A healthy lifestyle comes from understanding one’s body image and mastering mindful eating, a nutrition counselor and eating psychology coach told Grand Valley State University students on Monday, Feb. 16.

Laura Burkett, owner of Real Food Wellness, kicked off Love Your Body Week by introducing students to the idea and practice of mindful eating.

Mindful eating is the awareness of what is happening when one eats. She said mindful eating helps people understand what kind of food one needs, or how and why one is hungry.

“Many times we’re so distracted or disconnected from our bodies that we only register starving or stuffed,” Burkett said. “There isn’t anything wrong; it’s just we lost our ability to feel into what happens in between.”

However, mindful eating does not necessarily have to deal with the food one eats, but rather with the situation and process involving the food.

Burkett provided simple steps for students to become mindful eaters. Elements such as deciding what to eat and asking oneself what the body is asking for are key. On the other hand, she also recommends taking deep breaths before eating and putting the fork down in between bites.

In addition, she addressed the idea that students need to think about their food and appreciate the process of eating. She criticized certain dieting strategies that do not help one become a mindful eater.

“A person can spend a lifetime always trying to err on the side of eating less, or using smaller plates, or eating with their non-dominant hand and yet never be mindful eating,” Burkett said. “They may still feel like they are fighting themselves.”

There are many problems getting in the way of mindful eating. Burkett said a diet-obsessed society is causing more problems than it solves.

However, the largest challenge is the body. More specifically, how individuals see their body, or how they think others see their bodies.

“We usually feel like, ‘Once I change my body, then I’ll take better care of myself,’ or ‘Once I change my body, then I’ll be more mindful of my eating,’” Burkett said.

It is because of this that Burkett said too many people have a negative image of their bodies.

Common body image problems include visually or physically checking one’s body and weighting frequently. On the other hand, many have body image problems because they ignore their body. Burkett said this is another side of the same coin – ignoring the body because it seems superficial also causes problems.

She told the story of a client who wanted to lose some weight to be healthier. However, the client had no health problems. What the client wanted was to be smaller because he or she was not satisfied with their body image.

The belief that less body weight equals better health is one of the greater challenges people face, Burkett said.

“Believing weight loss equals better health is actually a problematic belief that seduces many people into trying all sort of dietary voodoo to lose weight all in the name of health,” Burkett said.

It is also a possibility that many individuals could become ironic in their approach to health because they only chase a loss of pounds, not an understanding of their body, Burkett said. Health is not about losing weight, it is about understand what the body needs, she added.

This is where mindful eating can help. Understanding and appreciating how you eat and what that means can help one become healthier. Burkett said this is about understanding what part of your body is in charge of the decisions you make.

Love Your Body Week continues with different events focused on the idea of a healthy body.

For more information on the events, visit
http://bit.ly/1AF1yEA.

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