Eating the Moment

by Pavel Somov

Eating is complex. Overeating is even more complex. Both are problems. We have learned to solve the problem of eating with food. And we have learned to solve the problem of overeating with dieting. This book is about unlearning the solutions to overeating that have become problematic in their own right and about learning to start a habit of mindful eating. This book is for overeaters and over dieters.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Self Help, Food, Psychology, Personal Development

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Kelly (kellyreadingbooks) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I should've taken a tip from the title? But it's more like '141 time consuming practices' instead of 'mindful'. Yes, all of the exercises will get you thinking about what you eat and how you eat it. However, I do not want to sit there and write a page essay or keep a food diary. I believe that would just make me feel worse in the end. The only two useful tips I found was 1. to keep yourself preoccupied when you feel hungry for no reason and to 2. keep a food blog. I'm shocked at the good reviews on Amazon.

[Michael Venturiello · Rating 1 out of 5]

TW: eating disorders.

This book boasted "141 mindful practices to overcome overeating one meal at a time." Instead, I found it an incredibly triggering book, especially as a recovering anorexic, with each "practice" as a way to eat less or not eat at all, guised under the pretense of mindfulness. Some of the suggestions included putting Vicks VapoRub under your nostrils to get rid of the food smell (therefore alleviating any cravings), "prescribing" food like medicine (like "Rx: 10 almonds"), or not even eating at all and just pretending to eat by going through the physical motions...but with no food.

This book teaches you nothing about mindfulness. It's a book that shares 141 completely ridiculous "practices" on how to eat less or not eat at all.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

For readers who are struggling with over-eating or over-dieting, Somov's book can empower you to find your own solutions to these problems. Through short, simple mindfulness practices, your relationship with food can change for the better--forever!

Mindful eating is a process of choosing to pay attention to one's actual eating experience, without judgment. This book is not about dieting, instead empowering the reader to create their own very personal reasons and healthy relationship with food.

Somov starts by helping the reader identify the triggers of overeating. Once the reader has gained increased self-awareness of their eating behaviors, he then provides principles to help manage the triggers and food cravings. The next part of the book helps the reader become mindful of the process of eating---gaining an awareness of the ways eating can be enjoyable, due to the tastes and flavors we can enjoy, the movements of eating that we can enjoy (such as using just the right cup or utensil), and the settings within which we enjoy eating (and the settings where we overeat and lose our mindfulness).

In the third and fourth sections of the book, Somov provides activities that can be useful to develop Intuitive Eating, which is an evidence-based, non-dieting, life changing and effective way to help create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body. (Intuitive Eating originated by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN, CEDRD, Fiaedp, FADA). Somov presents practices that can help the reader become aware of their body's cues about whether they are hungry, or full or satisfied, and that can help the reader give himself or herself permission to nurture oneself through eating.

Finally, Somov guides us through practices that can help us, shift "from mindless overeating to meaning-centered eating".

Somov succeeds in providing the reader with a frame work for understanding why we eat, and why we overeat, and achieves in presenting 141 very simple, very helpful activities to increase the reader's self awareness of their own eating, to empower a changed relationship with food. In my own clinical practice, this book has been an important tool in helping those who overeat to enjoy a relationship with food and eating that is nurturing and nourishing for the body, mind and soul.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Combines two great contemporary obsessions -- eating and mindfulness -- to spell out various exercises potentially useful in curbing overeating -- savoring tastes, focusing on sensations of fullness, pondering what you really need (stimulation? relaxation? distraction? all of which can be obtained in other ways than eating too much).

Many of the principles are the same as in Al Marston's (1983) The Undiet self-help book, but the "mindfulness" jargon was not in common usage then.

This book would be better for someone who actually wants to change their eating habits as opposed to just being interested in the topic of eating. I can imagine it being more rewarding to put the exercises into practice. Reading straight through was not that captivating.

Would have also liked it more if the author gave any account of the research base of the program, or any indication of successes and obstacles in using it with actual clients. The prevalence of strategies in thjis area that make sense and seem likely to work as long as you don't have to try them out with actual overweight people is infinite, so just the plausibility of the story is not fully convincing.

[LINDA]

I read about this online at Joseph beths booksellers. They write "In Eating the Moment, Buddhist psychologist Pavel Somov introduces techniques, exercises, and tools to help overeaters slow down and become more aware of their food and food-related issues. Unlike many books about eating, Somov doesn't judge the reader for emotional eating, being triggered into eating, or eating out of boredom. He doesn't tell the reader how to eat; instead, he helps the reader become more aware of why he or she is eating at the moment, and helps the reader slow down, develop awareness of the experience of eating, and become more centered on his or her eating. There are 141 specific exercises in this book to promote mindful eating, as well as brief discussions of why we eat and stop eating, finding meaning in food, and developing a philosophy of eating."

[Retno · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very practical book, a lot of exercises. Teach you how to distinguish the difference between hunger (when your body really needs food) and appetite (in dutch: trek).
Makes me realize that you can control yourself over food, that you are the boss of your own body, not food or something in your head that tells you to eat whenever you feel bad (emotional eating).
One way to control craving which I find useful is through breathing as soon as you feel like you want to snack.

[Kipbob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each meditation is either an awareness reading or a habit change reading or both.
I like the gentle way my reading is influencing my eating. I will read this one several meditations a week. Again and again.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice compliation of exercises and advice on mindful eating. One nice thing is that you can take what works for you and leave the rest. I really like the format that broke the ideas into short quickly read sections.

[Aina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was full of practical exercises, both for changing your mindset and your actual habits. I really liked that it gave me detailed descriptions of practical things I could actually do, as opposed to just tell me to "be mindful" of eating.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, as mindful eating books go. My copy is currently "travelling" via BookCrossing.

[Stanley Hall]

A good introduction to mindful eating techniques and strategies.