Mindful Eating Explained

Hi, and welcome to "The Wake Up." I'm Sarah Romotsky, a registered dietician and director of health partners at Headspace. Right now, a lot of things are uncertain and out of control, but it doesn't mean we have to feel that way about our relationship with food. Our health is one thing that we can control. And by paying more attention to the why and the how of eating, we're taking that step to better control our health. Today, I'm gonna answer some of your thoughtful questions about food and eating during these uncertain times. But first, a short exercise. Welcome back. Let's get started. The first question is from Carrie. And Carrie writes, "I'm feeling overwhelmed right now "and suddenly taking on a lot of extra responsibilities, "but I don't wanna lose sight of my health goals. "Can you provide some easy tips "on how I can continue to improve my health?" While your health goals are very important, don't take too much extra stress on right now. I don't want those to be an extra burden that you have to deal with in your hectic life. Even if you have to modify your goals to fit what's currently going on right now in your life, that's okay. Maybe just choose one of them, and maybe a small goal to work towards every week so that you feel like you're having momentum and you're progressing, but it's not too overwhelming right now. The next question is from Grace. And Grace says, "What are some strategies for self-forgiveness after failing "from a mindful eating goal?" You've mentioned something really important here, which is self-forgiveness, a critical part of mindful eating and mindfulness in general. These are crazy, wild times right now, and there's no right way to handle all of this. So if you found yourself falling into a specific eating behavior or lifestyle pattern that isn't what you wanted or isn't what you used to do, that's okay. Just recognize that and figure out if you wanna modify that, and how you wanna adjust to a different behavior. Let's also consider self-compassion here. When you make a food decision that you're unhappy about or you don't feel like it was the right decision, "Why did I eat that?" or "Why did I eat so much?" Think about having kindness towards yourself and talking to yourself as a friend. This question is from Alex. And he says, "I find myself eating to make me feel better: "mainly sugary and salty foods. "Do you have any advice for those "who struggle with emotional eating?" Many of us use food to self-sooth. Especially as what's going on right now, it's perfectly normal to go to those foods that make us feel secure and give us a sense of comfort and then just taste good, but there are ways that we can help manage those emotional eating sessions a little better. First of all, listen to your body and your natural hunger cues....