Eating Mindfully: How to End Mindless Eating and Enjoy a Balanced Relationship with Food [Paperback]

Susan Albers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

This book introduces and adapts the concepts of mindfulness and acceptance to the observation and management of eating habits. The result is a series of exercises and meditations that reinforce healthy habits and lead to greater tranquility at meals.

The book describes the four foundations of mindful eating: mindfulness of the mind, the body, the feelings, and the thoughts. It doesn't encourage a diet of deprivation, but instead provides a checklist for the wide variety of mindless eating approaches, which include fasting, dieting, and restricting certain foods, rapid eating, eating when not hungry or when tired, and food rituals.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a simple and powerful books—one that takes the reader on a journey within to find solutions to their own individual eating difficulties.”
—Denise Lamothe, Psy.D., HHD, author, The Taming of the Chew: A Holistic Guide to Stopping Compulsive Eating

About the Author

Susan Albers, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital, where she specializes in eating issues, weight loss, body image concerns, and mindfulness. She graduated from the University of Denver, completed an internship at the University of Notre Dame, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University. Albers is author of Eating Mindfully, Mindful Eating 101, and Eat, Drink, and Be Mindful. She is an America Online diet and fitness coach. Albers' work has been quoted in O, The Oprah Magazine, Family Circle, Self, and the Wall Street Journal, and she conducts mindful eating workshops internationally. Visit Albers online at www.sootheyourselfwithoutfood.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572243503
• ISBN-13: 978-1572243507
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.5 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Albers, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic specializing in eating issues, weight loss, body image concerns, and mindfulness. She graduated from the University of Denver, completed an internship at the University of Notre Dame and was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University. Albers is the author of Eating Mindfully, Eat, Drink, and Be Mindful, Mindful Eating 101 and 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food. She is an AOL Diet & Fitness coach. Her work has been quoted in O, The Oprah Magazine, Family Circle, Self, and The Wall Street Journal, and she conducts mindful eating workshops internationally. She was a guest expert on Dr.Oz. Visit Albers online at www.eatingmindfully.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuAMxfINXlk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatdrinkmindful

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

102 of 104 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book provides a healthy guide. May 20, 2003

By james bundschuh

Format:Paperback

Eating Mindfully provides an excellent guide to people who are serious about learning about themselves and their relationship with food. This book does not promote diets; instead it focuses on true self-awareness. The book explains that through self-awareness one can understand how and why he/she has certain eating behaviors. Buddhism stresses the importance of awareness, and Dr. Albers utilizes some of the most useful facets of Buddhism to help her organize an effective guide.

Dr. Albers explains that if you understand yourself and why you eat the way you do, a balance will be reached and a healthy relationship with food will result. Anyone can lose weight through dieting, but to become the person you want to be and stay that way, a permanent change in behavior is required -- anyone who is honest with himself/herself knows that. Dr. Albers provides a guide to anyone who wants to and has the determination to make this change in his/her life.

After reading the book, I found myself more aware of my eating patterns. In several instances it helped me to not stuff myself silly, which I tend to do on occasion.

I would highly recommend this book.

90 of 98 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful Suggestions, But Not Enough Foundation December 12, 2005

By Empire City

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is a collection of 46 brief observations on mindless eating. The observations are short, one or two pages, and include suggestions on how to turn mindless eating into mindfull eating. The observations themselves are diverse so every reader will most likely find several that relate to their specific problems with eating.

However, very little of the book is devoted to the fundamentals of "mindfullness". The book causally quotes the Buddhist origins of "mindfullness" but does not expand on the topic. This causes the observations to feel a little empty since they're constantly referring to a "mindfullness" concept that hasn't been meaningfully explained.

If you want a fundamental understanding of Buudhist "mindfulness" before you apply it to eating problems then I would read "The Zen of Eating" by Kabatznick. If you prefer a more 'thought for the day' type of format then this book is more appropriate.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I saw this book in O Oprah Magazine July 22, 2005

By Julie

Format:Paperback

What a wonderful, compassionate and helpful guide! I've run across this book in several places but I finally broke down and bought it when I saw it in Oprah Magazine. I'm glad I did. It was different than the other diet books I've bought. It was insightful, easy to read and positive. It helped me to understand why I mindlessly eat and gave a lot of helpful hints for eating in a more mindful, relaxed way. If you want a sample of what is inside this book before you buy it, check out Dr. Albers' website. It was a helpful resource for me and would be for anyone with eating issues.