If you want to lose weight this weekend, where do you start?

     My answer is to eat using all 5 senses. Mindful eating is eating with all 5 senses—even the one that historically gets us in trouble--sight.

     You’ve heard the expression -"your eyes are bigger than your stomach". 

     No problem.

     When you learn to feel your stomach, get connected to yourself and rely on your own body’s feedback, it won’t matter.

     I often take a big plate of food, especially at a buffet (ugh!) or a social gathering if I am hungry. But because I have taught myself how to eat and can now feel when I am full, I never eat it all. And I always feel fully satisfied. I don’t forbid myself to eat, so there is no power struggle around eating.

     This mental shift frees me to say yes or no to food without guilt. It’s a skill that may seem difficult at first because you haven’t learned to trust yourself yet. But it's a simple skill that's easy to learn.

     By using this skill, it’s not only *easier* to eat less, you just naturally *do* eat less. It’s automatic—you create a richer, fuller experience and you start becoming satisfied with less without restricting yourself. And that, my friend, is my definition of heaven on earth.

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Revision 2/17/2007