This post is part of a series of posts on mindful eating. The Introduction contains links to the entire series.
It’s the last day of my mindful eating trial and I’ve finished Jan Chozen Bays’ book. I’ve learned three new things from the book and my experiences.
- Be careful of rigid rules. You can create rules that make it hard to listen to your various types of hunger. For instance, you could make a rule that says you can’t eat past 8pm. But what if you missed dinner and you’re really hungry? Try to limit the number of eating rules you create. Instead, listen to your hunger and respond appropriately.
- Use fasting to understand cellular or body hunger. Jan’s book suggested I try fasting on juices to explore hunger. I did a twenty-four hour fast to explore cellular or body hunger. I first noticed I was scared of being hungry, which lasted about sixteen hours. After about eighteen hours of fasting, I became tired, sad, light-headed, unfocused, and a little goofy. This reaction represents cellular hunger for me, but it might be different for you. You may have to fast to find out.
- It’s OK to mindfully eat mindlessly. Jan writes that it’s fine to consciously decide to eat mindlessly. For instance, you may going to a big party with lots of food. Before you go, you can decide you’re going to eat mindlessly because there’ll be too many distractions.
Benefit Results
In the introduction to this trial, I listed five possible benefits of mindful eating. I’ve duplicated that list below and I’ve described the results I observed underneath each item.
- Lose weight. I’m about 15-20 pounds over the weight I was when I was twenty years old. Assuming my ideal weight was my weight at twenty, I may lose some weight. If you’re underweight, mindful eating might help you gain weight. I’ll measure my weight and waist size at the beginning and end of the trial and post the results. I won’t take any intermediate measurements because it could distract me from mindful eating.
Results: I lost 4.5 pounds and three-quarters of an inch off my waist. Jan recommends you lose no more than 1-2 pounds per month. I did cheat a little and take some intermediate measurements.
- Become more mindful. I may become more mindful at other times besides just eating. More mindfulness generally makes me happier.
Results: I became more mindful at other times, but not as much as I expected. After a meal, I only continue to be mindful about ten percent of the time. - Enjoy food more. I may enjoy food more because I’ll have a deeper sensory experience when I eat. I’ll touch, taste, smell, and see the foods in new ways.
Results: I enjoy food much more. This is the best part of mindful eating. - Choose healthier food. I may choose healthier foods because I’ll intuit what my body really needs, rather than just what I feel like eating.
Results: I choose healthier foods more often, but not always. I still eat chocolate, potato chips, French fries, and other unhealthy foods, but I eat less of those things. When I eat unhealthy foods mindfully, I’m satisfied sooner than when I eat them mindlessly. Why eat unhealthy foods without taking the time to taste and enjoy each bite? - Better understand hunger. I may better understand hunger because I’ll be more conscious of what happens to my mind and body when I’m hungry. This may help me understand why I sometimes eat when my body is not hungry.
Results: I understand my hunger and I’m more aware of which particular hungers I’m satisfying when I eat. I also consciously choose to ignore or find other ways to satisfy some hungers. This is probably the main reason I lost weight.
Since this is the last day of the trial, you may wonder if I plan to continue eating mindfully. The answer is yes, since I’m thrilled with the benefits and it’s now a habit.
I want to thank Nadia from Happy Lotus and Gwynn from Serene Journey for joining me in this trial. What are your plans? Any additional thoughts?
Try This
I realize you may be too busy to do a full mindful eating trial. For a simpler way to get started, Jan suggests you try mindfully eating the first and last three bites of one meal each day. If you turn that into a habit and feel more ambitious, you can do the same for every meal. After that, you could increase the number of bites you eat mindfully.
Related posts:
- 30 Days of Mindful Eating – Day 14
- 30 Days of Mindful Eating – Day 22
- Your Mindful Eating Mission
- 30 Days of Mindful Eating – Author Interview
- Beginning a Meal Mindfully
Tags: Diet, Mindful Eating, Mindfulness
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Hi Roger,
I like the way you share your honest experience with mindful eating. I have a habit of reading while I eat, which makes the eating unmindful I suppose, so this is something I may try something, when I can bring myself to not read while I eat! Good to know of your experience though, which is something concrete that I can remember when the time comes.
Daphne,
I used to love to read while I was eating. It was the thing I missed the most when I started, but after about 2 weeks I no longer cared.
Awesome trial! I’m so impressed that you stuck with it… I can’t mindfully stick to any one thing for 30 days, it seems.
Here’s my favorite part:
“When I eat unhealthy foods mindfully, I’m satisfied sooner than when I eat them mindlessly. Why eat unhealthy foods without taking the time to taste and enjoy each bite?”
SO true! I am NOT a health-nut, but I mostly eat healthy stuff. Still, I love to indulge in Ben & Jerry’s (or some other sweet forbidden food) from time to time. But, when I do I, pay close attention and savor every bite. As a consequence, I eat LESS of it than I would if I just shovel it in while watching t.v. or engaging in some other distracting activity.
Lesson here: if you’re going to eat junk food, eat it mindfully.
=-)
Lisis,
Thanks!
It was easy to stick with the trial because I knew my readers would know if I didn’t.
Good point… accountability helps!
This is great, Roger. In the next few weeks I will begin a thirty-day formal meditation regimen. I’ve always done it rather haphazardly; I want to see what will happen if I add some structure to it. It would be a good time to add mindful eating to my routine as well.
I’ll keep you posted.
David,
Great!
I’m subscribed to your blog, so I look forward to reading any posts you write. I strongly recommend Jan’s book. It contains some information on meditation (she is a Zen teacher) and lots of information on mindful eating.
Hey Roger,
I agree with Lisis. I’d probably have trouble eating mindfully through a single meal.
But seriously, I will give this challenge a try.
Thanks, Roger!
Reading up on your 30 day mindful eating challenge has inspired me to give it a try in the near future.
I just have to let my stomach get used to north american food again after experiencing amazing vietnamese dishes for the past month.
@Micheal: Great! Let me know how mindful eating works for you.
@Vincent: Good luck! I have only had Vietnamese food a few times, but I really liked it.
Hi Roger,
Congratulations on the positive results!!!! Woo hoo!!!
As for me, the best result of this trial was that eating became more fun. I used to be really rigid with what I ate and how much I ate. Restriction was something I used to engage in a lot. However, once I freed myself from those chains and decided to listen to my body….I feel absolutely great. If I get a craving for something totally indulgent, I go for it. I notice I feel a lot better too.
So mindful eating definitely works and I plan to stick with it until I die. Is that a strong enough endorsement?
Nadia,
I agree that the best part about mindful eating is that food is more enjoyable. For that reason alone, I think most people would probably stick with mindful eating if they tried it.
That’s a very strong endorsement!
BTW, for those of you thinking of trying The Mindful Eating Trial ®, the program comes with a 30 day, money-back guarantee.
Dear Roger,
Congratulations on your 30 days of mindful eating! I hope other people will give it a try.
One thing I noticed about people’s comments, is this. When you are eating mindfully, don’t expect a continuous experience of perfectly focused attention. As during any meditation, the mind does wander. It loves to wander! That fact is the source of one of the most interesting questions in the world (to me). Why does the mind not want to just be present?
So mindful eating consists of lots and lots of returnings, returning to the present, returning to what the body is actually doing. Mindfully eating, wander off into the future, return to mindful eating, wander off into the past, notice, return to mindful eating. Etc.
I don’t think we ever get perfect at it. We just keep learning. That’s the fun. How dull if we were all perfect.
I’m glad the Mindful Eating book was helpful and inspired you to cultivate new habits and explore new territories within your self.
Jan Chozen Bays
Jan,
Welcome and thank you so much for your comment! Your book has been an excellent guide during my trial and I know several of my readers have also purchased it.
You have a excellent point about the mind wondering while eating. It’s easy to be discouraged by it, but thinking of it as learning helps.
It’s been 30 days already?! Wow that was fast! This has been a great experience and well worth the effort.
I find that mindful eating is good but I struggle to do it for an entire meal because of other distractions (kids, conversations, visitors,…).
But I can certainly pay attention to the first and last three bites of any meal. I would imagine the first three let you focus on the food and its taste, while the last three make you aware of how you feel after the meal.
Thanks again!