflect in this way.

4. Next, without going on some kind of guilt trip, take a moment to appreciate the fact that you actually have food on your plate. We're so familiar with this situation that we forget that for many people in the world, this just isn't the case. A deep sense of appreciation and gratitude is at the heart of any stable mindfulness practice.

5. If it's a food you're going to eat with your hands, notice the texture as you pick it up, the temperature, and perhaps the color(s). If you're eating from a plate with a knife and fork, notice instead the texture and temperature of the cutlery as you move it toward the food, but still take the time to notice the colors on the plate. You might find it more effective to hold your fork or spoon in your non-dominant hand: This will prevent you from going too quickly.

6. As you move the food toward your mouth, shift the focus away from the hands and more toward the eyes, nose and mouth. How does the food smell? What does it look like up close? And, as you put it in your mouth, what is the taste, the texture, the temperature? You don't need to 'do' anything. You're simply observing the different bodily senses at work.

7. In addition to the physical senses, notice how the mind responds to the food. For example, is the food met with pleasure or displeasure in your mind? Is there acceptance of the food as it is, or maybe some resistance to certain aspects of it? Perhaps it's too hot, too cold, too sweet or too sour. Notice how the mind rushes to judge the food and to make comparisons with previous meals or other possibilities. Whatever you do, take the time to chew the food fully. Not only is this a healthier way of eating, but it will allow you the time to taste and appreciate all the different flavors.

8. Once you've taken a few mouthfuls, you may find that the mind starts to get bored of the exercise and will wander off into thinking about something else. This is quite normal and nothing to worry about. So, in just the same way as before, as soon as you realize it's wandered off, gently bring your attention back to the process of eating, and the different tastes, smells, textures, sights and sounds.

9. As you continue to eat your meal in this way, you can start to notice whether there's a strong habitual urge to eat more quickly (perhaps to move closer to dessert!). Or maybe there are feelings of unease about what you're eating. If it's an especially big meal, you may even notice the desire to consume gradually decreasing as the stomach becomes full and you become more aware of these sensations. As much as possible, simply observe these different thoughts and feelings (acting on them when appropriate) and, if you can, notice how the breath appears. The breath may give you some indication of how comfortable or uncomfortable the process of eating is for you.

10. Before jumping up to get on with the next thing you have planned, try staying seated for a moment or two. This is an opportunity for you to take that sense of being present to the next part of your day. It's an opportunity to realize that the thoughts, feelings and physical sensations that were present before eating have now moved on. In time, this awareness of change can help the mind to feel more spacious and at ease.
Want more tips on how to make meditation part of your day? Headspace is meditation made simple, accessible and relevant to your everyday life. Sign up for the free Take10 program to get the basics just right with guided audio programs and support to get your Headspace, anytime, anywhere on the Headspace app.

BEFORE YOU GO

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How often do you actually taste the food you eat? Most people tend to acknowledge the first few bites, just to ensure they're eating what they think they're supposed to be, and then slip into a semi-conscious state of eating.

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Food for Thought Handout Archive 2006-2013

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The handouts in this archive are an ideal introduction to Mindful Eating. The Principles of Mindful Eating and the Food for Thought handouts in this publication may be reproduced and distributed for educational purposes under our Creative Commons licensing.

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Start by asking yourself these questions:

Do I think about food and eating more than I should?

Do I feel guilty when I eat certain foods?

Do I have trouble passing up tempting food even if I'm not hungry?

Do I eat when I'm bored, stressed, lonely or angry?

Do I frequently feel really full after I eat?

Do I eat differently in private than I do in public?

Do I fluctuate between dieting and eating too much?

If you answered yes to these questions, you've probably already discovered that your attempts at dieting or the commitments you've made to "eat rights and exercise" often lose steam.

You are not alone.

Why do I have a hard time sticking to a diet?

Diets don't work long term for most of us because they focus on what to eat. Eating is more complex than that; it's not just about what you're eating, but why you're eating in the first place.

Why Do I Eat?

To help you develop a better understanding of why you eat, let's take a look at four different eating patterns: Overeating, Restrictive Eating, Eat-Repent-Repeat, and Instinctive Eating.

Overeating

In "Overeating" people eat because it's mealtime or because something looks good - whether they're hungry or not. They may also eat to distract themselves or cope with stress and emotions. They may reward, comfort, or entertain themselves with food. They sometimes describe their eating as out of control.

Restrictive Eating

In "Restrictive Eating," a person controls their eating with rules. They decide when, what and how much to eat based on the latest diet they are following. Their goal is to stay "in control" of their eating. Since diet rules are always changing, they sometimes feel confused about what they should eat. They think of food as either "good" or "bad" - and they think of themselves as good or bad, depending on what they ate.

Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle

Many people vacillate back and forth between Overeating and Restrictive Eating. When they're eating what they want, they feel guilty. When they're eating what they "should," they feel deprived. As a result they usually develop a love-hate relationship with food. Their self-esteem tends to go up and down depending on whether they are off or on their diet. This is the eat-repent-repeat cycle.

Instinctive Eating

Now think about someone who doesn't struggle with eating. If you're having trouble thinking of someone like that, think of a baby or a young child. I call this " Instinctive Eating." They just seem to know when, what, and how much food they need. When their body needs fuel, they get hungry, triggering their desire to eat. They simply stop eating when their hunger is satisfied, even if there's food left on their plate. Most of them really enjoy food and seem to be able to eat whatever they want. However they'll turn down even delicious food if they aren't hungry. They're in charge of their choices and they do whatever feels right for them at the time.

Mindful Eating

Maybe you believe that a person who eats instinctively has been blessed with willpower and a great metabolism. The truth is we were all born with the ability to eat instinctively. It's just that many of us "unlearned" our natural ability to know how much to eat. The good news is that if you're ready to break old, ineffective patterns, you can relearn those skills through a process called mindful eating. I did - and I want to show you how you can too.

By learning to be in charge of your eating you'll learn how to:

Manage your eating without yo-yo dieting

Eat the foods you love without overeating those foods

Eat the same when you're alone as you do in public

Cope with "head hunger"

Return your metabolism to its pre-diet-days state

Find freedom and joy in eating

A Feast for the Eyes

Learn more about why you want to eat even when you aren't hungry by viewing this short clip of Workshop 1: In Charge, Not In Control from the Am I Hungry? Self-Paced Program.

Food for Thought

The simplest definition of mindfulness is awareness. Awareness of what you're doing is the first step to changing your behaviors so thought and reflection are an important part of this process. Take a few moments to consider your answers to the following questions. It may be helpful to write out your thoughts so you can reflect on them later.

1. Would you describe your "eating style" as mostly Overeating, Restrictive Eating, Eat-Repent-Repeat, Instinctive Eating, or a combination of these?

2. If you are having difficulty figuring out what your eating pattern is, take our Eating Cycle Assessment.

3. Describe one of your recent eating episodes that demonstrates your primary eating pattern.

Recipe for Success

Ready for your next helping?

When you're ready to move on, the next Taste of Am I Hungry? is Trust Your Body Wisdom. In this lesson, you'll learn simple ways to understand what your body is telling you.

You can come back to In Charge, Not In Control anytime; simply bookmark this page to review it.

If this first taste made you hungry for more, visit our Am I Hungry? Programs page!

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First Course: In Charge, Not In Control - Am I Hungry?

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Start by asking yourself these questions: Do I think about food and eating more than I should? Do I feel guilty when I eat certain foods? Do I have trouble passing up tempting food even if I'm not hungry? Do I eat when I'm bored, stressed, lonely or angry?

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We all have impulses. While it may seem somewhat harmless to give in to them in the short term (it's probably true one extra slice of cake won't kill you), the pattern of giving in to one "harmless" urge after another has serious long-term consequences to your life.

In this Google Talk, Barry explores why our impulses have so much power, why we give in, and why just saying, "No!" doesn't work. He also teaches us how to use the Black Sun tool and describes three rewards of self-restraint: freedom, confidence, and the ability to have a positive impact on those around you.

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We all have impulses. While it may seem somewhat harmless to give in to them in the short term (it's probably true one extra slice of cake won't kill you), the pattern of giving in to one "harmless" urge after another has serious long-term consequences to your life.

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How to Stop Cravings Fast! Tap Along with Jessica Ortner - The Tapping Solution

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You'll learn the benefits and get the instructions for three of the most powerful eating meditations in this article. Practicing these three meditations regularly, particularly the Mindful Eating Meditation, has the potential to totally transform your relationship to food and eating.

Mindful eating means paying to the sensations of eating, including sensations of smelling, tasting, chewing, and swallowing. It includes bringing awareness to your unconscious eating habits - such as eating too fast. Mindful eating also involves being aware of the body's hunger and fullness signals, and its "this is the food I really need" (or don't need) signals.

Instructions: For this exercise, use a very small piece of food, such as one raisin, nut, or cracker. First, explore this food with your sense of smell. What do you notice? Then take your first bite. Chew slowly, noticing the actual sensory experience of chewing and tasting. You don't need to think about your food to experience it. Close your eyes for a moment to focus on the sensations of chewing, tasting, and swallowing. Notice if the intensity of the food's flavor changes, moment to moment. Then take your second and final bite, following the same instructions. Afterwards, check in with your body. Is it sending signals of hunger, or of fullness? What does the body (not your mind) have to say about the food you ate? Welcome to mindful eating!

Mindful breathing meditation involves bringing awareness to the physical sensations of breathing in your body. Practicing this meditation enhances your concentration, gets you in touch with your body, and can greatly diminish the stress that causes most "stress eating."

Instructions: Close your eyes. Bring attention to the actual physical sensations of breathing in your body, wherever you feel them most strongly. You don't have to think about the breath or visualize yourself breathing. Just keep your attention on the bodily sensations of breathing as you breathe normally. When you notice your attention has wandered to thoughts, bring it back to the breath. It takes practice to get the hang of this, but it's well worth it. Next time you feel stressed out and want to eat, try a 3 or 5 minute mindful breathing meditation instead, and see what happens!

Minding the body meditation (also known as body scanning) involves bringing awareness to the "inner" body, letting your awareness naturally relax and heal the body's tension and stress. Most bodies are crying out for awareness!

Instructions: A full body scan takes 30 to 45 minutes, but this brief version only takes a few minutes. Close your eyes and take 1-2 minutes to scan your "inner body" with your awareness to find the places that are most tense and contracted. Take the next 3-5 minutes to be mindfully aware of these places. There's no need to force anything to relax. Just paying mindful attention to different parts of your body will gradually relax tense and contracted muscles. End by taking several deep breaths. This meditation begins to heal the split that most people feel between mind and body, which is the cause of most out-of-control eating.
You may republish this article on any website, as long as all content remains 100% intact and you include the following text (including live link): Article courtesy of www.MindfulnessDiet.com.

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Eating Meditation - Benefits and Instructions

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You'll learn the benefits and get the instructions for three of the most powerful eating meditations in this article. Practicing these three meditations regularly, particularly the Mindful Eating Meditation, has the potential to totally transform your relationship to food and eating. Mindful eating means paying to the sensations of eating, including sensations of smelling, tasting, chewing, and swallowing.

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3 Guided Mindfulness Meditations for the Intro to Mindful Eating Course with Dr Heidi Douglass.

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Mindfulness

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License: all-rights-reserved

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Intro to Mindful Eating Course - Dr. Heidi Douglass by Mindfulness Works

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3 Guided Mindfulness Meditations for the Intro to Mindful Eating Course with Dr Heidi Douglass.

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CMRP Audio downloads | Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice | Bangor University

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Bangor University is a Registered Charity: No. 1141565

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Cookie Monster Mindful Eating - Me Want It (But Me Wait) by OMazing Kids

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Cookie Monster's song about mindful eating, self-control & self-regulation

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DISCLAIMER: It's important to note that people dealing with eating disorders should first consult with a certified health care professional before incorporating mindful eating as part of a broader strategy or treatment.

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DISCLAIMER: It's important to note that people dealing with eating disorders should first consult with a certified health care professional before incorporating mindful eating as part of a broader strategy or treatment.

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Guided Meditiation with Dan Siegel (Wheel of Awareness)