The Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less team examined the impact of mindfulness, specifically mindful eating, on weight loss, weight maintenance, and weight regain. The results of this research were published in Current Obesity Reports. We are honored The Washington Post has showcased the study results in a recent article. Additionally, The Chicago Tribune, Women’s Health Magazine, MedPage Today, and the American Mindfulness Research Association have shared the results as well.
The concept of mindful eating is woven throughout the Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less program. Participants have indicated it is one of the more powerful tools we give to help them become more aware of what they were eating. We start with helping participants be aware of the eating experience and weave mindful eating into each healthy eating strategy we cover. Study after study indicates that tracking what we eat using an app or paper and pencil, is strongly related to weight management – mindful eating is taking this concept and turning it into something that you can do each day, each meal, each time you consider what you are going to eat.
The article we recently published in Current Obesity Reports looked at work in the area of mindful eating from multiple studies. We were interested in the concept of mindful eating as opposed to general mindfulness. Our question was, does mindful eating specifically help in weight loss? Could including mindful eating specifically in a weight management program help people become more aware of their eating, hunger, satiety, purposeful selection of food, portion size, etc. and be a tool in weight management? Overall we found the answer to that question to be yes, mindful eating shows great promise as a way to help people be more aware of what and how much they are eating.
The take-home message is this; mindful eating is a powerful tool to help us eat healthy and manage weight. Mindful eating is eating with purpose, eating with awareness, eating without distraction. To learn more about how to eat mindfully, enroll in Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less, a 15-week online program delivered in real-time by a live Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). If you are an employer interested in offering Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less to your employees, click here to request a free demo.
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