1. Mind Full or Mindful
A Different Approach to Food
Carol Gray, MHA
Account Executive, ACS Benefit Services
October 14, 2015

2.  What is the annual revenue of the U.S. weight –loss
industry, including diet books, diet drugs and weight-
loss surgeries?
$20 Billion
 How many people are on diets in the U.S.?
108 Million
 How many attempts per year are made by a dieter?
4 to 5
Weight Loss Industry
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/100-million-dieters-20-billion-weight-
loss-industry/story?id=16297197

3.  We eat for so many reasons besides hunger …
 Cultural (meetings, family gatherings,
church)
 Emotional (sad, happy, anger, fear)
 Holidays & Events (Valentine’s, Easter,
Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Super
Bowl, Celebrations)
 Stress (work, family, time management)
 Food (taste, variety, colorful, texture)
Why Do We Eat?

4. Food is good.
Food is meant to be enjoyed.
Who knew???
SURPRISE

5.  Compare Ourselves
 Guilt
 Media
 Self Acceptance
 Family / Peer Pressure
 Health Concern
 For an Event
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
–Theodore Roosevelt
Why Do We DIEt?

6.  Shoulding all over ourselves
 Need to be Superwoman / Superman
 Negative self-talk
 Comparison trap
 The Expectation Gap…
 Where We Are & Where We Want to Be
“Shoulding”

7. “When you stop expecting people to be perfect,
you can like them for who they are.”
–Donald Miller
Perfection is NOT the Goal

8.  Also known as intuitive eating
 Comes from Buddhist teachings
 Aims to reconnect us more deeply with the
experience of eating — and enjoying our food
Mindful Eating

9.  Based on the idea … there is no right or wrong way
to eat, but rather varying degrees of consciousness
about what we are eating and why.
 The goal … to base our meals on physical cues, such
as our bodies' hunger signals, not emotional ones —
like eating for comfort.
Mindful Eating

10.  Physical builds gradually; Emotional develops suddenly.
 Physical strikes below the neck (growling stomach) &
Emotional strikes above the neck (taste for cake, ice cream).
 Physical is satisfied after eating food; Emotional leads to guilt
after eating food.
-Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
Physical vs. Emotional Hunger

11.  Physical enhances taste; Emotional does not.
 Physical occurs 3+ hours after a meal; Emotional hunger occurs
at random times.
 Physical goes away when full; Emotional still persists after a
good deal has already been eaten.
-Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
Physical vs. Emotional Hunger

12.  When cheating is no longer possible, the forbidden
food no longer looks appealing. When you allow
yourself the ability to taste any food- experience the
texture, color, flavor, the urgency of eating it goes
away.
 No more anxious eating
 No more “last suppers”
 No more guilt
 NO MORE DIETS
Is the Effort Worth It?

13.  Pick a non-emotional food you enjoy… red velvet
cake? If you knew you could have 1 slice of the cake
each day and you had 1 slice every other day or even
every day, then racing to the kitchen to devour some
red velvet cake probably would not enter your mind.
 Why? Because it is familiar. Because you have eaten
it mindfully several times. You know and have
experienced the cake. AND IT WAS GOOOOD
EXAMPLE

14.  Expect to screw-up!
 Gratitude
 Benefit of the doubt
Be Open To Mistakes

15. It’s not about the table, whether it’s square or round.
It’s not about the chairs- plastic or wooden. A good
meal is enjoyed when we turn off the TV and our cell
phones and concentrate on those we’re with.
Sometimes we are more concerned about what others-
sometimes miles away – have to say than what the
person just across the table is saying.
- Keila Ochoa
Be In The Moment

16.  Make dining an event.
 Set the table.
 Remove anything from the table that means nothing
to the meal.
 Add flowers and/or a table cloth.
 Use the fine china
 Turn off all phones, TV., and computers.
 Play music you like that is peaceful yet pleasant.
For Singles

17.  You are the average of the 5 people you
spend the most time with.
 Limit time spent with “Negative Nellie”
 Sleep deprivation and stress …
 Guides you to sweets and starches
 It is the first bite, not the last that stimulates
serotonin.
 Every bite needs to taste as good as the first
bite.
Be Aware

18. Make your eating environment enjoyable and
rewarding:
 Get out of the office
 Eat Slower
 Pay Attention to Flavor
 Get away from televisions, phones and loud music
 Listen to enjoyable music, view picture album, travel
magazine, or house decorating
 Find merit in what you eat
Helpful Tips

19.  Awareness of your physical and emotional cues
 Recognition of your non-hunger triggers for eating
 Learning to meet your other needs in more
effective ways than eating
 Do your best
 Slow Progress is Still Progress
 #1 Predictor of Success… PATIENCE
Helpful Tips

20. “You are the CEO of the most magnificent
organization in the universe-
the human body.”
Glenn Mueller
Don’t Forget

21.  www.amihungry.com
 Intuitive Eating by Tribole & Resch
 Google “Mindful Eating”
 Google “Intuitive Eating”
Helpful Resources

22.  “How the Rich Get Thin”, Glee Magazine, by Glenn
Mueller.
 www.amihungry.com
 Jill Coleman, 2013 Women’s Retreat.
 Feeling Light by Katzman and Shankin-Cohen
 Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
 “Mindful Eating: 5 Easy Tips To Get Started”,
Huffingtonpost.com by Jennie Grover
References