It's All Mindfulness

Morning light on the Appalachian Trail in 2015.

Today after I explained the concept of mindful eating to a nutrition client, they said to me, somewhat peevishly, “Okay, this is all well and good but how is this going to help me lose weight?” 

And I wasn’t immediately able to answer the question. After all, how does this help them lose weight? But also, why is that even our goal? They were totally in the right to ask me that question and that’s my fault for not clarifying. So allow me to clarify.

People don’t come to me for coaching because they want to lose weight. They come to me because they want to change and are seeking tools for change. They’ve already taken a huge step in even looking for those tools, in even knowing that they want to look for those tools. They’re already flexing the muscle of Awareness.

After all, would they have come to me if they weren’t aware that they wanted to change? Would they have tried dieting, exercise, etc. if they weren’t aware that they wanted to change? Probably not. They’re even aware that those things haven’t worked and are seeking something different. Wow! They’re already strengthening the muscle of Awareness in a powerful way.

So we build on that.

Mindfulness is a strategy to build Awareness and Awareness is the foundation of change. Every time we commit to being mindful, every time we notice (taste, fullness, enjoyment, unenjoyment) we flex the muscle of Awareness. It’s many small moments of noticing that give us the data, not just about how things are, but about what things we want to change. Weight loss is a change, not just in numbers, not just in perception, but in habits, in lifestyle, in movement, in how we relate to food, in how we relate to ourselves, etc.

I like to say that “we aim for health and get aesthetics as a byproduct”, and the same is true for weight loss. We aim for mindfulness, we aim to feel better, healthier, happier. We aim to enjoy food more, not less. Maybe that helps us lose weight, maybe it doesn’t. But it doesn’t really matter how much weight you lose if you hated what it took to do it. You’ll never keep it off and much more to the point, you’ll never be happy about it.

If we really get in our bodies, I mean really really get in our bodies, in a profound and meaningful way, then I think what we'll notice is that we all want to love ourselves. I don't want anyone to feel shame for wanting to lose weight, because I think it's just an indication that they want to love themselves. What a beautiful sentiment! I want them to love themselves too. I want to help them love themselves.

I really believe that mindfulness will help us to understand what we need to do in order to accomplish that. Why do I think that? Because that's what it's done for me. That's what it's done for others.

I'll leave you with another quote. It's from another one of my clients talking about mindfully eating, "This feels like self care!"

TLDR;

“Freedom is the space between stimulus and response.” 

• Victor Frankl

Awareness is the tool that helps us notice that space so we can decide for ourselves how we want to respond (to the stress, to boredom, to the sight of a maple glazed doughnut).

It’s all mindfulness, all the way down.

P.S. Did you get your meditation reps in today?