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MINDFUL EATING – per riscoprire una sana e gioiosa relazione con il cibo
How mindfulness can restore the healthy relationship with food we were meant to have--with striking effects on disorders such as overeating, anorexia, and bulimia--an extensively revised edition of this bestseller that includes important new data. Apply mindfulness to your relationship with food and you may be surprised to find that eating becomes a source of joy--instead an angst-ridden activity haunted by nutritionally based guilt, calorie-counting, and even more serious problems like eating disorders. For nearly a decade, Jan Bays's guide to eating mindfully has been transforming people's relationship with food--and based on her continued work with those people as well as new data emerging on the topic, she has created this significantly revised and refined version of the original, which contains even more essential information on mindful eating, as well as inspiring new examples from her workshop participants. She shows how to:
- Tune into your body's own wisdom about what, when, and how much to eat
- Eat less while feeling fully satisfied
- Identify your habits and patterns with food
- Develop a more compassionate attitude toward your struggles with eating
- Discover what you're really hungry for
The 75-minute audio program of exercises from the original book has also been revised and will now be available as an audio download.
- Tune into your body's own wisdom about what, when, and how much to eat
- Eat less while feeling fully satisfied
- Identify your habits and patterns with food
- Develop a more compassionate attitude toward your struggles with eating
- Discover what you're really hungry for
The 75-minute audio program of exercises from the original book has also been revised and will now be available as an audio download.
280 pages, Volume formato 15 x 21, cucito a filo di refe, confezionato in brossura, copertina lucida con al
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
March 12, 2019
3.5 stars: the book gives one tools to have a better relationship with food, but I felt it was a big light compared to some other book otherwise (that is, for losing weight and such).
So: this book is about mindful eating, and using meditation to help with relationship with your body, and expressing thankfulness towards the food and people etc. that made it possible. My copy did not come with the accompanying CD, but I feel it wasn't really needed anyway, you can read about most practices here already. The author is a long-time teacher of mindful eating, practices zen buddhism, and is an pediatric doctor.
The book first introduces us to the practice, then to 7 types of hunger (the cell level felt a bit ridiculous), talked about food habits and attitudes, about thankfulness, and what mindful eating can really teach us. And at the end are some tips. Some stories from students (names changed) have been included; some facts are so familiar to me now from other books that I just shrug at them though they are good and true.
This book presents some tools for better realtionship with food, and to use in losing/gaining weight, but left me feel not-tooled-enough. I made notes to use some of the practices later, so that made the book more worth it.
So: this book is about mindful eating, and using meditation to help with relationship with your body, and expressing thankfulness towards the food and people etc. that made it possible. My copy did not come with the accompanying CD, but I feel it wasn't really needed anyway, you can read about most practices here already. The author is a long-time teacher of mindful eating, practices zen buddhism, and is an pediatric doctor.
The book first introduces us to the practice, then to 7 types of hunger (the cell level felt a bit ridiculous), talked about food habits and attitudes, about thankfulness, and what mindful eating can really teach us. And at the end are some tips. Some stories from students (names changed) have been included; some facts are so familiar to me now from other books that I just shrug at them though they are good and true.
This book presents some tools for better realtionship with food, and to use in losing/gaining weight, but left me feel not-tooled-enough. I made notes to use some of the practices later, so that made the book more worth it.
December 31, 2009
I feel like I should like this book more because the author is a local and loved Zen teacher. I think the method of mindful eating is well-presented and a useful tool, but enlightened though she may be, Chozen Bays reveals her lack of need to confront fat karma.
In his foreword to the book, Jon Kabat-Zinn refers to "our disordered relationship to food and eating." I thought, wow, that's just what I've been saying. I think we have a societal eating disorder, and it just seems to be getting worse. Mindfulness practice applied to eating is very useful to get us back in touch with our bodies' true needs. It helps peel back and erase those disordered relationships.
Unfortunately, in my view Chozen Bays still buys into some of those disordered relationships. I found it slightly problematic that rather than enjoy her discovery of the tastiness of Krispy Kreme donuts, she treated it as a cancerous thought of sorts. On first encounter, she, as she viewed it, mindlessly gorged on them, then obsessed over them while she denied herself further indulgences. Her account of making a particular candy difficult to retrieve also seemed to participate in the control found in restrictive eating and diet culture. When she claimed a healthy respect for those of us who are fat because her partner made a joke about her size, and her clothes got a little tighter, it didn't sit well with me. This was participating in the disordered eating culture, not understanding it. She hasn't needed to experience a life in a fat body, and while I know her to be a compassionate Buddhist teacher, I would doubt she truly understands this karma.
Most problematic to me was her casual mention of a Mindful Eating workshop participant. This participant was taking the workshop in order to prepare herself for her necessarily changed eating style after her bariatric surgery. Like many physicians, Chozen Bays accepts the validity of this surgery, and gives no further comment. She, it seems to me, mindlessly accepts the cultural paradigm that fat is bad, so bad that it is ok to endorse a surgery that hinders the body's ability to function normally for the rest of a person's life. This is if it doesn't actually kill you.
While there are some messages in this book I would not want to endorse, especially the controlling aspect, I do like the detailed instruction on how to eat mindfully. For people who've been immersed in the diet culture that forces us to ignore our own signals of our bodies, this method brings you back to that body, mind, emotional, and spiritual awareness.
In his foreword to the book, Jon Kabat-Zinn refers to "our disordered relationship to food and eating." I thought, wow, that's just what I've been saying. I think we have a societal eating disorder, and it just seems to be getting worse. Mindfulness practice applied to eating is very useful to get us back in touch with our bodies' true needs. It helps peel back and erase those disordered relationships.
Unfortunately, in my view Chozen Bays still buys into some of those disordered relationships. I found it slightly problematic that rather than enjoy her discovery of the tastiness of Krispy Kreme donuts, she treated it as a cancerous thought of sorts. On first encounter, she, as she viewed it, mindlessly gorged on them, then obsessed over them while she denied herself further indulgences. Her account of making a particular candy difficult to retrieve also seemed to participate in the control found in restrictive eating and diet culture. When she claimed a healthy respect for those of us who are fat because her partner made a joke about her size, and her clothes got a little tighter, it didn't sit well with me. This was participating in the disordered eating culture, not understanding it. She hasn't needed to experience a life in a fat body, and while I know her to be a compassionate Buddhist teacher, I would doubt she truly understands this karma.
Most problematic to me was her casual mention of a Mindful Eating workshop participant. This participant was taking the workshop in order to prepare herself for her necessarily changed eating style after her bariatric surgery. Like many physicians, Chozen Bays accepts the validity of this surgery, and gives no further comment. She, it seems to me, mindlessly accepts the cultural paradigm that fat is bad, so bad that it is ok to endorse a surgery that hinders the body's ability to function normally for the rest of a person's life. This is if it doesn't actually kill you.
While there are some messages in this book I would not want to endorse, especially the controlling aspect, I do like the detailed instruction on how to eat mindfully. For people who've been immersed in the diet culture that forces us to ignore our own signals of our bodies, this method brings you back to that body, mind, emotional, and spiritual awareness.
August 16, 2011
This book has a very good heart. I have no doubt that Bays' intention was to give us a guide to eating mindfully that would be very useful. In some ways she succeeded, but in others she was not nearly so successful.
I suppose it is useful to note that I consider myself overweight. I also think of myself as a devoted practitioner of mindfulness. I know that mindfulness can be helpful in finding my way to a healthier relationship to food. None of this is in doubt for me. Since I require no convincing, the key question is whether or not this book is a guide that will encourage such a new attitude toward food. The answer is a bit more ambiguous.
The section of the book I found most evocative for me was the one on the seven forms of hunger. When a desire to eat strikes, it is wonderful to contemplate what exactly in my body, mind, or heart is asking to be fed. Is it my heart? My head? My stomach? Am I really in need of food? Or am I depressed or unhappy or nervous?
Some of Bays' observations are similarly astute, particularly the practices she has developed in her mindful eating workshops or that her students came up with for themselves.
However, I found it difficult to get past some of the rather broad assumptions she makes about food and our relationship to it. A few examples: Bays draws comparisons between European and North American attitudes toward food and eating that are based on assumptions that are at best stereotypes and that she backs up with no specific research. She goes into some detail describing the way our bodies process sugar and how our increased consumption of it taxes our bodies because they are not acclimated to so much of it; this sounds like it could be true, but is it? She cites no studies or authorities to back up this dubious claim. One more example: she uses a limited knowledge of operant conditioning to draw broad conclusions about how we come to have our relationships to food. Yes, it sounds like common sense, but we all know how very nonsensical common sense can be sometimes, and she is probably not qualified to make these sweeping generalizations.
I encourage anyone who is interested in this subject to give this book a try. But I would keep the salt shaker nearby, as you will no doubt need to take several of her assertions with a grain or two of the stuff. Bon appetit!
I suppose it is useful to note that I consider myself overweight. I also think of myself as a devoted practitioner of mindfulness. I know that mindfulness can be helpful in finding my way to a healthier relationship to food. None of this is in doubt for me. Since I require no convincing, the key question is whether or not this book is a guide that will encourage such a new attitude toward food. The answer is a bit more ambiguous.
The section of the book I found most evocative for me was the one on the seven forms of hunger. When a desire to eat strikes, it is wonderful to contemplate what exactly in my body, mind, or heart is asking to be fed. Is it my heart? My head? My stomach? Am I really in need of food? Or am I depressed or unhappy or nervous?
Some of Bays' observations are similarly astute, particularly the practices she has developed in her mindful eating workshops or that her students came up with for themselves.
However, I found it difficult to get past some of the rather broad assumptions she makes about food and our relationship to it. A few examples: Bays draws comparisons between European and North American attitudes toward food and eating that are based on assumptions that are at best stereotypes and that she backs up with no specific research. She goes into some detail describing the way our bodies process sugar and how our increased consumption of it taxes our bodies because they are not acclimated to so much of it; this sounds like it could be true, but is it? She cites no studies or authorities to back up this dubious claim. One more example: she uses a limited knowledge of operant conditioning to draw broad conclusions about how we come to have our relationships to food. Yes, it sounds like common sense, but we all know how very nonsensical common sense can be sometimes, and she is probably not qualified to make these sweeping generalizations.
I encourage anyone who is interested in this subject to give this book a try. But I would keep the salt shaker nearby, as you will no doubt need to take several of her assertions with a grain or two of the stuff. Bon appetit!
January 3, 2019
This book has a good short message mixed with some advice on eating that is not evidence based research. Basically the message could have been shared in one chapter and the rest of the book is filler combined with advertising for her app. Save yourself some time and just find a well written book on mindfulness or go to google and learn about it in fifteen minutes.
May 19, 2024
“Mindful eating is a way to become reacquainted with the guidance of our internal nutritionist.”
Refreshing and insightful exploration into the art of eating mindfully. This book is not your typical guide on dieting; it delves much deeper into the relationship between food and consciousness, offering readers a holistic approach to eating that transcends mere calorie counting or restrictive meal plans.
The practices described in "Mindful Eating" are intriguing and aim to cultivate a sense of awareness and appreciation for the act of eating. Bays encourages readers to slow down, savor their food, and pay attention to the sensory experiences of eating. She introduces techniques such as mindful breathing, body awareness, and the exploration of emotional triggers related to food.
However, while these practices are fascinating and potentially transformative, they may not be easily applicable to the hustle and bustle of everyday life for many readers. The demands of modern living often make it challenging to consistently adopt such a mindful approach to eating, especially in a fast-paced environment where meals are often hurried.
Refreshing and insightful exploration into the art of eating mindfully. This book is not your typical guide on dieting; it delves much deeper into the relationship between food and consciousness, offering readers a holistic approach to eating that transcends mere calorie counting or restrictive meal plans.
The practices described in "Mindful Eating" are intriguing and aim to cultivate a sense of awareness and appreciation for the act of eating. Bays encourages readers to slow down, savor their food, and pay attention to the sensory experiences of eating. She introduces techniques such as mindful breathing, body awareness, and the exploration of emotional triggers related to food.
However, while these practices are fascinating and potentially transformative, they may not be easily applicable to the hustle and bustle of everyday life for many readers. The demands of modern living often make it challenging to consistently adopt such a mindful approach to eating, especially in a fast-paced environment where meals are often hurried.
May 11, 2015
Jan Chozen Bays provides a solid primer for mindful eating. The seven types of hunger she outlines are a new way (or I guess forgotten way, she would argue) to approach eating, but for the most part not too radical. We're all familiar with the concepts of comfort food and emotional eating, and sayings like, "your eyes are bigger than your stomach." So while she reframed these different relationships to food, nothing (except maybe cellular hunger) seemed too far out there. I also appreciated the conditional behaviors she outlines and the various inner voices - critic, perfectionist, pusher - many deal with.
That said, as many have pointed out, she makes some sweeping generalizations and doesn't include enough scientific data to win over my inner skeptic. Considering she's a physician, I would have expected more medical evidence and less "Would ya believe it?" style anecdotes. But, the book is written in a self-help style, so I suppose that's not warranted. And I'm also already totally on board with mindfulness and mindful eating so I was hoping for something more...technical, I guess.
My other issue is this: In the introduction she talks about binge eating, bulimia, and anorexia as destructive food relationships. What follows, however, largely leaves anorexia out of the discussion or treats it only as an after thought. Even the section on fasting, which is perhaps the best time to enter into that discussion, doesn't get into it. Instead, she focuses heavily on over eating and the need to curb those habits. While many of the methods and exercises she provides seem like they would help, since her focus is so lopsided it makes me wonder whether, in her eyes, over eating is somehow more of a disorder than under eating.
It's a shame for several reasons, not least of which is that I think mindfulness really could help those with anorexia as well. But the exercises she offers don't seem to deal with the particular anxieties and emotional distress specific to that disease.
We ordered this book as part of our growing collection of stress/anxiety/mental health resources that we have available to students in the library. I'll still recommend students give this a try, but it's disappointing knowing that many of them won't find what the book promises. It's impossible to know what a person is struggling with just by looking at them and they're unlikely to come right out and say, "yeah I personally need something that focuses on bulimia/BED/anorexia/etc." At the very least, however, it offers a starting point and some solid basic mindfulness methods.
That said, as many have pointed out, she makes some sweeping generalizations and doesn't include enough scientific data to win over my inner skeptic. Considering she's a physician, I would have expected more medical evidence and less "Would ya believe it?" style anecdotes. But, the book is written in a self-help style, so I suppose that's not warranted. And I'm also already totally on board with mindfulness and mindful eating so I was hoping for something more...technical, I guess.
My other issue is this: In the introduction she talks about binge eating, bulimia, and anorexia as destructive food relationships. What follows, however, largely leaves anorexia out of the discussion or treats it only as an after thought. Even the section on fasting, which is perhaps the best time to enter into that discussion, doesn't get into it. Instead, she focuses heavily on over eating and the need to curb those habits. While many of the methods and exercises she provides seem like they would help, since her focus is so lopsided it makes me wonder whether, in her eyes, over eating is somehow more of a disorder than under eating.
It's a shame for several reasons, not least of which is that I think mindfulness really could help those with anorexia as well. But the exercises she offers don't seem to deal with the particular anxieties and emotional distress specific to that disease.
We ordered this book as part of our growing collection of stress/anxiety/mental health resources that we have available to students in the library. I'll still recommend students give this a try, but it's disappointing knowing that many of them won't find what the book promises. It's impossible to know what a person is struggling with just by looking at them and they're unlikely to come right out and say, "yeah I personally need something that focuses on bulimia/BED/anorexia/etc." At the very least, however, it offers a starting point and some solid basic mindfulness methods.
October 31, 2022
I've been reading a few books about changing your relationship with food and this was my favorite one so far. I'm pretty average weight but I've ping-ponged up and down in weight since I was a kid. I have a very poor connection to my body and so I'd either overeat or strictly control my diet. The first would cause me to go up in weight and the latter would let me lose the weight but only worked as long as I could be disciplined.
So this book was like finding a tool box of things I can do to eat food without overindulge or strictly controlling myself. I haven't tried all the exercises yet, but I actually ordered the book after just listening to it from the library so that I have them and I plan to incorporate them into my life going forward.
The things that I have tried and have already made a huge difference:
1. Think about what part of me is hungry and why before I eat anything. If my body isn't hungry but I want food, even if I eat something I also try to soothe/nourish myself in other ways.
2. Only have water at meals. Have flavored drinks only when I will be attentive to drinking them and actually enjoy them.
3. Chew each bite thuroughly (and enjoy all the flavors) and swallow before preparing the next bite, sometime by putting down the fork or knife with each bite.
4. Most of the time eat at a clean table with nothing else going on.
5. Stop eating when I feel pressure in my stomach starting. If I'm not sure, I will walk around for a few minutes or do something on my phone and reassess, allowing some of the hormonal signals to register if I'm actually fully but not satiated yet.
It's funny, because at first it feels like effort to do all those things but I realized how much food I was consuming without ever even tasting it and savoring it, which is the joy of food. My little bit of disciple is actually to enjoy food more.
There are so many exercises in this book and even new things to discover by doing the exercises again, that I think I will keep this book as a bit of a handbook throughout the year or for years to come.
So this book was like finding a tool box of things I can do to eat food without overindulge or strictly controlling myself. I haven't tried all the exercises yet, but I actually ordered the book after just listening to it from the library so that I have them and I plan to incorporate them into my life going forward.
The things that I have tried and have already made a huge difference:
1. Think about what part of me is hungry and why before I eat anything. If my body isn't hungry but I want food, even if I eat something I also try to soothe/nourish myself in other ways.
2. Only have water at meals. Have flavored drinks only when I will be attentive to drinking them and actually enjoy them.
3. Chew each bite thuroughly (and enjoy all the flavors) and swallow before preparing the next bite, sometime by putting down the fork or knife with each bite.
4. Most of the time eat at a clean table with nothing else going on.
5. Stop eating when I feel pressure in my stomach starting. If I'm not sure, I will walk around for a few minutes or do something on my phone and reassess, allowing some of the hormonal signals to register if I'm actually fully but not satiated yet.
It's funny, because at first it feels like effort to do all those things but I realized how much food I was consuming without ever even tasting it and savoring it, which is the joy of food. My little bit of disciple is actually to enjoy food more.
There are so many exercises in this book and even new things to discover by doing the exercises again, that I think I will keep this book as a bit of a handbook throughout the year or for years to come.
August 8, 2019
Ciao a tutti! Se hai cercato questo libro e stai leggendo cosa ne penso, hai un pizzico di voglia di scoprire il mondo del mindful eating. Certo, hai ben letto! Ho assegnato 5 Stelline perchè mi ha fatto sperimentare un mondo nuovo o meglio, come il sottotitolo suggerisce, mi ha fatto riscoprire delle sensazioni sopite, inoltre mi ha aperto gli occhi sui meccanismi che si celano dietro l'alimentazione e su tutti i condizionamenti della famiglia o sociali riguardo al cibo. L'atto di mangiare non sarà più soltanto un momento fugace e obbligato della giornata, magari frustrante perchè seguiamo quella dieta così in voga, in cui ci affidiamo esclusivamente alla mente. La mente ci dice cosa mangiare per seguire una dieta equilibrata,cioè cosa fa bene e cosa no, per rispettare un valore etico, per mantenerci in salute, per far contenti gli altri e ricevere complimenti come -"ti vedo in forma"-, oppure evitare i fastidiosi giudizi dei parenti che esortano dicendo -"ti sto vedendo sciupata, ma stai mangiando?"-. In questo libro scoprirai che, se applichi la mindfulness al cibo, anche se non è semplice ma possibile,(io ci sto provando) ritroverai la pace interiore e cibarsi ritornerà un momento piacevole e consapevole. Infatti, nel libro l'autrice ci spiega che ci sono 9 DIVERSI TIPI DI FAME, quindi possiamo prenderne consapevolezza e farci guidare dal corpo e non soltanto dalla mente. Il corpo ci dirà: di cosa abbiamo davvero bisogno, di quale quantità (in modalità automatica, senza mindfulness, ci imponiamo ad esempio di mangiare 10 patatine e, anche se siamo pieni, finiamo comunque la quantità stabilita), cosa prediligere tra merendine confezionate oppure una semplice torta fatta in casa.
Infine, qualche volta l'istinto di fame non è da soddisfare con il cibo: in effetti, bisogna soddisfare gli altri tipi di fame con altre azioni ( la fame del cuore ha bisogno di ricordare momenti felici, prendersi cura di se stessi, invece spesso colmiamo questo vuoto di solitudine con il cibo).
Nel libro viene consegnata una rivelazione, seppur potrà sembrar banale: LA FAME PUO' ANCHE ESSERE SETE!!! All'interno trovi tanti esercizi che ti aiutano a comprendere ed applicare la mindfulness, inoltre si possono scaricare delle tracce audio di meditazione guidata.
Super approvato! Te lo consiglio! Cambia approccio, non dieta!
Infine, qualche volta l'istinto di fame non è da soddisfare con il cibo: in effetti, bisogna soddisfare gli altri tipi di fame con altre azioni ( la fame del cuore ha bisogno di ricordare momenti felici, prendersi cura di se stessi, invece spesso colmiamo questo vuoto di solitudine con il cibo).
Nel libro viene consegnata una rivelazione, seppur potrà sembrar banale: LA FAME PUO' ANCHE ESSERE SETE!!! All'interno trovi tanti esercizi che ti aiutano a comprendere ed applicare la mindfulness, inoltre si possono scaricare delle tracce audio di meditazione guidata.
Super approvato! Te lo consiglio! Cambia approccio, non dieta!
May 8, 2021
What makes this book worth reading? If you find yourself unhappy with the way you eat, this book is for you
The concept of mindful eating to me was always something funny. Why take eating food so seriously? After being told my eyes glaze over when I start to eat (shovel food into my mouth), I decided to give it a shot.
This book is worth the read because it explains in a concise and relatable way how people form relationships with food and how they impact us. Jan Chozen Bays explains how society and media influence has led to food being the answer to many of our unfulfilled needs, such as closeness or a sense of "fullness". With each of these explanations, she also takes the time to provide helpful exercises to get us back on track with a healthier view of eating.
I have always been someone who eats a lot, not a foodie, but an "eatie". Since reading this book, I've found myself eating significantly less, but with significantly more enjoyment.
The concept of mindful eating to me was always something funny. Why take eating food so seriously? After being told my eyes glaze over when I start to eat (shovel food into my mouth), I decided to give it a shot.
This book is worth the read because it explains in a concise and relatable way how people form relationships with food and how they impact us. Jan Chozen Bays explains how society and media influence has led to food being the answer to many of our unfulfilled needs, such as closeness or a sense of "fullness". With each of these explanations, she also takes the time to provide helpful exercises to get us back on track with a healthier view of eating.
I have always been someone who eats a lot, not a foodie, but an "eatie". Since reading this book, I've found myself eating significantly less, but with significantly more enjoyment.
March 1, 2010
This is one of those books that I checked out from the library and then liked so much I bought it (well, it's waiting for me at Barnes & Noble). In my life-long battle of the bulge, I've come to recognize myself as a mindless eater--one of my self-mocking mantras is "Why did I eat it? Because it was THERE." This book offered a Buddhism-centric viewpoint on all the different hungers we are feeding with our eating from time to time--eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, cellular hunger, heart hunger, and I'm forgetting one. There are seven. The author is very loving and compassionate in her approach, and the not-from-the-library version I'll be buying includes a CD with meditative exercises. I don't believe in DIETS, but in this book I see something I definitely CAN believe in--a better sense of my body's wants and needs and how to address them, with and without yum food.
December 17, 2019
At first I thought the author was a bit of a froot loop because I had to look at a marshmallow and carefully study it for like 5 minutes. I quickly realized this book wasn't meant for me, and probably for people with real problems when it comes to eating. Sometimes there will be a chapter really informative and interesting, like the one about children's eating, followed up with things that seem too farfetched for me. Again I don't think I 19 y/o male college student, was the target audience, I gathered it might be 30-50 y/o moms who bought this book and it's been lying on their shelves for 4 months. Sorry that was mean. But yeah I probably wouldn't recommend. But you can tell that the author is passionate about what she does and for that I am happy for her.
Also, for a drinking game: Take a shot every time she mentions her zen monastery!
Also, for a drinking game: Take a shot every time she mentions her zen monastery!
January 10, 2022
I found out about this book on the Early Reviewer list and knew I had to have it. Unfortunately I wasn't selected to receive an advanced copy, but I was able to get it from my library upon its release. This book is very well written and comes to me at the exact right moment in my life when my past 4 years of changing my life and body from the outside (losing over 60 pounds) meets my new challenge of changing my life and body from the inside through self exploration and meditation. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is ready to come to peace with the diet/binge merry-go-round and truly understand what it is that they are hungry for. The accompanying CD makes the exercises/mediations much easier and accessible the author has thought of everything to make anyone successful if they are simply ready to take the first step in their journey.
May 4, 2020
Un libro molto interessante e dettagliato per comprendere meglio la pratica della mindfulness, in particolare legata al cibo. Interessante anche la presenza di numerosi esercizi che si possono eseguire in qualsiasi momento (molto utile anche il riferimento ad un sito in cui si possono trovare gli esercizi di meditazione già registrati e pronti all’uso). Davvero una lettura piacevole e stimolante che invoglia a lavorare su se stessi. Consigliato!
June 14, 2022
Though at times I felt like this was oversimplified, it is the only book I have read on eating that addresses the cultural impacts in such a compassionate way. Granted, I sometimes felt that Bays fell into absolutisms and the juxtaposition of the research with the mindfulness threw me off at times, but overall, I took a lot away from this and have started implementing things she suggests slowly and sustainably.
February 11, 2022
Extraordinary book with fresh ideas conceived in the quiet of the author's monastic life of teaching and contemplation. I was privileged to meet Bays a few times, as my aunt has been a Zen Buddhism student of hers for decades. She is warm, kind, and brilliant. Personal connection aside, I highly recommend anything she creates.
February 27, 2012
Mindful eating is a more meditative way to look at eating and food. However, in this book, the focus seems to be on losing weight, not on finding a balance with food that many people with eating disorders need.
January 2, 2020
I thought this was very interesting as well and provided alot of "food" for thought.
January 17, 2025
Me ha gustado y servido mucho.
Está escrito por una pediatra y explica muy bien lo normalizado que está actualmente el hecho de comer de manera ansiosa (o a toda prisa) y cómo esto nos puede estar perjudicando. Para argumentarlo, además de utilizar datos científicos, también se retrotrae a tiempos antiguos en los que los seres humanos teníamos costumbres alimenticias muy diferentes y cómo nuestra supervivencia se basaba en ellas. Pone sobre la mesa que el cuerpo humano no está preparado para comer cada dos horas y que, de hecho, no es normal sentir hambre en periodos tan cortos de tiempo. Revela que actualmente, con el auge de la publicidad y las dietas milagrosas, nos estamos centrando tanto en seguir unas determinadas pautas teóricas, que nos hemos olvidado de escuchar a nuestro propio cuerpo. Así, entre otras cosas, comemos porque es la hora de comer y no nos paramos a preguntarnos si realmente tenemos hambre.
También habla sobre la cantidad de alimentos ultra procesados que nos encontramos en los supermercados, y cómo estos están preparados para generarnos mayor sensación de hambre y retrasar la señal de saciedad, para así consumir más, y, por lo tanto, comprar más.
Es un libro que recomiendo pero sí que tengo que hacer el apunte de que en ocasiones resulta pesocentrista, y que además a veces utiliza conceptos budistas que dependiendo del lector/a pueden llegar a chocar con sus creencias. No obstante, es una lectura que tiene muchísimo que aportar, más hoy en día teniendo en cuenta la manera en la que nos alimentamos. Por ello, si pueden pasar los apuntes hechos por alto, considero que el libro puede llegar a ser muy enriquecedor. Además, cuenta con ejercicios prácticos para ayudarnos a comer de manera consciente (disfrutar mientras estamos comiendo) que pueden ser de utilidad.
Está escrito por una pediatra y explica muy bien lo normalizado que está actualmente el hecho de comer de manera ansiosa (o a toda prisa) y cómo esto nos puede estar perjudicando. Para argumentarlo, además de utilizar datos científicos, también se retrotrae a tiempos antiguos en los que los seres humanos teníamos costumbres alimenticias muy diferentes y cómo nuestra supervivencia se basaba en ellas. Pone sobre la mesa que el cuerpo humano no está preparado para comer cada dos horas y que, de hecho, no es normal sentir hambre en periodos tan cortos de tiempo. Revela que actualmente, con el auge de la publicidad y las dietas milagrosas, nos estamos centrando tanto en seguir unas determinadas pautas teóricas, que nos hemos olvidado de escuchar a nuestro propio cuerpo. Así, entre otras cosas, comemos porque es la hora de comer y no nos paramos a preguntarnos si realmente tenemos hambre.
También habla sobre la cantidad de alimentos ultra procesados que nos encontramos en los supermercados, y cómo estos están preparados para generarnos mayor sensación de hambre y retrasar la señal de saciedad, para así consumir más, y, por lo tanto, comprar más.
Es un libro que recomiendo pero sí que tengo que hacer el apunte de que en ocasiones resulta pesocentrista, y que además a veces utiliza conceptos budistas que dependiendo del lector/a pueden llegar a chocar con sus creencias. No obstante, es una lectura que tiene muchísimo que aportar, más hoy en día teniendo en cuenta la manera en la que nos alimentamos. Por ello, si pueden pasar los apuntes hechos por alto, considero que el libro puede llegar a ser muy enriquecedor. Además, cuenta con ejercicios prácticos para ayudarnos a comer de manera consciente (disfrutar mientras estamos comiendo) que pueden ser de utilidad.
May 31, 2024
Food for thought (instead of food for eyes, ears, nose, mouth, touch, stomach, brain, heart or cells). The author provides very relatable eating scenarios and ways to overcome them effectively. The concept that “food is food” rather than bad or good is a good one to ponder and consider at all times as one lives through one diet or another. I found the tips very helpful, especially about taking time to involve the senses in eating, as well as thinking and being grateful for it and all the steps that have resulted in its availability to us. I plan on applying much of that in my daily practice and will likely come back and update this review at a later time.
Issues with the book: it was very heavily a Buddhist book with much emphasis on the practices that most relate to food but also the religion itself. I can see that being a turn off for some people. (It wasn’t for me!) Also, I found myself at multiple points craving a step by step guide to better assessing satiety or having a food plan for a day. The author gave multiple examples of our body telling us what it needs but didn’t provide insight on how our mind can spell that out, aside from extreme cravings of one kind of food. On a regular “I’m about to go to work without ready access to all kinds of food” day, what should one do?
Favorite quote is “In this food I see clearly the presence of the entire universe supporting my existence.”
Gratitude will forever be the key to contentment and happiness.
Issues with the book: it was very heavily a Buddhist book with much emphasis on the practices that most relate to food but also the religion itself. I can see that being a turn off for some people. (It wasn’t for me!) Also, I found myself at multiple points craving a step by step guide to better assessing satiety or having a food plan for a day. The author gave multiple examples of our body telling us what it needs but didn’t provide insight on how our mind can spell that out, aside from extreme cravings of one kind of food. On a regular “I’m about to go to work without ready access to all kinds of food” day, what should one do?
Favorite quote is “In this food I see clearly the presence of the entire universe supporting my existence.”
Gratitude will forever be the key to contentment and happiness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2017
This book definitely delivers on its promise - it certainly improved my relationship with food, probably for the rest of my life: When your perspective changes so completely I don't think it can change back again.
Highly recommended for people who would like to lose weight, as it addresses our relationship with food rather than the usual list of rules about what to eat and what not to eat that one encounters in diet books.
The author is not an expert to consult for facts about the digestive system and how it works. If you paid attention in High School Science class, you'll notice a number of mistakes already! In the greater scheme of things that doesn't really matter much because eating mindfully is the important message here.
Highly recommended for people who would like to lose weight, as it addresses our relationship with food rather than the usual list of rules about what to eat and what not to eat that one encounters in diet books.
The author is not an expert to consult for facts about the digestive system and how it works. If you paid attention in High School Science class, you'll notice a number of mistakes already! In the greater scheme of things that doesn't really matter much because eating mindfully is the important message here.
November 2, 2018
I got my first introduction to the concept of "mindfulness" via yoga. Applying it to food and eating is an obvious next step that didn't occur to me. Very insightful book/cd. I've begun trying some of the exercises. A card enclosed with the cds lists the disc and track where the exercises are housed for easy reference.
The narrator's voice is soft, calming and almost hypnotic. Perhaps not the best choice for listening material while commuting.
The narrator's voice is soft, calming and almost hypnotic. Perhaps not the best choice for listening material while commuting.
February 19, 2023
Great info and instruction from author Jan Chozen Bays. I'll need to get my hands on the hard copy of this because I'd like to practice a few of the techniques and consider more fully the various types of hunger. So fascinating!
July 15, 2022
4 estrellas porque no me aburrió, me parece interesante que cuente bien todo el proceso de mindfulness ( es el primero que leo del tema, cabe destacar)
Intento poner en práctica los ejercicios y y'a he logrado tardar casi media hora en comerme un plato que suelo tardar 7 minutos
Intento poner en práctica los ejercicios y y'a he logrado tardar casi media hora en comerme un plato que suelo tardar 7 minutos
June 14, 2016
When you start a weight-loss diet you focus on a goal. That's motivating, but the problem with goals is that you either (a) meet them, and then think the task is finished or (b) don't meet them, and think that you've failed. So what would it be like to focus on the process rather than the outcome? That's the underlying ethos of this excellent book on Mindful Eating, which clearly draws on Jan Choden Bays' extensive experience as a both a teacher and a practitioner of both mindfulness and mindful eating. It's genuinely insightful, not a rehash of familiar material, as so many mindful books are, unfortunately.
So the aim in practicing mindful eating is not to lose weight but to become aware of the semi conscious impulses and urges that lead us to snack, graze or binge, exploring them without judging, enabling us to choose whether or not we eat, rather than being led by habits.
The heart of the programme is stopping before you eat to ask why you feel like eating. To the response 'Because I'm hungry' the book offers an approach that identifies no fewer than seven types of hunger - eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, body or cellular hunger, mind hunger and heart hunger. In other words, our impulse to eat comes from a desire for some kind of stimulation and satisfaction. Locating this in one of the senses or in the mind means that we be much clearer about what stimulation we are wanting and how the particular hunger we are experiencing might be satisfied. Or you might be thirsty.
This is subtle - distinguishing all these elements means tuning in to the senses, and also becoming aware of our thoughts and feelings. Of course, this has many other benefits, and the book convinced me that mindful eating is a valid entry point to a much wider path of exploration and discovery. Then again, just the idea of stopping yourself before you hit the fridge, is enough to change a habit and -by-the-bye to shift some pounds.
There's more here as well. The familiar nutritionist's advice to savour your food and to chew it thoroughly, rather than gulping, gobbling or guzzling gains traction as part of a mindfulness programme. Doing that implies that we become interested in the process of eating and patient with it. But mindfulness helps get at the buried, anxiety producing agenda like trying to achieve a weight-loss goal and validating the effort to focus on the present moment as an end in itself.
I've been practising this for a couple of months now and found it satisfying to feel that I am getting to grips with an unhelpful snacking habit. I'm enjoying food more and I think I'm more aware of the shifts in my energy and attention through the day, especially when I am working on my own at home. Oh, and by the way, I've lost the best part of a stone.
So the aim in practicing mindful eating is not to lose weight but to become aware of the semi conscious impulses and urges that lead us to snack, graze or binge, exploring them without judging, enabling us to choose whether or not we eat, rather than being led by habits.
The heart of the programme is stopping before you eat to ask why you feel like eating. To the response 'Because I'm hungry' the book offers an approach that identifies no fewer than seven types of hunger - eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, body or cellular hunger, mind hunger and heart hunger. In other words, our impulse to eat comes from a desire for some kind of stimulation and satisfaction. Locating this in one of the senses or in the mind means that we be much clearer about what stimulation we are wanting and how the particular hunger we are experiencing might be satisfied. Or you might be thirsty.
This is subtle - distinguishing all these elements means tuning in to the senses, and also becoming aware of our thoughts and feelings. Of course, this has many other benefits, and the book convinced me that mindful eating is a valid entry point to a much wider path of exploration and discovery. Then again, just the idea of stopping yourself before you hit the fridge, is enough to change a habit and -by-the-bye to shift some pounds.
There's more here as well. The familiar nutritionist's advice to savour your food and to chew it thoroughly, rather than gulping, gobbling or guzzling gains traction as part of a mindfulness programme. Doing that implies that we become interested in the process of eating and patient with it. But mindfulness helps get at the buried, anxiety producing agenda like trying to achieve a weight-loss goal and validating the effort to focus on the present moment as an end in itself.
I've been practising this for a couple of months now and found it satisfying to feel that I am getting to grips with an unhelpful snacking habit. I'm enjoying food more and I think I'm more aware of the shifts in my energy and attention through the day, especially when I am working on my own at home. Oh, and by the way, I've lost the best part of a stone.
December 12, 2021
Not really any information different from other mindfulness books.
May 11, 2021
On the one hand this is a wonderful book. Jan Chozen Bays provides the reader with a splendid, beautifully-written approach on how to enjoy and interact with food. This book has a very gentle touch (as you'd expect from a Zen Buddhist) and is extremely non-judgmental. I appreciated all those aspects of the book.
My one complaint--though it isn't a minor one--is that the book feels too long. My edition was only 204 pages but it really seemed to drag on. I think it's because Jan introduced the "9 types of hunger" within the first few pages but then expounded on them for the next 200. So you end up feeling, "Yeah, I've got this. You already told me--" numerous times throughout the book. That's not to say the book is boring. It's not. The author has a very engaging and thought-provoking writing style. It's more to say that the book felt unnecessarily long. What could have been an elegant sketch was instead a complex and arduous painting. You still have to appreciate the beauty of it, but you have to wonder if all that extra "painting" was necessary.
My one complaint--though it isn't a minor one--is that the book feels too long. My edition was only 204 pages but it really seemed to drag on. I think it's because Jan introduced the "9 types of hunger" within the first few pages but then expounded on them for the next 200. So you end up feeling, "Yeah, I've got this. You already told me--" numerous times throughout the book. That's not to say the book is boring. It's not. The author has a very engaging and thought-provoking writing style. It's more to say that the book felt unnecessarily long. What could have been an elegant sketch was instead a complex and arduous painting. You still have to appreciate the beauty of it, but you have to wonder if all that extra "painting" was necessary.
April 8, 2019
I really wanted to get more out of this book. I find it hard to be mindful while eating. I actually inhale my food & have been trying to figure out ways to stop doing this. I am not in a hurry, but just can't help but shovel food in my mouth nor do I have willpower to not eat baked goods/sugar/chocolate every day. I was trying to get ideas from this but I guess I didn't connect w/ the author. There were some key takeaways that really made me think though. When you're off your normal routine/schedule for eating, your stomach growls. This is usually a cue that it's time to eat. But this isn't necessarily the meaning. Even if it is, that doesn't mean you have to. Well I can't even wait until I'm hungry. I eat because I love to & because food is put in front of me. I don't know how to wait to be hungry. I wish I could learn that. The other thing is how we ate growing up & how our families involvement is something that still sticks w/ us today in terms of how we eat. Did they judge us or have to fight for a seat at the table or have food insecurity? These factors develop as we get older & sometimes they change our perception but it is still in the back of our mind. I never inhaled my food & there was never an issue in food being provided. I was & still am a very picky eater though. You may see certain aspects resonate w/ you more than others.
November 14, 2011
Coming from a belief system that values mindfulness as the key to acceptance and change, I found the concept of mindful eating attractive. Instead of focusing on the qualities of healthy or non-healthy foods, the author encourages becoming in tune with what the body needs and wants. The problem is not the food per say but our relationship to it. The goal is become mindful so as to approach food with a thinking mind and a feeling heart
he book engages mindfulness by appreciating and valuing the seven types of hunger we feel instead of controlling them: eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, cellular hunger, mind hunger and heart hunger.
Life lessons include: It's okay to be empty. Desires are inexhaustible and impermanent. Eating can be a sacred activity. And last be not least: Awareness is the key to change.
he book engages mindfulness by appreciating and valuing the seven types of hunger we feel instead of controlling them: eye hunger, nose hunger, mouth hunger, stomach hunger, cellular hunger, mind hunger and heart hunger.
Life lessons include: It's okay to be empty. Desires are inexhaustible and impermanent. Eating can be a sacred activity. And last be not least: Awareness is the key to change.
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March 17, 2020I was recommended this book by a book club but it is such a drag that I couldn't finish it. This book has useful ideas about the different types of hunger, how we mistake emotional hunger for physical hunger, eating mindlessly vs mindfully and paying attention to the body's signals when it comes to food and hunger. What I found very difficult to get through was the way she wrote. It was a lot of personal anecdotes leading to her point, but many of the examples strike me as one-off instances and her elaboration of her examples isn't very good and seems to leverage on feel-good claims. The way she describes food from other cultures also leaves me vaguely uncomfortable... It sounds almost Orientalist.
March 31, 2013
I read this because Teresa suggested I pick it up. If nothing else, it has made me more aware of my eating habits.
"Mindfulness is deliberately paying attention, being fully aware of what is happening both inside yourself - in your body, heart, and mind - and outside yourself, in your environment. Mindfulness is awareness without judgment or criticism." - page 2.
Concepts I enjoyed:
The 7 types of hunger: eyes, nose, mouth, stomach, mind, heart, and cell hunger.
Inner voices: perfectionist, pusher, and critic.
Read: once.
"Mindfulness is deliberately paying attention, being fully aware of what is happening both inside yourself - in your body, heart, and mind - and outside yourself, in your environment. Mindfulness is awareness without judgment or criticism." - page 2.
Concepts I enjoyed:
The 7 types of hunger: eyes, nose, mouth, stomach, mind, heart, and cell hunger.
Inner voices: perfectionist, pusher, and critic.
Read: once.
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