Lindsay Ferrara (MS, RD, CDN) has been a Registered Dietitian for 17 years and is founder of eLIVEate Nutrition of Saratoga Springs, NY. If you’re ANYTHING like me, this pandemic has brought on plenty of MINDLESS eating! In this SCOOP episode, Linsday teaches us some simple ways to create a bit more awareness while we eat.

WHAT IS MINDFUL EATING?

Through a non-diet approach, Lindsay helps people improve their relationships with food.  The ups and downs of yo-yo dieting are toxic and teach us to not trust our bodies. With mindful eating, the goal is to raise awareness (in a non-judgmental way) of not necessarily “what” we’re eating, but why. The process she teaches to her clients will start to reveal some of the non-hunger related triggers to eating and strategies to best deal with a variety of situations.  

HER TIPS INCLUDE:

1.  Pause and check-in with yourself before eating to see if you’re even hungry. This simple step often uncovers many things that trigger our eating, like stress, boredom and fatigue.

2.  Minimize distractions while eating. Your brain can only fully focus on one thing at a time and we want to enjoy our food. Try shutting the TV off while you eat, or not eating while driving. 

3. Don’t think of foods as “good” or “bad”. This type of thinking contributes to the vicious, yo-yo dieting cycle.  And if you do overeat, it’s ok to ditch the guilt and move on!

4.  Finally, the ultimate goal is to feel better after eating than you did before you started. It’s sometimes helpful to use this hunger and fullness scale of 1-10 , with 1 being RAVENOUS and 10 being STUFFED and feeling sick. Trying to stay within the 3-7 range helps to avoid going back and forth from one extreme to the other.

For more information on eLIVEate’s nutritional services, support options, and mindful eating program, visit www.eliveatenutrition.com.