How is your relationship with food, my friend? Is it love-hate? Do you fear it?

Having food intolerance issues, IBS or other digestive issues can make so many of us really, truly worried about the food we put in our bodies. When you’re not sure how food is going to affect you, it’s a scary process. I know buddy, I’ve been there. Once you get sorted out with your triggers and identify exactly which foods are safe and which are not, you’ll be good.

Now on to our wonderful guest dietitian expert of the day, Jessica Penner. Jessica is passionate about helping people improve their relationship with food, so I’m excited to have her here with us today to discuss FOMO, mindful eating, and intuitive eating!

Fear of missing out. It’s become a thing. It even has its own abbreviation: FOMO.

If you have ever been stressed because you’ve been invited to two different events on the same night, you might have FOMO. If you’ve desperately tried to make both events fit into your evening, you might have FOMO. If you worried so much about working it all in that you didn’t end up enjoying yourself much… yup, you have FOMO.

You’re not alone.  

Dr. Herman, the researcher who first identified FOMO, estimates that 70% of adults experience the phenomenon.

Whether you’re anxious about missing an event with friends, or missing out on the latest tech gear… if you can miss out on it, there can be fear and anxiety associated with it. FOMO is an anxiety triggered by thinking of others having rewarding experiences without you. 

Yes, it’s a legitimate problem. In fact, the phrase was even added to the Oxford dictionary in 2013! 

As a registered dietitian, I’ve observed that FOMO is even influencing people’s eating habits. Is it affecting yours?

You probably want to eat healthier, but do you want to miss out on wine night with the girls?

You probably want to eat healthier, but do you want to miss out on that pizza party at work?

You probably want to eat healthier, but do you want to miss out on the extra donut that will just get dried out by tomorrow morning?

The Cost of a Healthy Lifestyle

People generally feel like there are necessary tradeoffs to eating healthier or losing weight. We tend to have a “no pain, no gain” mentality. If you want to gain a benefit, you have to miss out on something else. If you want to lose weight, you have to knuckle down and deprive yourself of life’s pleasures. 

I’m not a psychiatrist, and I don’t have a cure for FOMO. But I do have the solution to its effects on your eating! The best news about this (and something the weight loss industry doesn’t want you to realize) is that you don’t have to suffer to lose weight! You don’t have to miss out!

This may be hard to believe because you’re so used to thinking this way. But you don’t have to miss out on the pizza party or the wine night. The solution lies in a couple of approaches called “Mindful Eating” and “Intuitive Eating.” 

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating means paying attention when you’re eating. Adopting this habit means that you no longer shove food into your mouth without even consciously enjoying that food. Instead you take the time to mentally process the food you’re eating. This allows your brain to experience it and get the enjoyment you’re looking for out of that food. 

To get started with mindful eating, try this exercise:

1) Get a raisin and place it in your mouth. Set a timer for 1 minute. Don’t swallow the raisin until the minute is up!

2) Focus on what you notice about this raisin as you consume it in this strange new way. 

At first, the raisin may feel wrinkly and tasteless. Before chewing it, the raisin might actually remind you of the grape it once was.

Once you bite into the raisin, the sweetness explodes! You might notice that a raisin is way sweeter than you ever gave it credit for!

Keeping the raisin in your mouth can significantly increase your enjoyment of it. Of course, instead of enjoying one raisin in this way, you could just chow down on a pack of them, and get the same amount of enjoyment. But, mindful eating allows you to fully enjoy that one raisin, and get the same enjoyment with a fraction of the calories!

Mindful eating doesn’t mean you have to keep a tiny amount of food in your mouth for a long time. But try that exercise, and then apply the concept of mindful enjoyment the next time you’re at a pizza party. You may find that your mindful enjoyment of the pizza allows you to say no to the extra slice that always leaves you feeling stuffed.

 

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating is the practice of paying closer attention to how your body reacts to food. Your body gives you all sorts of cues to tell you things like when you’re full, and when your body has had enough of a certain kind of food. Many people are used to ignoring these signals, so they don’t notice them much anymore. Intuitive eating puts you back in touch with your body’s signs and signals.

To get started with intuitive eating, try this at your next meal.

1) Before you start eating, tell yourself “I will respect and honour my body.”

2) As you eat your meal, regularly check in with your body. Ask yourself how full you’re feeling. Rate your fullness on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is starving, and 10 is completely stuffed to the point of discomfort. When your fullness is at a 7 or 8, remind yourself of your promise to respect and honour your body. Then do so, by not eating any more. It doesn’t matter if you have food left on your plate. If your body is full, wasting food in the garbage is a lot less harmful than forcing it into your body.

When you adopt mindful and intuitive eating practices, you start to tune in to what your body needs. That means you get a sense of which foods, and how much of those foods is the right amount to eat at any given time. When you start using these strategies, you no longer feel like you have to miss out on your favourite foods. What you gain is the ability to eat them responsibly!

You gain the ability to enjoy your glass of wine at ladies’ night, without going overboard and drinking the whole bottle. You’re able to take part in pizza Fridays at work, all without feeling like a beached whale because you ate too many slices. 

Mindful Eating and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Those who suffer from IBS may already know that you can battle bloat by strategically choosing specific foods and avoiding others. But another cause of bloating is simply eating too much food, regardless of whether it’s low FODMAP or not. 

Using mindful and intuitive eating strategies can help you easily tackle this type of overeating. 

If this all sounds good to you, but you’re not sure how to implement these concepts into daily habits, or you’re worried you won’t stick to it, you’re not alone. Two years ago I started writing an article about how to quit overeating. I stopped writing halfway through, and wondered, “will people just read this, feel good for a second about starting on their New Year’s Resolution, and then forget about it?”

Evidence suggests that’s exactly what happens for most people. So I set out to fix that problem. I created a 12-week program that walks people through short, manageable lessons and practical assignments to help them become pros at mindful and intuitive eating practices. These daily routines, over time, turn into powerful life change.

If you suffer from fear of missing out, I’d suggest turning it around and using it to your advantage. Consider adopting a fear of missing out on a lifetime of happy and healthy eating!

Jessica Penner, RD (Smart Nutrition) is the creator of the 12-week online coaching program called “I Quit Overeating”, which she designed to help others build a healthy relationship with food. Jessica aims to make nutrition information fun to read and easy to understand, and believes that healthy eating can be simple and affordable. Click here and scroll down to get your FREE copy of Jessica’s ebook “5 Critical Diet Plan Mistakes and How To Fix Them Today”.

 

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