Speed Weight Loss by Slowing Down

with Mindful Eating

An Encouraging Word, Vol. 1

an occasional note from Jean Fain

 Harvard Medical School psychotherapist & hypnosis instructor

 Published Jan. 1, 2006

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Read on if you’re interested in losing weight without the deprivation associated with dieting. Feel free to forward “An Encouraging Word” to a friend. If you didn’t receive this note directly from Jean Fain and you’d like to subscribe, send an email to the address above with the word “subscribe” in the subject field. If you’d rather not receive future announcements, send an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject field.

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How many failed weight-loss plans does it take to convince a veteran dieter that for every diet, there is an equal and compensatory binge? For every pound lost, there is one, maybe two, regained? If the prospect of yet another diet seems discouraging, even hopeless, perhaps it’s time to stop counting points, carbs, calories… and try the sanest, most exciting alternative to dieting available today -- eating mindfully!

Mindful eating has helped overeaters, from yo-yo dieters to binge eaters, feel their hunger, trust their taste buds and become deeply satisfied with the quality, rather than quantity of food. Mindful eating is essentially mindfulness meditation. But rather than focusing on breathing or any other aspect of the body or mind, mindful eaters focus their attention on the everyday activity of eating. According to early studies by University of Indiana psychologist Jean Kristeller, people who eat snacks and meals mindfully, and take time out for a short formal meditation every day, lose weight

Below are some resources to help you get started eating mindfully:

Mindful Eating: A Jean Fain Mindfulness CD

The self-awareness and trust you develop with mindfulness make it possible to eat your favorite foods with more pleasure, less guilt and lose weight for good. After an introduction to mindful eating, you get the same guided meditations participants practice in Jean Fain’s mindful eating groups. These guided meditations embody the principles of mindfulness meditation popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn and form the foundation of Jean Kristeller’s Mindfuless-Based Eating Awareness Training. Participants who’ve listened to these short meditations have, very quickly, started eating with greater control. All that’s required is setting aside any preconceived notions you might have about meditation. Listen with full attention and change naturally unfolds. Every session, you give yourself the gift of relaxation, which can be measured in your slower breathing and lower heart rate. In the weeks and months ahead, you can expect a range of positive changes: increased sense of self control, improved mood and, yes, weight loss. If you’d like to learn to lose weight without the self loathing and harsh judgment associated with dieting, this CD, available on her website (www.jeanfain.com), is for you.

Eating Mindfully by Susan Albers

This paperback is the most palatable introduction to the subject by a psychologist who treats eating disorders at the Cleveland Clinic Women's Health Center.

The Slow Down Diet by Marc David

This Canyon Ranch-affiliated nutritionist has written a persuasive, however unsupported, argument for slowing down eating and speeding up metabolism. The book’s real value comes from David’s practical and powerful awareness-heightening exercises.

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In addition to using mindfulness in her private practice, Jean Fain teaches hypnosis and mindfulness at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and she writes for O, The Oprah Magazine, among other women's magazines. She specializes in what she likes to call "eating disturbances," the range of food-related issues from compulsive overeating to yo-yo dieting that have serious physical and emotional consequences, but fall short of diagnosable eating disorders.

“Mindful Eating” is the first in a series of mindfulness CDs. More information about Jean Fain and her weight-loss CDs, including “Eat to Live & Lose Weight! A Jean Fain Hypnosis CD, is available on her website (www.jeanfain.com).

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(Click the Newsletter link below to read other volumes of "An Encouraging Word.")

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