Rachel Bartholomew - Mindful Eating: Stop mindless eating and learn to nourish body and soul

Mindful
Eating

For our families

Published in 2014 by CICO Books
An imprint of Ryland Peters & Small Ltd

www.rylandpeters.com

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Text Rachel Bartholomew and Mandy Pearson 2014
Design and illustrations CICO Books 2014

The authors moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress and the British Library.

eISBN: 978 1 78249 289 4
ISBN: 978 1 78249 073 9

Printed in China

Editor: Elanor Clarke
Designer: Louise Leffler
Illustrator: Amy Louise Evans

Neither the authors nor the publisher can be held responsible for any claim arising out of the use or misuse of suggestions made in this book. If you are in any doubt about your health, please consult your doctor before making any changes to your usual dietary and well-being regime.

For digital editions visit www.cicobooks.com/apps.php

Contents

Chapter 1:
Mindfulness

Chapter 2:
Diet and Lifestyle

Chapter 3:
Getting Started

Chapter 4:
Changing Your Habits

Chapter 5:
The Principles of Mindful Eating

Chapter 6:
Mindful Eating and Weight Loss

Chapter 7:
Mindful Eating for Life

You Instinctively Know What Works

With so many different diet books on the market, you would be forgiven for wondering whether theres room to squeeze in yet another new approach to the way we involve food in our lives. We are bombarded with more books and advice about food and healthy-eating plans than ever before, yet people are still confused and end up doing nothing at all about the way they eat because they are simply unable to see what needs changing amid all the confusion. For others, this glut of information can lead to an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating (which now has its own medical term, orthorexia), religiously following the latest diet craze.

You will be relieved to know that this book is less about presenting a new approach, and more about helping you find a way of getting back to what we instinctively know works best as far as food and eating are concerned. This isnt a diet book as such. We aim to show you how to listen and respond to your bodys unique needs so that you can fall in love with real food , which will nourish your health, wellbeing, and vitality .

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

What does your instinct tell you about food?

Perhaps your instinct tells you that:

Real food is better than artifically enhanced food products.

Slow food is more beneficial than fast food.

A balanced, varied diet and a positive attitude towards food simply cannot be improved.

Your instinct will often point you in the right direction if you slow down and make space to connect to this inner wisdom. Many people have lost their way when it comes to food,not only with the types and amounts consumed, but also with how it is involved in their lives.

Have you stopped listening to your instinct about food? Life is often too busy for this instinct to be heard. Now might be the time to start to tune into your instinct again.

Mindful eating helps you to fall in love with real fo o d, which nourishes your health, vitality, and wellbeing.

Getting the Most out of Mindful Eating

Treat mindful eating as a journey. View it as an exciting project and start to work through it step by step just as you would any other projects that youve been involved in, like re-designing a room or planning a menu for a special meal. You will notice simple exercises throughout this book, as well as recipes and guided meditations. We recommend that you immerse yourself in the complete process, work through all the exercises and try out the recipes. Work with it and it will work for you. We want to engage both your conscious and unconscious minds in the process of learning to eat mindfully. The conscious mind learns through logical explanation and the main body of each chapter will give it plenty to think about. The unconscious mind learns through logical explanation and symbolism and it will be reached by each chapters opening story and meditation. An important first step is to buy a beautiful book to use as a journal , and perhaps also some lovely colored pens and pencils so that you can get involved in charting your progress and writing down all the insights that occur to you along the way.

Never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.

Florence Nightingale

The Touchstone

The Royal Library of Alexandria was said to house all the secrets of the ancient world. When it burned down, some time around 30BCE, only a few of the millions of scrolls that were housed there survived. One scroll in particular, which didnt look like much superficially, was sold to an old man for a small amount of money. When he examined the document closely he found that right at the bottom of the scroll was inscribed in golden letters perhaps the most valuable secret the world has ever known, The secret of the touchstone. The man knew of the legend of the touchstone it gave the person who discovered it the secret of eternal life. The scroll contained an ancient map showing the exact location of the salt-water lake containing the touchstone, along with many millions of other stones that looked just the same. This particular stone would feel warm and alive when you held it; the old man vowed to devote his life to finding it. He sold everything he owned and left for the lake. He found the spot, made camp, and set out to look for the touchstone. He picked up each stone, holding it to feel its temperature, and then dropped it back into the water. He continued for years, without ever finding the one. After ten years he finally picked up a stone that felt warm and alive. He held it in his hand for a moment and mindlessly, with a well-practiced throw, dropped the pebble back into the water with all the others.