Mindful Eating for Mere Mortals

Mind$l EatingFor Mere Mortals

By Elie Noune Stanford University

Monday, December 10, 12

We live in a

Stressful World


Where everything moves

Fast


and we barely

have time to

EAT...


FOOD, is one of our m0t important sources of Pleasure


But when it Comes to Eating our Food...


We’re o3en distractedwith something else


We chew and swallow fast


And we end up eating More


and More...


Mindless Eating

We call this...


According to the CDC

More than 34% of US adults are obese


Choosing what food to eat is very important


controllingHow we eat it is also

equally important


4e Question

is...


H!w "! w# $#% S%r#&&#" P#!'(# ()*# Stanford Students

%! w+%,- HOW %-#. #+% )/ D)/)/$ H+((&?


Hi, I’m Elie


I’m a student at Stanford


and I wanted to answer this

question


Mind$l Eating

0+% w+& w-#/ I -#+r" +b!1%


Mind$l Eating is a practice that promotes $ll awareness of food during its consumption

What is Mind$l Eating?


It is an application of Mind$lness, a buddhist phil0ophy

emphas5ing the importance of

B#)/$ )/ %-# 2!2#/%Monday, December 10, 12

W-+% D!#& + M)/"3( E+%#r

D!?Monday, December 10, 12

6perts who teach Mind$l Eating focus on

Identifying Tastes,O7erving Colors, Smelling Aromas,

Noticing T8tures...Monday, December 10, 12

I% 2+. w!r* f!r %-# M!/*&...


B1% 2+.b# /!% f!r %-#&# $1.&...Monday, December 10, 12

S! I %r)#" %! "#4/# + 'r+,%),+( fr+2#w!r* f!r

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of

Mind$l Eating

The 3 p’s Introducing


Presence Pace Portion

I based my 8periments on

Here are the Results...Monday, December 10, 12

Presence

Barriers: Laptop, Cell-phone, Conversations, TV, Book

Staying focused on the food


Presence

“I feel guilty when I take a break from my email when I have a lot to do...” Jack.

Insight: Students are not motivated to stop checking their cell phones


Presence

“Eating is a social activity, I enjoy food better with my friends!” Allie.

Insight: Students want to have conversations


Pace

by taking smaller bites, chewing more, chewing slower or pausing

Eating at a slower pace


Pace

I know this because students have said that focusing on counting has increased their chews

What few people real5e, is that counting your chews will make you chew more

chewing more


Pace

Students have 8perienced up to 25% reduction in pace by using a metronome for 25 minutes

Another thing few people real5e is that a metronome can be used to regulate the chewing pace

chewing slower


Pace

Insight: It’s easy to sync chewing to auditory beat

chewing slower

Insight: Students won’t use a metronome on their own, they said it’s annoying and socially awkward


Portion

Knowing when you’re $ll, and not 8ceeding your limit


Portion

4ought: A bite counter would be use$l to track the average number of bites per meal


Presence Pace Portion

The 3 p’s

Were difficult to achieveMonday, December 10, 12

WHY?Because most of the behaviors in question

are new to the users


WHY?Because most of the behaviors in question

are new to the users

8ample: Listen to Music/Metronome while you eat

8ample: Count chews as you eat

8ample: Put fork down every 10 bites


Eat Mind$lly

I real5ed that Getting Stanford Students to

is completely different from trying to reduce their Mindless Eating


It’s like trying to get a h<eractive person to Meditate

When they can’t even sit for more than 5 minutes on a chair!


But Fear not, testing leads to learning


Mindful self-indulgence

Introducing

for Mere Mortals


Behaviors you’re already doing

It’s all about controlling


3 tiny steps to start with

Here are


Hard to Stop looking at your phone?

1 -Schedule distractions!


“Every 20 bites, I AM going to check my phone”

1 -Schedule distractions!


Anticipate the self-indulgence, cho0e quality over quantity

2 -CHoose your victim


2 -CHoose your victim

When you start feeling $ll, Pick 1 high satisfaction food

“I think I’m alm0t $ll. I will only eat of that Chocolate Cake”


Track and Put an Upper bound on 6cesses

3 -Limit the excess


3 -Limit the excess“I’m only going to eat 10 bites

of that Chocolate Cake”


Awareness and tracking of undesirable behaviors

is the first step%! E+%)/$ M)/"3((.


0+/* .!1 f!r V)#w)/$!


Elie Noune, @elienoune

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Mindful Eating for Mere Mortals