The Eating Mindfully Diet Plan

If you're tired of yo-yo dieting, maybe you should just stop dieting altogether and start listening to your body, says the Eating Mindfully Diet Plan. Creator Dr. Susan Albers says that in order to make smart and healthy food choices, you must be mindful. This means having the body and mind work together to send you correct messages about what you need and want to eat. Using Buddhist techniques, this plan helps you find the underlying reasons that have caused you to engage in mindless eating and helps you plan to overcome the challenges you face.

Mindless eating can result from either obsessing over or ignoring the messages your body sends you. And both dieting and a poor body image can be extremely harmful to your emotional, mental, and physical well-being.

The main principles of the Eating Mindfully Diet are to learn how to feed yourself in a controlled manner and to develop a positive outlook about your body and your relationship with food. The plan does not specify what types of food you should eat, but rather encourages you to become mindful about your food choices and eating habits.

What makes The Eating Mindfully Diet a different Weight Loss Plan?

The underlying issues that affect your eating are explored, as are four different types of eaters: the chronic mindless dieter, the mindless undereater, the mindless overeater, and the mindless chaotic eater. No foods are actually banned, promoted, or even mentioned! This diet wants you to become a mindful eater and lose weight by controlling your emotions.

What is The Eating Mindfully Diet Plan?

It is difficult to illustrate what a typical day on this diet would be like, since there are no real "diet" guidelines.

Instead of food guidelines, you are trying to get in sync with your emotions. When you are feeling hungry, you need to be able to determine if the hunger is a true hunger for food or just a way to feed your emotions. You will also become a more sensual eater, using all five of your senses when eating.

There are four foundations of the Eating Mindfully Diet Plan.

1. Mindfulness of the Mind - This is your mental experience of eating. You must use all five senses for mindful awareness, such as "acknowledging the food sizzling or steaming."
2. Mindfulness of the Body - How do you know you're hungry? Experience how food feels in your throat and the sensations of swallowing, digesting, and breathing. Food cravings are considered an S.O.S for something you need as a result of deprivation.
3. Mindfulness of Thoughts - People with eating issues are plagued with distorted thinking patterns that are similar to the distortions of fun house mirrors. You should be suspicious of diets professing to be the "only" way to lose weight, since there are many strategies for controlling your eating habits.
4. Mindfulness of Feelings- Eating is one way to alter emotions quickly and we often use food to deal with many of our emotions. If you are unsure of how you are feeling, then Albers recommends you focus on your breathing. The key here is understanding which feelings cause you to start and stop eating.

You can follow exercises to help adapt and change the underlying causes of your eating. There are activities to help you develop tools for knowing how to feed yourself, and strategies are outlined to help you create a mindful eating relationship with food.

Tips for the Eating Mindfully Diet Plan include:

1. Eat a minimum of three meals a day, especially breakfast.
2. Eat something small every three hours, staying in tune with your hunger.
3. Get energy from food rather than caffeine.
4. Plan your meals for the day.
5. When you are really hungry, eat something hot, since hot foods are more filling.
6. Avoid finger foods or appetizers, since it is easier to binge on these foods.

What are the weight loss expectations?

There are no weight loss expectations with the Eating Mindfully Diet Plan. It is more about your relationship with food and how you can switch from being a "mindless" eater to a "mindful" eater.

Is exercise promoted?

Albers says that avoiding or obsessing about exercise is likely to create problems. The Eating Mindfully Diet Plan says that it is important to listen to your body and commit to a reasonable amount of exercise that is right for you. You are encouraged to make small daily changes to incorporate more exercise into your life.

Are supplements recommended?

No supplements are recommended on the Eating Mindfully Diet Plan. Eating whole foods is more "mindful" than taking vitamins because your entire body is involved in the experience.