By Tanja Shaw – Successful weight loss is more than losing 5, 10, or 50 pounds on a specialized diet or weight loss program. Diets work, but only for a short while. In reality, most people who lose weight through dieting end up gaining the weight back, plus more, within five years. Keeping the weight off for good takes more than following a set menu, or having prepackaged, portion controlled meals ready in your freezer. To enjoy long term weight loss success, you must change your mindset; you must change your relationship with food.

One way to improve your relationship with food is to practice mindful eating. Mindful eating is being aware of the food that you are eating. It sounds simple enough, but do you remember the exact tastes, textures and colours of your last meal? Can you remember the crunch of each bite, the smells, or the sensation of the food against your tongue?

Instead of paying attention to the foods that we eat, we often eat breakfast on the go, mingle over a tray of appetizers, or mindlessly polish off a bowl of chips while watching a movie. Why is it that we can think about food throughout the day except when we are actually eating? If you mindlessly rush through your meal, you miss out on the opportunity to truly savour and enjoy each bite. You may finish your meal and want seconds because you missed out on the enjoyment of eating. Also, because you ate so quickly, you might still feel hungry.

Like any new skill, mindful eating takes practice. Start by aiming to eat mindfully for one meal per day. To eat mindfully, pay close attention to the colours, textures, tastes and smells of your food as you savour each bite. You can also try these steps:

Put anything you are about to eat on a plate (avoid eating from the bag). Sit down when you eat your food.

Put your fork down in between each bite.

Make your meal aesthetically pleasing. Use your nicer plates and flatware. Put a garnish your plate, or make your meal rich in colour.

Chew each bite 20-30 times.

Put on soothing background music during your meal.

Turn off the television, clear the table and minimize other distractions.

To achieve a healthy body weight, you must develop a healthy relationship with food. By practicing mindful eating you will attain more enjoyment out of food. Enjoying and savouring your food leads to eating less while being more satisfied. In my next article, I will show you how to use a hunger scale to help master mindful eating.

Tanja Shaw is a Kinesiologist and personal trainer, specializing in weight loss, golf fitness, pre and postnatal fitness, and exercise therapy. She owns Ascend Fitness Coaching, which offers personalized fitness coaching, group fitness, and in home fitness in the Chilliwack area. Reach her at tanja@ascendfitnesscoaching.com.