MODULE 4 LESSON 5

Here we are—the end of the module. It's time to wrap things up and send you on your way with practical tips for implementing mindful eating.

Before we get started, I want you to remember one thing.

Practising mindful eating before you start dieting (if that's your goal) might be the best approach. Learning this skill while trying to overcome the complexities of dieting is tough. So go easy on yourself.

Hang out at maintenance, with no pressure of losing weight. Spend a few months implementing mindful eating practice with no judgement of weight. You might find it less stressful and a lot less pressure. And you may even lose weight without even trying.

Establishing a healthy relationship with food and your own emotions puts you in a healthy mindset for any subsequent diet. So pause before leaping into a calorie deficit. You have time. You don't need to diet right away.

That said, let's talk about the mindfulness tools at your disposal.
  • Meditation. Mindful meditation can be useful for getting in touch with your thoughts and feelings. Using guided meditation apps can be a great way to get started if you've never tried it before. Allocating 5-10 minutes of your day to meditation, in the morning, at night, or both can have a positive impact on your life.
  • The Conscious Pause. When you feel hungry, make a point of hitting that imaginary pause button before making a decision—question whether you are hungry or experiencing another emotion. If you're tired, stressed, bored, or anxious, will eating solve that issue? A momentary pause to consider your actions will make your next choice a more meaningful one.
  • Rate your hunger. Be aware of your hunger levels, before, during, and after a meal. Write it down and keep a log. How does this hunger rating affect your food choices, portion sizes, and how much you eat? Be present and in the moment.
  • Monitor patterns of hunger. When do you feel most hungry? When do feel most vulnerable to eating out of habit, boredom, or emotion? Is it a particular time of the day or month? Make a note of these patterns in your journal and adjust to them. Allocate more calories where you need them, and don't let bigger meals frighten you. It might be precisely what you need.
  • Start your mindful practice with the least complex foods. Mindful eating takes time and patience. Like a novice in the gym, you need to start slow and increase the difficulty as your skill level improves. Mindful eating is no different. Don't start with pizza, burgers, and lavish steak dinners. Choose simple foods, like an apple, for example. Take the time to consider taste sensations and how they change.
  • Use the fullness scale to your advantage. Rate your feelings of fullness on a scale of 1-10 before, during and after you eat. Aim to achieve a level of satisfaction rather than feeling fit to burst.
  • Counting calories is a tool you can use to your advantage. Think of tracking as a means of gathering information, not an onerous restriction. Keep a food diary for the initial 3-7 days. Try to convert potion sizes to memorable visual cues. For example, a 150g serving of chicken might be the size of your fist.
  • Calculate your calorie targets and identify quick wins. Use a calorie calculator to understand your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). Then track calories for at least three days. Review your food logs, if you're at or over your maintenance target, identify opportunities to remove calories. You can make changes by reducing portion sizes and making sensible food swaps. It's also worth considering limiting alcohol, refined sugars, processed food, liquid calories.
  • Adopt a meal frequency and timing strategy that helps you manage hunger. We are all different. We all experience hunger in different ways. Eating little and often might work for your friend, but you might need bigger meals to feel satisfied. Both are ok. Experiment with full freedom and decide what's right for you.
  • Question whether food is the best response. Before reaching for the snacks, ask yourself if food is the best response to the emotion you're feeling. If you're tired, can you take a nap? If you're stressed, can you complete a 5-minute meditation? Challenge yourself to respond in the most beneficial way.
  • Analyse your triggers. We all have situations that trigger us to eat. It might be our ogre of a boss imposing unrealistic deadlines and piling on the pressure. It might be stepping on the scales and not liking the number facing you. Whatever the trigger, recognise it, and think about how best to manage it in the future using if/then strategies. If [insert trigger] happens, then I will [insert new action]. Having these pre-planned responses can help avoid impulsive decisions that don't align with your goal.

Woah! That's quite the list and a lot to learn. But there's no need to feel overwhelmed. Take things slowly, because you have time.

Pick one or two things to work on and get started. Perhaps choose the ones that feel the easiest to implement and see how things go. Above all, go easy on yourself. Remember that mindful eating takes practice. You won't master everything overnight. It will take time, patience, and daily repetition.
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The goal, therefore, is improvement, not perfection. As Epictetus said, "Is it possible to be free from errors? Not by any means, but it is possible to be someone stretching to avoid error."