Eat Without Guilt » mindful eating

Thanksgiving Healthy Eating Tip

Dinneen — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:42:16 +0000

For a holiday that’s all about giving thanks, Thanksgiving Day is not the time to worry about calories, fat grams, carbs and diets. Sure I know there are many tips for eating healthy on a holiday, but you’ve already heard or read about them before: make sure you eat breakfast, drink enough water, limit your alcohol, fill your plate with vegetables, skip second helpings, etc. And sure, it’s good advice, but what kind of world do you want to live in if you can’t enjoy a holiday without fretting over whether to have the pumpkin pie or not? And lets face it, even if you DO fret over it you’ll probably end up eating it anyway. Either that, or you’ll deny yourself the dessert, and then end up overeating or bingeing later on. So this Thanksgiving I have one piece of advice (okay, two): eat with pleasure and without… Read more

How Your Food Legacy Can Be Affecting Your Weight

Dinneen — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:53:40 +0000

Though at first it might be hard to believe, but your thoughts, feelings and attitudes toward food began a long time ago. Probably when you were a child. “But wait,” you might be thinking. ”I ate normally as a child. I didn’t have any problems with food back then!” On that point, you may or may not be right. Maybe you were overweight as a child. Maybe you weren’t. But that’s not the (main) point here. You see, attitudes toward food begin at home. The environment in which you were raised has subtly but powerfully influenced your current attitudes toward food. They became part of you whether consciously, or unconsciously….but how your parents and your family viewed food is probably still with you today. For example: Did your parents ever tell you to finish your plate, even if you were full? Was your mother, father, or sibling ever on a… Read more

Have Your Pizza and Eat It Too

Dinneen — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:44:36 +0000

The other evening I went out to dinner with my husband when something really struck me that I wanted to share with you… I looked over at the next table and saw a young girl who had a piece of pizza on the plate in front of her. I saw the mother trying to coax her to eat, but the girl was just too interested in looking around, saying hi to other people in the restaurant, and she even got up to check out flowers in the restaurant. Then she went back to her seat, started talking to her brother, and then finally (after about 5 minutes) she took her first bite of pizza. And then it hit me — that’s what Intuitive Eating (also called mindful eating) is all about. About getting back to that place where *life* is more interesting and fulfilling that food isn’t so important anymore.… Read more

Will Work For Food

Dinneen — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:30:53 +0000

A few weeks ago I had a bit on an epiphany. It was after lunch. I had eaten a small lunch so a few hours later was hungry and decided to have some of the nuts my husband had bought. But these weren’t a can or container of nuts. These were “real” nuts. You know, the kind with the shell still on them? There were Brazil nuts, almonds, and walnuts. So I took a handful and started opening them one-by-one with a nutcracker (let me remind you I haven’t done this in years). As I was doing this I realized I was putting effort into eating. In other words, I had to WORK to get my food. And anyone who has opened nuts with a nutcracker knows that it takes time. With the time and effort it took, after about five minutes I had eaten about only 7 or 8… Read more

The Magic Answer to Your Weight Struggle is Closer Than You Think

Dinneen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:03:32 +0000

It seems every time I turn on the TV, there’s news of some celebrity, personality or public figure and their battle of the bulge and war on losing weight and KEEPING it off. Many of us can relate. Even Oprah. Yes, Oprah I wrote about Oprah’s weight gain (and losses) last year here in my blog. Many people in the spotlight, like Oprah — and even past winners of the reality show The Biggest Loser — can’t seem to keep the weight off. They lose, then gain, lose, and then gain again. And it’s the same for many of us! What the heck is going on? For one thing, we keep looking to external factors to determine what and how much to eat. We’ve spent years listening to others to tell us what to eat, so we’ve been disconnected from our bodies. If we listen to our bodies correctly, it tells… Read more