Mindful eating is not a quick fix, but it lasts

The Eating for You approach is based on mindfulness. Mindful eating is not a quick fix, but it offers a lifelong solution.

Diets on the other hand promise quick weight loss which comes back on as soon as you go off the diet. Would you prefer a quick fix that doesn’t last or a lifelong solution?

Woman holding a red apple in her hands

Mindful Eating is Not a Quick Fix

In preparing my thoughts for this post, I was reminded of Aesop’s Fable about the tortoise and the hare.

There are some similarities. The tortoise represents mindful eating and the hare is the “diet”.

If you are not familiar with this story, the hare and tortoise had a race. The hare found this very amusing because he thought the tortoise was very slow.

The hare raced out in front, took a nap, and whilst he slept the tortoise made his way to the finish line.

The hare woke up too late to catch up to the tortoise, and the tortoise won the race.

The moral of the story, the fastest runner doesn’t always win the race.

Mindful eating is not a quick fix, but once you cross the finish line you have a better chance of staying there.

So, when it comes to changing your eating habits, would you rather be the tortoise or the hare?

Mindful Eating vs Diets

Whilst there are some similarities between the fable and my blog post topic, there are some differences too.

The finish line or end goal for mindful eating is different from that of a diet.

Mindful eating focuses on each eating decision and moment, where as a diet is usually solely focussed on weight loss or another health-related goal.

Now, this isn’t to say that mindful eating cannot lead to weight loss or other health improvements, as you can read here in my earlier blog post.

The Eating for You approach is based on mindful eating, as I know from my 25 plus years of experience, diets don’t work in the long term.

You probably know this too, but haven’t known what else to try.

Would you agree?

Mindful eating is about focussing on each eating moment and nourishing yourself, so the Eating for You approach does not promise weight loss.

I also know from research that we make over 200 decisions about food, and may only remember 16 or so.

What this tells us,

We make around 180 decisions about food each day on auto-pilot.

And this is why the Eating for You approach focusses on eating habits, rather than food.

The Eating for You Approach

To describe how the approach works, in contrast to diets, I thought it best to share the words from the women that I work with.

Beth explains,

Before learning about the Eating for You approach, I didn’t realise that there were so many drivers or reasons for eating. Knowing about the nine drivers explains why diets do not work. We eat for so many reasons, and changing the food in your cupboard is not going to stop boredom or emotional eating.

For Mary,

By completing the Eating for You course, I have found it easier to focus on and achieve mini-goals. I tend to become overwhelmed by too many choices and then struggle to focus on any of them. Mini-goals work.

And Sandy,

Before the Course, I would eat regardless of whether I was hungry or not, eating unhealthy snacks and not taking notice of when I was full to stop eating. I have now become more mindful of what goes into my mouth. I eat slower and enjoy what I am eating.

Eating for You, through the practice of mindful eating puts you in control of your food choices.

By tuning into each eating decision and moment, you can choose what to do based on your level of hunger or your reason for eating.

Mindful eating is not a quick fix, but it provides the path to connecting with, observing, and transforming the way that you eat forever.

The Eating for You Book

If you would like to learn more about mindful eating and living, and how to change your eating habits, then please take a look at the Eating for You book.

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