A Healthy Framework for Mindful Eating

One of the reasons nutrition and diet books are so popular is because they offer a “framework” for readers to apply the information. These frameworks set rules and boundaries for the latest models, and give markers for when a person is off course.

Unfortunately, most of these frameworks are quite rigid and limiting, and are not geared toward each person’s “biochemical individuality” (the view that we all have very different food and nutrition requirements). Rigid frameworks also take us too far away from our innate hunger cues; a skill that babies and wild animals embody naturally, and one that seems lost to us as human animals.

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On the other end of the spectrum, the mindful eating approach is more free-form: it puts the decision-making back into our own hands when it comes to our own food needs and preferences. Mindful eating allows the body to tell us when its hungry, what its hungry for, and when its full.

As we can imagine, eating this way takes a tremendous amount of trust. Because of this, a lack of framework can make the mindful-eating journey seem daunting, even hopeless.

Getting the Body Back In Balance

For me and for most people, a healthy practice of mindful eating needs some kind of framework. Otherwise it’s too abstract, and hard to know how to get in touch with the hunger signals our bodies are showing us.

The biggest pitfall for mindful eaters is that we listen to our body’s most obvious hunger cues (like craving for chocolate, potato chips and cookies) and take them as face value, hoping that they are our body’s truest needs. In many cases, possibly most, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Unless our bodies are in a balanced state from the start, it’s hard to be truly mindful of the real necessities.

To get our bodies back into a balanced state for mindful eating, we need to address three areas. Solving these three problems form the framework for my mindful eating courses:

1. Blood sugar imbalances
When blood sugar goes up and down, it’s hard to sensitize ourselves to the subtle communication that our body is giving us about what it truly needs and how much it requires. Otherwise, all we sense are extreme changes in mood and emotionality, or “emergency” sensations like irritability, jitteriness and nausea.

2. Eating the wrong foods for our needs
When we eat the wrong foods for us (even so-called “healthy” food) the body reacts in powerful ways. We may have chronic gas or constipation, bloating or aching. We may gain weight. Any of the organs and organ systems might eventually start to dysregulate, creating a cascade of symptoms that are unnatural and disease inducing.

3. Falling into the craving cycle… again
Believe it or not, but there’s a subtle (or not so subtle) pattern that underlies each and every emotional-based food craving and the decision to give in to these foods. Mastering the early signs and symptoms of the craving cycle stops it in its tracks before we find ourselves in the backlash of emotional eating. Not only is this essential for good health, but also for the psyche – for most emotional eaters, shame, guilt and hopelessness come next in the cycle.

Once we have these three areas licked, it becomes easier and easier to tune in to the body and better respond to its natural signals of hunger and fullness. This new awareness also helps us get to know our unique nutritional needs. We can then set forth on a lifelong mindful eating journey with less and less of a rigid framework.

If this article calls you to take a step forward with the way you eat, end sugar cravings and create a happier, healthier relationship with food, I encourage you to listen in on my free Food-Fu Tele-Course Preview Call. This call will give you tools to help you take steps in balancing the above issues and get you on a solid mindful eating path for the rest of your life.

Reserve Your Seat in the Free Preview Call Here