WHAT IS MINDFUL EATING?
Mindful eating is eating with full awareness on the sensory experience of eating without distraction or judgement.
Unfortunately, mindful eating can be misinterpreted and has been hijacked by the diet industry due to diet culture and diet mentality.
Although some diet proponents apply mindful eating practices for weight loss, mindful eating is not a weight loss tool, as I discuss in the blog, 4 reasons why you shouldn’t adopt mindful eating for weight loss.
Nor is mindful eating being mindful of what you are eating.
Mindful eating is about being aware of the sensory input while eating without thought of what you should or should not be eating, what is healthy or unhealthy. Or thoughts of what the future consequences of your eating may be or what it means about who we are.
For this reason, in the book, Joyful Eating: How to Break Free of Diets and Make Peace with Your Body, I use the term conscious eating rather than mindful eating.
However, I’ve termed the philosophy and approach I take to eating and teach Joyful Eating. This is because it is more than eating with awareness and non-judgement. It also involves prioritising enjoyment in eating without food rules, guilt and shame.
I welcome you to the Joyful Eating Community and invite you to join me in practising and sharing Joyful Eating Moments.