MINDFUL EATING COLUMBUS HOSPITAL KELLI THOMAZIN, PA-C JULY 20TH, 2018

What is Mindful Eating Paying attention to what we are eating, eating with AWARENESS Being aware of each sensation of the experience of eating Acknowledge chewing, tasting and swallowing food moment by moment

Why Practice Mindful Eating? Over the past 25 years mindfulness practices have been shown to have a positive impact on psychological and physical health, including stress, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and heart disease.   

Why Practice Mindful Eating? There is evidence that mindful eating helps with treatment of obesity as well as binge eating disorders. The benefits of mindful eating are not restricted to physical and emotional health improvements; they can also impact one’s entire life, through a better sense of balance and well-being

Why Practice Mindful Eating? Adults in the United States devote an average of 1 hour and 12 minutes per day to eating, yet spend between 2½ and 3 hours per day watching television School lunch periods provide an average of 7 to 11 minutes for students to eat their lunch

Why Practice Mindful Eating? Scientists are beginning to better understand the role of the mind- body connection in eating behavior. When our mind is tuned out during mealtime, the digestive process may be up to 30% to 40% less effective. This can contribute to digestive distress, such as gas, bloating and bowel irregularities.

OBJECTIVES 1. to understand the importance of eating with a purpose 2. to learn how our body reacts to the fuel we put into it

Start with mindfulness in the moment Deep breathing for 4 cycles – 4,7,8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz4G31LGyog

Mindless eating We live in a busy world We barely have time to eat We are often distracted while eating We chew and swallow fast We end up eating more than what we actually need(brain requires up to 20 min to realize we are full)

Mindful eating Distinguishing between physical and emotional hunger Eating slowly without distraction Engaging our senses by noticing colors, smells, sound, textures and tastes Eating to maintain overall health and wellbeing Noticing the effects of food on feelings and figure

Sugar and Processed food What does sugar do to us

Average adult eats 30 tsp of sugar a day average family of 4 drinks 32-12 oz cans of soda a week

Beware of hidden sugars And food high in sugar Recommend 8-9 tsp/day Average American adult eats 30tsp/day Average American family of 4 drinks 32 12oz cans of soda a week Don’t drink sugar 4 calories/gram 4 grams/teaspoon A can of 12 oz soda has 150 empty calories with no nutritional value

Soda vs Gatorade vs water Sugar water Gatorade Water

Stay away from added SUGAR

Stay away from processed food What to with fuel in mind for your body? We all wonder why we are so tired all the time, part of the reason Is that we are not giving our body the right fuel to perform. Eat food that has been: Grown on a tree Out of the ground Off a plant Stay away from processed food

Color plays a big factor The more natural vibrant colored food the better Not colored food with sugar

High fat foods vs natural foods Potato chips Snap peas

New labels Look at the labels The new labels will have the amount of added sugar listed Remember it is 4 grams per teaspoon of sugar and 3 teaspoons make a tablespoon 12 grams = 1 TBS 4 grams = 1 teaspoon

Mindfulness is about feeding your machine the best fuel for peak performance The right fuel makes a difference Being mindful of what you are eating matters If you feed yourself high sugar and high fat and expect to feel great you are fooling yourself If you feed yourself real food and colorful fuel, you can have amazing results.

Keep it simple: Any food from a tree, off a plant, or in the ground is going to feed you the right fuel. This will make you think better, feel better and be at your best. Any food from a package that has high sugar or high fat will feed you sludge and thick oil to go through your body This will not make you feel good