Mindful Eating Challenge

I am thrilled to be announcing that I am launching my 5-Day Mindful Eating Challenge June 26-30 in collaboration with BossaBars.

You might remember that I offered this challenge last winter and got great feedback from the participants. I wanted to relaunch it again this summer. Mindful eating is a practice. It is easy to get distracted, self-critical, and lose focus. Bringing back the challenge is something that helps keep me practicing this important skill.

When I think about mindful eating, I am reminded of this quote by Brene Brown,

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness –
it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude”.

That statement from Brene Brown mirrors my own experience with food and eating. One of the main reasons I started Barbara Sobel Nutrition is that after a particularly stressful year, I found myself lying on my couch, recovering from knee surgery. My knee eventually healed, but I couldn’t get off the couch. I was tired, losing my hair, experiencing brain fog, and my hormones were a mess.

I began to gain weight, and I was all of a sudden sensitive to all kinds of foods I knew were healthy and that I had never had issues with before. The more my health care practitioners gave me special diets to help support my body and to lose weight, the more food and eating became stressful.

I sometimes would “be good,” and other times, I would get overwhelmed or frustrated. Can you relate to starting the day with good intentions but then getting worn down and saying, “^&@! it” to yourself? I often felt left out; all I needed was a friend to say, “a few bites won’t hurt you.” Then the shame would come.

I saw a lot of different practitioners and made a lot of changes in my diet and lifestyle. Nothing really clicked with my long-term health or my relationship with food until I slowed down and took time to address my mind and body together.

During that time, I was …

• Having trouble with what to eat, how much to eat, and learning to like some new foods and let go of some of my favorite foods
• Needing a solution for feeling so overwhelmed and frankly just plain old
• Looking for reasons why my body was changing so fast (and not in a good way) when I had always eaten healthy and been active

The more I started eating mindfully, the more my relationship with food and eating healed. I began to enjoy food more and eat less. I began to eat the foods that nourished my body, and I felt much more at ease passing on those that did not. I embraced foods that felt good in my body, and I felt less of an appetite to overeat. As I slowed down and paid attention, I felt more joy and ease around food. That taken together with the proper medical help, I was able to rebuild my health.

I love sharing the practice of mindful eating, eating with intention and attention. It lends a proactive perspective to healing our bodies and our relationship with food. It has helped people just like me (and you) let go of the struggle and stress around what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat so that we can focus our attention elsewhere.

So, take a peek at the details for the 5-Day Mindful Eating Challenge here and know that this was created in the spirit of Brene Brown’s words.

I cannot wait for you to practice this with me.

If you missed the challenge or are interested in learning more about how mindful eating could help you, book your complimentary 20-minute Exploratory Phone Appointment for New Clients here. If you are an existing client, let me know that you want to talk about mindful eating at our next follow-up visit.