How to Lose Weight with Mindful Eating
Rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10., Avoid waiting until you’re starving to eat something., Eat when you’re slightly hungry and stop when slightly full., Drink water when you feel hungry., Ask yourself if you’re really hungry before you snack.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10.
Take a minute to think about how hungry you are, with one being “starving” and upset about it and ten being “so full you’re about to fall into a food coma.” Pay attention to your more moderate hunger pangs and feelings of fullness.
This would be about a three (“I am ready to eat”) and a six (“I’ve eaten enough to feel satisfied”) on the scale., Never wait until you’ve hit the dreaded one on the hunger scale to start your meals! At this point, you’re hungry enough that you’re going to stuff food in your face just to fill your rumbling and rebellious stomach.
Before you know it, you’ll be at the other end of the scale.Waiting until you’re starving to eat can cause you to binge and eat way more than you need.
This is the kind of eating that causes weight gain, so avoiding it should help you begin to move in the opposite direction. , Aim for three to start eating and six to stop.
This means that you’re allowing yourself to pay more attention to the food than your hunger pangs or painful fullness., Sometimes, you’ll mistake thirst for hunger.
When you start feeling hungry, drink a glass of water.
If you feel satisfied, you may just have gotten your body signals crossed.If you still feel hungry twenty minutes after you drank water, either have a healthy snack or get ready to have a full meal. , Step away from the pantry.
Take a minute to question whether you actually want food.Being mindful about your snacking habits will eventually help you overcome emotional eating.You may need to ask yourself this question out loud to make it effective.
You can even refer to yourself in the third person, saying something like: “Jenna, do you really want that cookie right now?” If the answer is “yes,” ask yourself why.
Especially when you’re starting out, you may need to have a whole conversation with yourself to get to the root of your cravings and resist them.
Mindful eating is especially effective at dealing with cravings, especially if you work at it.
Given that cravings can be a major source of weight gain for a lot of people, nipping these in the bud is super important when you’re trying to lose weight. -
Step 2: Avoid waiting until you’re starving to eat something.
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Step 3: Eat when you’re slightly hungry and stop when slightly full.
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Step 4: Drink water when you feel hungry.
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Step 5: Ask yourself if you’re really hungry before you snack.
Detailed Guide
Take a minute to think about how hungry you are, with one being “starving” and upset about it and ten being “so full you’re about to fall into a food coma.” Pay attention to your more moderate hunger pangs and feelings of fullness.
This would be about a three (“I am ready to eat”) and a six (“I’ve eaten enough to feel satisfied”) on the scale., Never wait until you’ve hit the dreaded one on the hunger scale to start your meals! At this point, you’re hungry enough that you’re going to stuff food in your face just to fill your rumbling and rebellious stomach.
Before you know it, you’ll be at the other end of the scale.Waiting until you’re starving to eat can cause you to binge and eat way more than you need.
This is the kind of eating that causes weight gain, so avoiding it should help you begin to move in the opposite direction. , Aim for three to start eating and six to stop.
This means that you’re allowing yourself to pay more attention to the food than your hunger pangs or painful fullness., Sometimes, you’ll mistake thirst for hunger.
When you start feeling hungry, drink a glass of water.
If you feel satisfied, you may just have gotten your body signals crossed.If you still feel hungry twenty minutes after you drank water, either have a healthy snack or get ready to have a full meal. , Step away from the pantry.
Take a minute to question whether you actually want food.Being mindful about your snacking habits will eventually help you overcome emotional eating.You may need to ask yourself this question out loud to make it effective.
You can even refer to yourself in the third person, saying something like: “Jenna, do you really want that cookie right now?” If the answer is “yes,” ask yourself why.
Especially when you’re starting out, you may need to have a whole conversation with yourself to get to the root of your cravings and resist them.
Mindful eating is especially effective at dealing with cravings, especially if you work at it.
Given that cravings can be a major source of weight gain for a lot of people, nipping these in the bud is super important when you’re trying to lose weight.
About the Author
Andrea James
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow practical skills tutorials.
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