How Mindfulness Can Help You Lose Weight and Keep It Off

Published: Tue, 01/01/19

Hi ,

Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience. It isn’t more complicated than that. It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it.

― Sylvia Boorstein

Mindfulness is an essential skill that can put you on the path to permanent weight loss. Change can only happen in the present moment and you must be aware and mindful in order to make better choices. It is only by centering your full attention in the moment that you can become fully aware of your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, such as hunger and feelings of fullness.

People who eat compulsively, often do so out of reactivity. Reactivity is when thoughts, emotions, and body sensations are channeled into behavior. Emotional overeating and binge eating is a way to regulate emotions like boredom, anger, sadness, anxiety, and even happiness.

Mindfulness gives you the awareness to make permanent changes in your eating patterns. It has been used successfully for weight loss and to stabilize eating behaviors in persons who binge and eat emotionally.

Kimberly Carriere, a doctoral student in the department of psychology at McGill University in Montreal, and her colleagues analyzed data from 19 studies with 1,160 participants examining the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on weight loss, with mindfulness as the primary treatment method and weight loss as the primary outcome.

Weight loss occurred across all the studies. Participants lost an average of 6.8 lb., or 3.3% of baseline body weight. Average weight loss at follow-up was 7.5 lb., or 3.5% of baseline body weight.

Although average weight loss was modest at post-treatment, continued decreases in weight at follow-up is encouraging and highlights the potential of using mindfulness training to support weight loss and its maintenance,” the researchers wrote.

That people continued to lose weight at follow up is very important because most people can lose about 5 percent of their body weight by following a diet for a few months, but they’ll usually gain it all back. But these studies show, if they continue to be mindful, they can continue to lose weight and maintain their weight loss.

There were also large mindfulness effects and improvements observed for obesity-related eating behaviors, defined as emotional eating, binge-eating and restrained eating, across all studies.

Some people mistakenly believe that mindful eating is simply eating only when hungry and stopping when full but a mindfulness based approach to weight loss involves a holistic approach that encompasses mind/body and spirit.

These studies support the work I do with private clients as well as my “How You do Food is How You do Life” program. My work emphasizes mindful eating as well as mindfulness meditation, stress management, developing self-compassion, and changing self-limiting thought patterns and beliefs.

My work emphasizes self-love and acceptance as the foundation of change and my program teaches easy methods to practice this. It also teaches people how to manage emotions, break free of emotional eating, set realistic goals, and create self-care plans that are sustainable.

Mindful eating eliminates food rules and the deprivation mindset and emphasizes quality over quantity. Unlike diets, mindful eating is a way of living that’s sustainable and pleasurable as it teaches you to truly enjoy and savor food!

So, if you’re ready to lose the weight and keep it off for good, there’s no better time than right now.

My upcoming 12 week How You do Food is How You do Life Program starts on January 16th.

For more information and to sign up click here.

These groups are kept small so that I can provide individual attention. Sign up soon to reserve your spot!

I can personally attest to the effectiveness of mindfulness and mindful eating. 30 years ago, it allowed me to get off the dieting roller coaster and recover from chronic dieting and binge eating disorder. I have maintained my weight for 30 years! You can read my story here.

Research Links

“Mindfulness-based interventions for weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” K. Carrière, et al. Obesity Reviews, published online Oct. 27, 2017.

DOI: 10.1111/obr.12623

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.12623/abstract

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29446036

In vibrant health,

Catherine L. Taylor

http://www.secretsofaweightlossmaster.com

P. S. If you're ready to make peace with food, I'd love to be your personal coach. How you do food is how you do life!

Contact me. I offer a free consultation!

Read what these former clients have to say about how it made the difference for them: Client Success Stories

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Join My Mindful Eating Community!

Let's face it, it's hard to stay motivated and focused on your own. That's why I created my new How You do Food is How You do Life Mindful Eating Facebook Community.

It's there to give you daily support and motivation, and to give you the daily reminders you need to keep you focused.

As a community member, you will be able to take part in free events and challenges.

It’s free to join and there you will meet people like yourself who are trying to get healthy, lose weight, and be mindful without dieting.

Once you join, there is a free gift waiting for you.

I hope you will join us!

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