As summer rolls around, many of us are struggling to shed the extra pounds we’ve put on since the start of the year. Mindfulness techniques help us shed those extra pounds.
Studies confirm that eating mindfully can help maintain a healthy weight. According to anecdotal evidence and some existing research, mindfulness techniques can help a person maintain or improve physical and mental well-being.
Mindfulness: being fully present in the moment
For example, mindfulness can reduce symptoms of anxiety, improve cognitive functioning, and even improve immune response. The principle of mindfulness is very simple: It is regarding being fully present in the moment, focusing your attention on external stimuli and their effects on the body and mind, while learning to recognize and dismiss unnecessary thoughts. Thus, learning mindfulness techniques can help us lessen the effects of stress and find more pleasure in present experiences.
Researchers have suggested that mindfulness can also help a person in their weight loss efforts. Indeed, a study conducted by the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire National Health in the United Kingdom in collaboration with other clinical and research institutions, confirms these and similar results.
This research is important because it shows that problematic eating behavior can be improved through the application of mindfulness. The team of researchers published their findings in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, which is a publication of the Endocrine Society.
Enable appropriate lifestyle decisions
The research team worked with 53 people attending a specialist weight management program at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire National Health.
Among the participants, 33 took part in at least three of the four mindfulness training sessions, which taught them to practice mindfulness while eating.
Over the next six months, participants who attended three or four mindfulness sessions lost, on average, 3 kilograms, while those who attended only one or two mindfulness sessions lost weight. average 0.9 kilograms.
Additionally, compared to a control group of 20 participants who had undergone the same weight management program but no mindfulness sessions, those who had received comprehensive mindfulness training lost an average of 2.85 kilograms. what’s more.
Mindfulness: a better relationship to food
Surveys of participants indicate that mindfulness training can help this population improve their relationship with food. Mindfulness can help people change and manage their eating behaviors more easily. People who took the course said they were better able to plan meals ahead of time and felt more confident regarding self-managing their weight loss in the future.
Losing weight by meditating: an easily accessible technique for everyone
Mindfulness training can be organized in centers and delivered by certified trainers or even developed through digital tools.
This approach can easily be scaled up to a large population. Mindfulness has enormous potential as a strategy for achieving and maintaining good health and well-being