Mindful Eating

Overall Goals for our Participants
 To feel heard, be creative, and have fun.
 Discovery in a non-judgemental atmosphere. There are no ‘rights’ or ‘wrongs’ or ‘shoulds’. Be ‘curious’ instead.
 Develop a more mindful appreciation of the daily relationship with food and movement. A more mindful relationship between mind and body.
 Appreciate the role that habits play in our lives in relation to food.
 Self-compassion- not so much focus on look or weight, or on the exact good diet to eat, even Mediterranean or CSIRO which at least have some evidence, it’s about listening to your wants and needs. It’s about acting towards yourself in the same way you would towards someone else when they are suffering. It’s about listening to and being kind to, yourself.
 A better relationship with exercise. Movement is about feeling good. You move because you enjoy it, not because the external world tells you that 10,000 steps is good or that 150 minutes of exercise is the recommended amount. There is no doubt that moving is good for physical and psychological health, but it’s about enjoying the right amount and the right type of movement for you. It’s also about practising self-compassion so if movement doesn’t feel good at some point and is difficult then that needs to be respected.
 Less reliance on specific foods and beliefs, for example, combining certain foods or a low/no-carb diet will help you lose weight.
 Gain an appreciation of the social aspects of eating and food and the media and cultural influences, the external influences, on the foods and meals that you eat.
 Become informed on what is known about eating and health.
 A greater appreciation of the enjoyment of eating. Enjoyable eating of a variety of foods. Eating is pleasurable!

Overview of weekly program
 Learn a range of mindfulness practices
 Explore our relationship between food and mindfulness - 'mindful eating'
 Macro- and micro-nutrients
 Intuitive eating
 Sensory science and the pleasures of eating
 Myth-busting
 Psychology of eating
 Eating as a social enterprise

Goals for Week #1
 Develop an understanding of mindfulness – what it is
 Learn a mindfulness practice
 Learn a mindful eating practice to try at home
Goals for Week #2

 Learn a new mindfulness practice
 Introduction to eating: macro and micro nutrients; fun taste strips exercise; small group activities; myth busting; food beliefs; relating mindfulness to eating.
 Gain some insight into your relationship with food and eating
 Develop some understanding of intuitive eating and sensory science
Goals for Week #3

 Learn a new mindfulness practice
 Gain an understanding of the principles of the psychology of eating
 Start to see the linkages between mindfulness, sensory sciences, psychology of eating and your own attitudes/beliefs/behaviours

Goals for Week #4
 Learn a new mindfulness practice
 Have an appreciation of the social enterprise of eating
 Have an appreciation of the links between mindfulness, the psychology and sensory science of eating, and the impact of social occasions.