Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating Retreat

[Guest guest]

I returned yesterday from Dr. May's " Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating

Retreat " . wrote the book, Eat What You Love, Love What you Eat. It

was one of the first books I read on intuitive eating when I was starting on

this journey 2.5 years ago. I had read so much, and made many changes when I

decided that diets no longer worked, but I still gained weight and often felt

like I was taking one step forward and two steps back. When the opportunity for

me to attend this retreat was made available to me, I jumped at it.

I learned so much - both about myself and about the process. First of all,

sharing this experience with 30 like-minded people, in a very rustic setting in

southern Arizona, was amazing by itself. We were taught we can eat ANYTHING we

want, as long as there is balance, variety and moderation. We learned how to

change our thinking, how to mindfully move our bodies. We practiced really

tasting the food. And the food was really, really, really, really (that's 4

really's) amazing. We had a dinner of dining in the dark, another meal was

silent, and then of course we had to learn to be mindful while socializing.

One thing I discovered about myself is that I don't need anywhere near the

amount of food I thought I did. One tip I'd like to share is to create a speed

bump with the food on your plate. Either mentally or physically divide your

plate in half. Whatever food you have on your plate, split each item in half

(even just drawing a light line with your knife - you can mentally draw the

line, but at first it's easier to actually see it). After you've eaten the

first half of your food (mindfully of course), stop and check in with yourself

to see if you are still hungry. I found that most of the time I wasn't, though

sometimes I was.

I learned so many amazing things. If you haven't already, I strongly recommend

reading 's book and if you have the opportunity to attend one of her

retreats do so. She also has many facilitators who have learned from her to

teach these workshops. Many of them teach the workshops in person or by phone

or web. You can check out her website (amihungry.com to get information on

that. I intend to take the facilitator training later this year.

I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

All the best

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> I'm impressed, Jersey Girl. Let us know what you learned at the retreat.

Certainly to eat when you're hungry makes the MOST SENSE OF ALL to me. As I'm

learning, that hunger doesn't have to be stomach rumbling. Can you imagine a

nice hunger, meaning that you KNOW when you're hungry, you know the food is

waiting or easy to prepare, you enjoy the food and the company, and then you're

ready for the next few hours of life? What a thought. Tai

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