Customer Reviews

Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food--includes CD

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I came upon this book accidentally in the new cook book section at the Carnegie library. I took a glance and the contents seemed interesting. So on my driving home, I listened to the guided mindfulness exercises CD that came with the book. This was not what I expected--my way home felt like a transformed journey to self discovery: the exercisers were simple, practical; the voice soothing; the effect, however, was profound. I was intrigued by how was it possible that our body would know the foods that we need at a particular point in time? I eagerly plunged into the book and read all about the seven kinds of hungers. I was very pleased for the insight I gained from the reading. This book inspires. The writing is lucid and thoughtful.

As a consequence of the American search for the perfect healthy diet, we have developed a love-hate relationship with food. Confusion reigns about what foods we are to eat and which we are to avoid. Our reliance on scientific evidence has simply added to the confusion. We can't even agree if we are naturally carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore.

"Mindful Eating," written by physician and Zen teacher Jan Chozen Bays, provides a way back to sane eating. Bays does not prescribe what we are to eat but provides gentle guidance about how to eat. This book provides numerous exercises to help us be present to ourselves and our food.

Bays teaches us to become aware of our seven forms of hunger--eye, nose, mouth, stomach, cellular, mind, and heart hungers. Each hunger satisfies legitimate needs. Bays instructs us with understanding and humor on how to recognize and satisfy each hunger. Her approach is a return to an intimate and joyful relationship with food. Stop dieting. Read this book and discover how to physically, mentally, and spiritually relate with food and return to sane eating.

This book does an excellent job of exploring all aspects of mindfulness in eating. The book's weakness, and the reason I gave it four stars instead of five, is that mindfulness is not the whole answer to emotional or compulsive eating. It's necessary, but not sufficient. In the recovery method I teach, Normal Eating, mindfulness corresponds to Stage 2, "Reconnecting". But then there are two more stages after that. Dr. Bays even gives examples of people who continue to eat emotionally or compulsively despite awareness of the triggers. That's because awareness isn't enough - there's more work to be done.

I don't think Dr. Bays understands the addictive aspect of compulsive eating, as evidenced by the one wrong note the book struck on page 72 about "going unconscious". She says, "The point of mindful eating is not to forbid ourselves to ever use food in this way." I disagree. That's like saying the point of recovery from alcoholism isn't to forbid the alcoholic from ever taking another drink. Uh, actually, yes it is. Compulsive eaters can't eat addictively in moderation any more than alcoholics can drink in moderation.

"Going unconscious", as Dr. Bays calls it, is the essence of what it means to use food addictively, as she well knows because she discusses binge eating in this section. Not using food addictively has to be a "bottom line" if a compulsive eater is to recover - something you never do. I'm not saying people should never eat just for enjoyment. But eating for enjoyment is not the same as "going unconscious" or numbing out with food. I wrote about this at length in a recent newsletter, "Is Eating to Numb Out Ever Okay?":

[...]

Except for this one quibble, I liked "Mindful Eating" very much. Dr. Bays is a Zen teacher, but the book isn't weighed down with details of Buddhism. Her purpose is not to teach Buddhism, it's to teach mindful eating. And she does a superb job of it.

Most explanations of mindful eating encourage people to focus on the food's appearance, smell, and taste. Bays goes much further, encouraging mindfulness in all aspects of the eating experience, emotional and physical. She lists seven "hungers" - seven areas to survey in yourself as you are eating:

1. Eye (what the food looks like)
2. Nose (what it smells like)
3. Mouth (sensations in the mouth - feel, taste)
4. Stomach (sensations in the stomach - growling, fullness, emptiness)
5. Cellular (the body wisdom that gives you a yen for what you need nutritionally)
6. Mind (your thoughts on what you "should" be eating)
7. Heart (how soothing or comforting the food is to you)

This is an excellent summary of the experience of eating - clear, concise, and thorough. If you practice mindfulness in all these areas when you eat, you will fully reconnect with yourself, and this will put you on the path to recovery.

The author is a physician, so the book also is filled with interesting information about the experience of eating on a physiological level. These details don't come off as ponderous or dense because they're presented through interesting anecdotes from Dr. Bays' practice or personal experience.

"Mindful Eating" is readable, insightful, and full of interesting information. I highly recommend it, with the caveat that lack of mindfulness in eating is not the only reason for emotional or compulsive eating. To stop compulsive eating requires some further steps.

Sheryl Canter
Author of "Normal Eating for Normal Weight"

Yes, it is about living with food in a mindful, Buddhist-informed way and that is all lovely but there is too much here that will trigger those with eating disorders. There is still the undercurrent of food as something to be restricted, hidden, and appetites to be denied, purified. I don't think that is the intent but that is how I read it. I treat eating disorders and would never recommend this book. Too much emphasis on the triumph of not eating rather than accepting food, appetites, and tuning into hunger and fullness with self-love.

An excellent book. I came upon this book by chance while browsing through a Yoga magazine and this book was suggested as a newly published book. It looked interesting and while I was at the bookstore, I bought it. I'm so glad I did. It is written in simple humanistic terms explaining the different kinds of hunger we have that we're unaware of and how we view food. Humans truly should only eat when hungry and somehow such a simple truth is overlooked by so many. She explains how we ate as children. The author is a spiritual teacher who explains zen way of eating in a very calm peaceful way. This is an eye opener for all of us trapped in the thought of why most all diets do not work. Treat yourself to this book!

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.

This book changed the way I think and feel about food in general. Had I known about this book years ago, the constant yo-yo dieting, and years of following "fad" diets (Atkins, South Beach, Vegan...) would not have consumed me. I plan on giving this book as a gift to all my friends who struggle with food addiction. This is NOT a diet book, but reading it has helped me to lose over 40 pounds. When I feel like I am falling off track of "paying attention" while I am eating, I read the book again. I have read it 3 times, and will continue to refer back to it forever. Along with the book, I meet with a Mindfulness Meditation group every week, and continue to meditate on my own everyday.

I have had a bad relationship with food. Whether it has been guilty overeating or anxiously counting calories, I have been "tethered" to food. Even though, through discipline, I am now fit and at a healthy weight, food runs my life. Most people would assume that with all my thoughts about food, and my excitement at mealtime, I would really enjoy eating, but I don't. I realized that most meals pass me by in a blur, as I quickly and tensely inhale as much food as possible, until my body is bloated and my mind foggy. After reading this book, I realized I haven't really enjoyed a meal since I was young.

Mindful Eating is a book about eating with full awareness. Being mindful means simply being aware of the moment, what is going on inside of us, and outside of us, without judgment or opinion. Chozen-Bays applies mindfulness to eating. Rather than battling or obsessing with food, the goal is to be fully aware of the process of eating, and actually enjoy it. She provides helpful tips to accomplish this. She identifies 7 types of hunger, including eye hunger, mouth hunger, and heart hunger. She gives tools to discern if we are really hungry, and where the hunger is coming from. It is possible that our stomachs are hungry, but often, we eat for emotional reasons (heart hunger), or out of habit (mind hunger), not because our bodies need food. She provides tools to satisfy each type of hunger. Sometimes it might be slowing down, giving the body time to recognize fullness. Other solutions might not even involve food. For example, food cannot satisfy heart hunger, so the solution to this hunger is to emotionally connect with someone. She also provides 6 general tips to eat mindfully, including eating more slowly. I faithfully took notes while I read the book, and couldn't wait to get to the next section. The book comes with a CD, which is helpful, but not necessarily required to practice mindful eating.

I think this is the answer to my struggle with food. I have been mindfully eating for a couple weeks and the results have been amazing. I actually enjoy food. My wife made some whole wheat pizza, and we decided to eat it mindfully, but with the TV on (against the book's advice). I began to enjoy the pizza mindfully, savoring the unique blend of texture and flavor in every bite. I tasted the smoked flavor of the mozzarella for the first time since childhood. The experience brought me back to a childhood pizza party. The experience of mindful eating was so great that I turned the TV off. I realized I wasn't even paying attention to it, and it struck me as a distraction. I also ate less, and realized that I was full more quickly than the last time I ate pizza. I am learning to drink mindfully too. I found that I was not enjoying coffee, and this saddened me, because coffee used to excite me. Fortunately, mindful eating has helped me enjoy every sip of coffee again. I also realized I hate diet soft drinks. Drinking a glass of Diet Coke mindfully made me realize how bitter and empty it is.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It has put me on the path to having a better relationship with food. After "battling" food for 17 years, I have declared a truce. This does not mean there won't be struggles, and Chozen-Bays suggests that there are days when we have to eat quickly and poorly; she just reminds us that we should be aware we are doing it. She doesn't guarantee that mindful eating is an effective weight loss plan, and such a guarantee would miss the point. While I certainly believe that mindful eating will make staying at my ideal weight much easier, I am most excited that now every meal comes alive, and that I can enjoy each unique eating experience.

I recently discovered this book during my winter break! I'm in college and have been struggling with binge/stress-eating. Somehow during first year I picked up the habit of turning to food to cover up my emotions, to the point that I didn't know how to cope without food. I had been binging frequently (at least 3x a week) during my break until I had read this book. I did the first exercise (Basic Mindfulness Meditation) and was surprised by how I could be satisfied with so little! I have not binged since then (about a week) and am able to eat till my satisfied, not stuffed! The CD is great too - very relaxing and easy to follow. Thank you, Jan!!!

I gave myself this book as a start to correct my junk-food eating habits toward a healthier life style, and this book rocks. Its first exercise reminded me of my first meditation class -- eating a rasin with 5 senses, and explore the reaction of our body. It also echos with Eckhart Tolle's teaching of "being at the moment". I was reading it on a flight from toronto to nyc and decided to practice with the small dish served as refreshment: two beef rolls with sour cream and asparagus, potato salad, and for drink I chose tomato juice with lime. I started with savoring the beef rolls with my eyes, then with my nose, then with my tongue....following the instructions from the book.... It was one of the most satisfying meals I've had in my life!

Since that meal I totally lost interest in unhealthy snacks (I used to totally live on cookies, patato chips, peanuts, icecream, etc), and am finding a much more emotion-lifting relationship with food. Thank you Teacher Jan Chozen Bays.