Mindful eating finds its origin in the practice of mindfulness. It is an adaptation of mindfulness practices aimed at restoring a healthy relationship with food.

Mindful eating is for anyone who wants to take on the challenge of improving their relationship with food and eating. Whether you have a moderate tendency to overeat, like many of us; whether you are trying to gain or lose weight, or whether you are struggling with issues such as obesity, bulimia, or anorexia. Eating mindfully has nothing to do with a specific diet, it’s not about counting calories or classifying food as 'good' or 'bad'. Weight loss is not the goal, but often a consequence.

For example, if you have tried various diets for a long time without sustainable or long-term success, or if you no longer really know what healthy and natural eating behavior looks like, mindful eating can help you rediscover the pure enjoyment of eating, without guilt and without restrictive or compulsive eating behaviors. Your mindfulness is your most important tool that will help you sustainably change your eating habits. By mindfully observing your sensations, thoughts, and emotions that arise around eating, you will gradually recognize the influence they have on your eating behavior. Awareness, free from any critical judgment and comparison, is a key element of mindful eating. In this way, it awakens our curiosity in a gentle and compassionate way and helps us find solutions to improve our well-being.

Mindfulness is a faculty we all possess and can cultivate: you are fully aware when you intentionally direct your attention and your entire consciousness to what is happening both inside you, in your body, heart, and mind, and outside of you, in your environment. Mindfulness is attention without judgment or criticism.

In recent years, mindfulness has become a popular and increasingly accepted concept in the fields of science, health, and education, due to the growing number of scientific studies that have focused on it. However, the concept itself has no utility in daily life. It is when we practice mindfulness, when we experience it, that it transforms into a powerful tool, capable of guiding us toward and through new challenges, such as changing eating habits.

If you are suffering from an eating disorder such as anorexia, bulimia or BED, please consider talking to a psychotherapist or other mental health specialist. A mindfulness based nutritional therapy is complementary to psychotherapy for these specific disorders.