Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time [Paperback]

Pavel Georgievich Somov (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Do you use food to comfort yourself when you're feeling depressed or stressed? Do you sometimes eat simply because you're bored? There are so many opportunities to snack and overeat mindlessly, it's no wonder that most diets fail. But mindless eating can lead to health problems, obesity, and a feeling that you've lost control.

Eating the Moment offers 141 mindfulness activities to help you listen to your body, understand why you're eating, and control your cravings if you're eating out of habit or because of your emotions. You won't find any start dates, dieting tips, or meal plans in this book, just practical and meaningful exercises to help you end mindless eating and begin nourishing yourself in healthy and fulfilling ways.

Visit the author's blog at: http://www.eatingthemoment.com/mindstream/ or keep a food journal with the mindful eating tracker: http://www.eatingthemoment.com/mindfulness-tracker/

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Eating the Moment is a quick, enjoyable read full of creative, clever exercises and insightful, thought-provoking text. Rather than being shamed into deprivation, readers are taught original exercises to help them learn about their palates and manage their appetites. Who knew that weight control could be so fun and empowering?"
—Dina Cheney, author of Tasting Club

"In Eating the Moment, Somov gives you the practical tools you need to reap the rewards of eating more mindfully. Read it and discover how to have a relationship with food that is smarter, healthier, more conscious, and enjoyable."
—Deborah Kesten, MPH, author of The Enlightened Diet

"Somov is one of the most creative psychologists around. He is knowledgeable about research-based and effective therapy techniques. He is aware of Eastern philosophies, and Buddhism in particular. And he is a productive therapist who knows how to translate knowledge into personal action for clients. All of these gifts are evident in Somov’s book, Eating the Moment, which is not only informative, not only good reading, but also tremendously helpful in the most difficult area of behavior change—losing and keeping off weight."
—Stanton Peele, Ph. D., JD, author of Seven Tools to Beat Addiction and Addiction-Proof Your Child

"Eating the Moment is a thoughtful feast for those who want to understand the psychology of eating and how to overcome mindlessness with food. The 141 eating practices are easy-to-grasp appetizers for becoming more aware, overcoming craving, and transforming your experience with food. If you have ever wanted a primer on eating skills that you never learned at home or in school, this book is an excellent place to start.
—Donald Altman, author of Meal by Meal and Art of the Inner Meal

From the Publisher

Psychological know-how and the wisdom of mindfulness combine in Eating the Moment to offer readers compassionate, meal-by-meal advice for developing a healthful and satisfying relationship to food that can correct problems with binge eating, compulsive overeating, and other food-related problems.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572245433
• ISBN-13: 978-1572245433
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.6 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pavel G. Somov, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice.

Publications:

Somov, P. G. (2008)
A Psychodrama Group for Substance Use Relapse Prevention Training. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38, 151-161.

Somov, P.G. (2007).
Meaning of Life Group: Group Application of Logotherapy for Substance Use Treatment.
Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 32 (4), 316 - 345.

Somov, P.G. (2000)
Time Perception as a Measure of Pain Intensity and Pain Type. Journal of Back & Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, 14 (3), 111-121.

Education:

State University of New York at Buffalo: Ph.D., Counseling Psychology

Professional Affiliations:

Member of the American Psychological Association (APA)
Member of the Greater Pittsburgh Psychological Association (GPPA)
Member of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association (PPA)

Military Service:

Independent Special Purpose Motorized Rifle Brigade (OMSBON) of the Ministry of Interior of the Soviet Union (1987-1989)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 88 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, very helpful book January 12, 2009

By monika0304

Format:Paperback

I wish I would have found this book years ago. I've been a yo-yo dieter for over 30 years. And I used food to take care of my needs, during stressful situations and to calm me. For me "control" has never worked, there was no way to control my cravings or to control my appetite or even to control my feelings and therefore diets actually have never worked in the long run.

But Dr. Somov has showed me easy to follow ways to be conscious of my cravings and to take care of them or just to let them be. Even though my life is still the same - still enough stress and a huge work load - I dont reach for the cookie bowl anymore and - for the first time in my life since I have been a child I eat according to my needs. I always new that the cure for this eating problem lies within me and Dr. Somov has just showed me the way. Thank you so much for this long-distance therapy, I hope your book will be translated and published all over the world.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mindful practice December 12, 2008

By S. T. Meier

Format:Paperback

This book is for individuals who understand there are no "miracle diets." Rather, it is a sophisticated read, in straightforward language, that proposes that the solutions many individuals use to deal with overeating can become problems of their own. Dr. Somov points out that diets typically are short-term efforts to lose weight, when what is needed is a long-term change in how one lives. Thus, as a part of an effort to increase one's mindfulness, Dr. Somov presents a set of 141 practices to increase our awareness around food and eating. These including noticing what triggers our eating, what foods we crave, even what thoughts and feelings are associated with different types of eating.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Experiential Learning, Not Knowledge Acquisition November 11, 2011

By OneHeart

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

To *really* benefit, you must do the exercises, not just read them.
Somov's book is different from other books I've read on either diet or Buddhism in that his focus seems to be on specific experiments that readers will do on themselves, not on advice or meditation, though both of those appear here, too.
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Activities leading to discoveries:
I like this better than other books on related topics because it's not just "talk" that will raise our awareness. Somov suggests activities that will show us the root causes of our own particular idiosyncrasies.
-For example, he asks that we study a menu's photos and words and to take notes on what stirs us (he offers helpful how-to details).
-Another example: He asks that we under-eat one day and indulge another day, with note-taking, then compare and contrast physical sensations.
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Needs a companion journal:
I wish he had created a slim journal to go with this book, something with the exercises alone, with columns and prompts already written in, with space for our own note-taking, so we could just pick that up and start using it ASAP.
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Good example of companion journal:
Since I didn't find such a journal (I looked online), I will have to sit down to re-read certain passages, with some clean pieces of paper in hand, to create my own notebook, concentrating without distraction to get the instructions down before I can begin.
Not that this will be hard. It's just that I would have purchased a companion journal had there been one. A good example is "The Mayo Clinic Diet Journal," which I have used with success.
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Experiential learning is most effective:
In my work life, I give workshops and train professionals to do their jobs differently. I recognize in Somov's book some of the success factors of my workshops. He emphasizes experiential learning over knowledge acquisition.