A new research study confirms what many dieters already know. Fad diets don’t work in the long term to help people lose/manage weight! Unfortunately, dieters know how physically and mentally draining diets can be on their daily life. The good news is that mindful eating is not a painful or taxing approach.
People who were taught mindful eating skills lost close to five lbs over 15 weeks compared to a control group doing dieting techniques who lost less than half a pound according to a new study out of North Carolina State University. In other words, it works!
The good news is research to support mindful eating does help people lose/manage weight in several ways.
Research indicates:
- Mindful eating is more about changing how you eat, being more aware of your choices and getting out of old, mindless eating habits such as sitting on the couch and eating a bowl of chips and getting to the bottom and saying to yourself, “How did I eat this whole bowl, I didn’t even enjoy them?” Once you recognize the habits are there, you can change them.
- Research indicates it can reduce how much you eat by approximately 300 calories (example, if you mindlessly eat an extra bowl of chips that can easily add up to 300 extra calories before you know it)
- Mindfulness helps you be aware of your stress and cope with it better so that you don’t stress eat or consume food to soothe your nerves.
- Mindfulness helps you to focus and concentrate so you make intentional food choices rather than decisions out of habit or convenience.
The good news is that there are some very easy ways to start eating mindfully today.
