It was a couple of years ago when  I first heard the concept of mindful eating. I was over a year into weight maintenance and was starting to think of new ways to be able to incorporate back foods I loved without binge eating them. One of my closest girlfriends has an amazing ability to listen to her body. She is thin, beautiful, and never deprives herself. If she wants French fries she has them. If she wants a kale salad, then that is what she eats. What she does better than anyone else I know is feeds her body what it craves, she stops the moment she gets full, and puts her fork down never to look at it again. She truly embodies the concept of mindful eating. It was from my admiration for the way she lives her food life that I started to see how I could incorporate it into my own life.

For those who are not familiar with the concept of mindful eating, it is pretty simple.  Essentially it is not about limiting what you can eat, it is not dieting, it is being more mindful of what you are feed yourself and listening to your body’s internal hunger cues. I find this concept truly inspiring and have wanted to make it a way of life for myself over the last couple of years. I have to say when you can get into the groove and zone of mindful eating, it is by far the best relationship you will have with food and your body. I find the trouble is being able to stay in the zone when life starts to get stressful and chaotic.

I have read quite a few articles on the subject along with various books so when I came across “Eating Mindfully: How to End Mindless Eating and Enjoy a Balanced Relationship with Food“ by Susan Albers I knew I wanted to read it. Susan Albers is able to lay out very simple ideas that are easy for people to grasp and understand. As Susan describes on her website “Mindful eating is not a diet. There are no menus or recipes. It is being more aware of your eating habits, the sensations you experience when you eat, and the thoughts and emotions that you have about food. It is more about how you eat than what you eat.”

Overall I did enjoy the book. The concepts are very basic and easy to follow.  This book would be especially good for anyone who wants to lose weight, learn to appreciate food more, or to help get rid of emotional feelings associated with food. It is all very common sense and the ideas are straightforward for anyone to follow. My only criticism is it was a little repetitive for my liking and did not bring a whole lot of new ideas that I had not already read before. However in the end I am glad I read it and would recommend it out to others, especially those just starting their weight loss journey!