5 Mindful Eating Tips For Weight Loss

09 Mar 5 Mindful Eating Tips For Weight Loss

Posted at 09:26h in Advice by

Mindful eating: what is it and how can it help support your weight loss?

Far from being a passing fad, mindfulness is a powerful practice with many potential health and wellbeing benefits. It is recommended by the NHS and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a way to help prevent depression and anxiety.

It’s also very relevant when it comes to developing a healthy relationship with food. Studies have shown that mindful eating can help you gain better control over your weight. It can reduce overeating and binge eating. It can also help you truly appreciate your food.

WHAT IS MINDFUL EATING?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines mindfulness as:

‘The quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.’

‘A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.’

Mindfulness makes logical sense, but in today’s busy world, it’s not always easy to remain ‘present’, ‘calm’ and ‘accepting’. So how can you practically implement mindfulness into your daily life in order to support your weight loss? Here are five tips for mindful eating…

5 MINDFUL EATING TIPS FOR WEIGHT LOSS

IDENTIFY THE WHY

Ask yourself why you’re feeling the desire to eat something. If you’re genuinely hungry and you know that it’s a good time for you to eat, go right ahead. But if you’re honest with yourself you might discover other reasons that have nothing to do with hunger. Emotional triggers like stress and boredom are common. Try keeping a food diary, noting down not only what you eat, but also how you felt at the time. You might be surprised how often you are drawn to food when you’re not actually hungry.

QUESTION WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS

Before eating it’s a good idea to take a moment really consider what you wish to eat. What food(s) will best nourish you in that moment?

At our clinic we don’t work with overly prescriptive diet plans that dictate exactly what foods you should eat and when. We much prefer to give guidelines and meal ideas, allowing you to select foods you feel like eating at the time.

Questions you can ask yourself include:
Would a lighter or more substantial meal feel better?
What have I eaten earlier in the day?
What might I be eating later on?
How am I going to feel after I have eaten this food?

Does this food support my health goals?

EAT SLOWLY

One question we ask on our pre consultation questionnaire is ‘do you chew food thoroughly’. Often our new clients recognise they would probably benefit from slowing down their eating and chewing their food more thoroughly. Chewing thoroughly is important from a digestive point of view, but it also slows down our eating giving us time to connect with our food.

Taking time to eat more slowly also helps us recognise when we are getting full and stop eating before we are over-full. It can take effort to get into the habit of chewing your food throughly. A good way to get started is to count your chews. 30 chews should ensure your food is fully soft before you swallow. As you get into better habits it will become natural to chew until your food is a soft pulp.

FOCUS ON YOUR FOOD

Computers, mobile phones, televisions… how well are you going to connect with your food if you’re busy scrolling through Instagram? Or binge watching Netflix? This can be a tricky one to overcome but getting into the habit of detaching ourselves from a screen and focussing on the food in front of us helps us become so much more engaged with it’s look, smell and taste.

Gone are the days when we had to forage for our food, or grow and prepare it all ourselves. But in a world where food is so easily accessible it’s worth taking a moment to consider where your food came from and appreciate the effort that went into making the meal in front of you.

DEVELOP AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

When we aren’t happy with our weight it’s easy to slip into negative relationship with food. It can feel like we have to choose between eating food we enjoy, or food that’s going to help us achieve and maintain a figure we are happy with. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. One thing we are passionate about is helping our clients achieve their optimal weight and state of health, whilst still enjoying their food.

Developing a happy relationship with food involves being grateful for the enjoyment and nourishment it provides us. Not resentful about the calories and confusion it causes.

If you feel like you’re stuck in a negative relationship with food, unsure as to what and how you should be eating to help you achieve a healthy body and a weight you’re happy with, we are here to help. If you’d like to find out more then please do get in touch.

A healthy relationship with food is about so much more than simply what we eat. Eating mindfully can go a long way in helping you to develop a long-lasting positive relationship with food.

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SARAH LAW

Sarah has worked with hundreds of clients over the past decade to help them live in a healthy body that they feel confident in.


Sarah spent a large part of her teens and 20’s as a professional dancer battling with orthorexia and an unhealthy relationship with food and her body. This created a desire to understand the human body more so she could finally cut through the confusion and end the cycle of yoyo dieting. This fuelled her passion to help other women do the same.

 

Sarah specialises in supporting women who are struggling to lose weight due to underlying health issues. She’s helped many women manage their weight during and after the menopause, as well as clients with thyroid disease and immune system dysfunction. Sarah loves food and sharing healthy recipes with her clients. Her aim is to ensure that clients don’t feel deprived and instead, achieve their weight loss and health goals in a positive and sustainable way.

 

To enquire about working with Sarah, please contact us.

AILSA HICHENS

 

Ailsa is one of our most experienced practitioners. She specialises in helping clients to lose weight, develop a healthy relationship with food and finally feel comfortable in their skin. Ailsa’s mission is for everyone she works with to enjoy the journey and that working with a nutritionist should not be a punishment, but your access to a new possibility.

 

Ailsa is not only an experienced weight loss nutritionist, she is also a skilled coach. She helps our clients overcome emotional eating, destructive habits and self-sabotaging behaviours that have prevented successful weight loss in the past. Ailsa has spent years in clinic working with clients who have experienced yo-yo dieting and have discovered that long term weight loss is not just about eating less until you can stand it no longer.

 

Working with Ailsa you will be comprehensively supported, not only in improving your nutrition and lifestyle, but also your eating habits and your relationship with food. When you work on all these elements together, the results can be truly astonishing.

 

To enquire about working with Ailsa, please contact us.

Test Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team of practitioners and heading up the day-to-day running of the business. Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, coming from a strong business background in town planning. A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 with her husband and two children.

NIKKI ANDRIANI

 

Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team of practitioners and heading up the day-to-day running of th clinic.

 

Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, coming from a strong business background in town planning.

 

A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 with her husband and two children.

STÉPHANIE ACHAR

Stéphanie is a skilled nutritional therapist and functional medicine practitioner with additional training in eating disorders, disordered eating and obesity. She believes that working towards both physiological and mental health is key in achieving optimum wellbeing.

 

Stéphanie’s personal experience of emotional eating and the ongoing struggle to find the right support led her to combine the science of nutrition with behavioural coaching to motivate and empower her clients. She specialises in helping people who struggle with their weight and their relationship with food. She helps them develop a healthier and more peaceful relationship with food and their bodies.

 

To enquire about working with Stéphanie, please contact us.

INNA WEARN

Inna is passionate about supporting women on their journey to improved health and wellbeing. She believes that the solution to effective weight loss does not lie in ever more restrictive diets, but a more sophisticated approach that optimises health and vitality, as well as promoting effective weight loss.

 

Working with Inna you will benefit from her in-depth knowledge of female health and hormones. She will support you in developing a healthy diet, lifestyle and mindset that ensures you reach your ideal weight and maintain it in the years to come.

 

Inna is passionate about food with a wide repertoire of delicious healthy recipes and meal ideas to ensure your weight loss journey is as enjoyable as possible!

 

To enquire about working with Inna, please contact us.

ANIA MASON

 

Ania is a firm believer that improving your health and losing weight should be a positive, empowering journey, not one centred around deprivation.

 

After being diagnosed with two autoimmune conditions in her twenties, Ania spent several years educating herself on the power of food and nutrition. She put it all into practise and changed her diet and lifestyle, reversing her endometriosis and thyroid disease. After experiencing such a significant improvement in her health, Ania had a big desire to help others. She embarked on a four year journey to study nutrition, graduating from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition with distinction.

 

Ania specialises in autoimmunity and works with clients who have underlying health issues preventing successful weight loss. Her expertise enables her to successfully support our clients with conditions such as hypothyroidsm (underactive thyroid), PCOS and diabetes. 

 

To enquire about working with Ania, please contact us.

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