How To Lose Weight - The Mindful Way

2019-08-18T19:34:00.000+01:00

What is mindful eating and how can it help you lose weight?

Mindful eating is Based on the Buddhist concept of mindfulness. It is centred around being present in the moment and being fully aware of what is happening around you.

Applied to eating, it can be used as a tool for healthier eating and it can help you lose any unwanted pounds.

Research has suggested that eating mindfully can help with weight issues as you eat slower and notice every detail about the food you are consuming. Taking note of how every mouthful encourages you feel an appreciation for your meal. Notice how your food looks, tastes and smells, rather than gulping it down.

Mindful eating isn’t a miracle cure for weight loss, but it can help you to become more aware of what you are putting into your body and the quantity you are consuming. As a result you will make healthier choices.

Set Some Goals

A great way to motivate yourself, not just for weight loss but for anything you want to achieve is to set clear goals. I am a keen 'lister' and have to write everything down. Writing down my goals, makes them more real and helps me to stay focused. We recently reviewed a beautiful daily goal planner setter from Mal Paper. A simple, stylish and very effective planner to help prioritise your goals and to help with practising daily gratitude and affirmations. I absolutely love this planner and use it everyday. Highly recommend!

Available from the Mal Paper website, priced at £20.95

Take Time To Chew

Taking the time to chew your food more slowly will give your brain time to register that you are full. It takes about twenty minutes for your brain to realise that you are fully satisfied, so if you eat too fast you might have a tendency to overeat and put on weight.

Top Tip – Set a timer for twenty minutes for your average meal and take the time to chew slower and appreciate each mouthful.

Meditation

Psychologist Jean Kristeller is Americas leading mindful eating researcher. In several studies she has shown that the practice of meditation and mindful eating has a positive affect on decreasing binge eating and increasing control on overeating.

Meditation works because it gives you time to sift through your thoughts before you eat. A relaxed mind allows you to ask yourself about your health and to focus for a moment on what you are choosing to eat.

Top Tip – Mentally slow down before your meals. Regulate your breathing and focus on the food you are about to consume. This will give you more time to make better choices, which will result in a healthier you.

Do You Really Need That Snack?

Before you open the fridge door, pause for a moment and ask yourself ‘Am I really hungry?’ ‘Is there something else I can do to distract myself from snacking?’

Maybe you could run a bath or make a herbal tea? Perhaps go for a walk, or complete a chore you have been putting off? If you distract yourself your craving will subside, because you were not even hungry to begin with.

Top Tip – Fill an empty jar with pieces of paper that have distraction suggestions written upon them. Pick a distraction every time you feel the need to snack.

Don’t Skip Meals

Skipping meals will lead you to become more hungry and you will end up overeating and making bad food choices as you grab whatever is at hand. Fast food or high calorie snacks are more likely to be consumed if you have skipped meals.

Top Tip – Meal Plan! This is really easy to do and it doesn’t have to take too long to do. There are plenty of free meal planner printable available online that will help you plan each meal .

Do you practice mindful eating, set goals or practice daily gratitude? Have you found it helps on your weight loss journey?

The Tap-Dancing Pigeon of Covent Garden - Children’s Book Review

2019-08-01T18:04:00.000+01:00

I instantly liked the title of this children’s book by Serena Hassan. As a child many hours were spent chasing and feeding pigeons in London. My great uncle Sonny was well known in Trafalgar Square as ‘the Pigeon Man’. His funeral even got a mention in the Sun newspaper back in the 80’s. He was a well known, eccentric character who would feed the pigeons and have his photo taken with tourists.

So, of course I was instantly interested in reading this book to my grandkids.

This beautifully illustrated new picture book is about a pigeon who is wandering the world in search of his passion and a place to call home, based on the author’s observations in London.

Set during a present-day British summer, Pigeon has just flown the nest and must find his way in the world. After two warm and safe months with his family in a beautiful big oak tree overlooking the Thames, he flies into the city and lands in Covent Garden amongst the soot, hair and dirt, the stamping of feet, and the broom broom drone of the road sweepers. Amidst the chaos of Covent Garden, Pigeon falls in love with an opera singer’s voice and decides to build a nest in the Royal Ballet School leading him to discover his passion for tap-dancing! Everything seems wonderful in his life, until suddenly he gets swept up by a terrifying wind that spins him round and round. When he is eventually thrown out onto the roof, he finds his legs tangled in plastic. Panic sets in. He cannot walk, so how will he tap-dance?

Motherhood is a huge source of inspiration for Serena’s debut novel. As a children’s author, she inhabits the imagination of a child, and practises this everyday by taking part in her kids’ activities (even if that means going to the supermarket in a fairy costume).

Here at The Syders we absolutely love this book. Big thumbs up from us. The Tap Dancing Pigeon of Covent Garden by Serena Hassan is out on 5th September 2019. Grab yourself a lovely book to read to the kids.

Mermrock Publishing |5^th September 2019 | £6.99 |Paperback | Ages 3+