What if I told you that you do not need to calculate the calories of every food to do dieting? In this article, we will explain in practical details what is mindful eating / intuitive eating; how does it help you achieve weight loss while not focusing on weight loss; how do you leverage on the tool of “hunger scale” for your better wellbeing. 

Mindfulness is a practice based on Zen Buddhism, which then became popular in behavioral changing. It is a process-oriented, rather than outcome-driven approach [1]. It practices paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally [2]. Mindful eating focuses on individual’s sensual awareness of the food and their experience of the food [1]. All you have to do is to be in present with your food and yourself. It calls for another tool called “intuitive eating” to tune into your body’s true sensations during a meal. Mindful eating does not aim to lose weight, but weight-loss has often become the outcome.

In particular, you may practice the 6S approach outlined below for mindful eating:

Smile: Set the mood. We know stress tends to lead to disordered eating behavior, while mindlessness often results in over-consumption of calories and under-consumption of essential nutrients. Smile and approach the meal with a sense of gratitude, knowing that not everyone has easy access to food. Be appreciative of the food in front of you and pay attention.
See: Take a moment to look at your food. Look at all of the colors and textures of each ingredient in your meal. Can you tell what are the macronutrients and micronutrients distributed among those colorful ingredients? Pay attention to the underlying nutrients.
Smell: Can you notice the different aromas and seasoning nuances to the meal?
Savor: Focus on chewing slowly and savoring each bite of the food. Try to challenge yourself by chewing each bite for at least 20 seconds. Do not pick up another bite until you have swallowed your current bite. It takes some time for your brain to register the sensation of fullness. The act of slow eating prevents you from eating beyond your fullness and makes you feel more satisfied with your food.
The essence of savoring implies a slow and mindful process to eating, which is not easily practiced because we all are so used to mindlessly stuffing food into our mouth.  Now this is where the approach can vary for different personalities. For some,  it is better to sit and chat with family members during meals and not be distracted by digital media or work. But for others, by watching a TV show at the same time, or constantly tend to house chores during the meal, it helps to lengthen their meal duration and sense the satiety signal. 
Stop: Get up from the dining table and pace around from time to time. When you return to the table, have a quick body-scan for yourself: Am I satiated now? Do I still need to eat? More often than not, you’ll find yourself full and satiated after a short stroll. When do we stop? Use the “Hunger Scale” to help you.

 The hunger scale is a self-evaluation of your degree of feeling hungry or full. It is illustration below. Start the meal when you are no less than a scale of 3, because when we are too hungry, the choice of food is often quick and less wise. Stop the meal when you are no more than a scale of 8. Over-feeding yourself only makes you feel uncomfortable and does not increase your pleasure. The ideal window to stay in is 4-7. The practice of “hunger scale” is under the concept of “intuitive eating” – using your body’s intuition to tell you when to stop. Unfortunately, most of us are ignoring what our body tries to tell us by eating too fast, eating mindlessly, or eating under stress.

Use the “Hunger Scale” for intuitive eating

Take your time, slow down, savor the food and people in front of you, appreciate the moment, build a relationship with your food. It takes time to build the new habit. But once you stick to the mindful eating, you’ll start notice good changes happening to you.

Weight loss is more effective when founded on the right mindset. Our approach starts with mindset building. To learn more about weight loss mindsets, check out the post: Is Weight Loss Really the Best Treatment for Obesity? 

REFERENCES
[1] J. B. Nelson, “Mindful Eating: The Art of Presence While You Eat,” Diabetes Spectr, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 171–174, Aug. 2017, doi: 10.2337/ds17-0015.
[2] Kabat-Zinn J. Full Catastrophe Living. New York, N.Y, Dell Publishing, 1991. [Link]
[3] Jen Kates, “Why Mindful Eating is Key to Emotional Wellness“, ACEFitness, Feb 24, 2020.