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"I have enjoyed each and every one of the Teleconferences so much that I am now trying to schedule patients around them. I feel that the TCME is extremely valuable and am planning to join as a member this week."
-Danielle Paciera, LDN, RD, Tulane University

From tele-conference participant (The call) "it was great! I appreciated how you modeled these skills for us as you facilitated the group! I also loved hearing the experiences of others and learning about different resources. " Cathy C

"The entire concept of 'curiosity' was new to me with respect to nutrition counseling. It seemed like a very unlikely word to include. I came to understand, however, how it can increase our awareness of our/client's behaviors when taking a more curious stance (I wonder how much food It will take to fill me up/satisfy me?) rather than a more judgmental, negative stance such as "I'm not supposed to eat more than this for lunch, but I seem extra hungry today!". Judy T

 
 
 
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The Principles of Mindful Eating
Principles  |  Philosophy  |  Authors

The Center for Mindful Eating has created the Principles of Mindful Eating. These principles are intended to guide professionals who are interested in mindful eating. The Principles of Mindful Eating are free to reproduce and distribute for educational purposes.

The Principles are also available as a PDF to download and print. (The Principles of Mindful Eating - PDF 110kb)

Principles of Mindfulness:
• Mindfulness is deliberately paying attention, non-judgmentally.
• Mindfulness encompasses both internal processes and external environments.
• Mindfulness is being aware of what is present for you mentally, emotionally and physically in each moment.
• With practice, mindfulness cultivates the possibility of freeing yourself of reactive, habitual patterns of thinking, feeling and acting.
• Mindfulness promotes balance, choice, wisdom and acceptance of what is.

Mindful Eating is:
• Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing
opportunities that are available through food preparation and consumption by respecting your own inner wisdom.
• Choosing to eat food that is both pleasing to you and nourishing to your body by using all your senses to explore, savor and taste.
• Acknowledging responses to food (likes, neutral or dislikes) without judgment.
• Learning to be aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decision to begin eating and to stop eating.

Someone Who Eats Mindfully:
• Acknowledges that there is no right or wrong way to eat but varying degrees of awareness surrounding the experience of food.
• Accepts that his/her eating experiences are unique.
• Is an individual who by choice, directs his/her awareness to all aspects of food and eating on a moment-by-moment basis.
• Is an individual who looks at the immediate choices and direct experiences associated with food and eating: not to the distant health outcome of that choice.
• Is aware of and reflects on the effects caused by unmindful eating.
• Experiences insight about how he/she can act to achieve specific health goals as he/she becomes more attuned to the direct experience of eating and feelings of health.
• Becomes aware of the interconnection of earth, living beings, and cultural practices and the impact of his/ her food choices has on those systems.

It is with appreciation and gratitude that we recognize the efforts of the following professionals who have been kind enough to donate their time and wisdom to craft The Principles of Mindful Eating.

  • Donald Altman, MA, Mental Health Therapist and Author, Portland, OR
  • Dh. Amala, Director Aryaloka Buddhist Retreat Center, Newmarket, NH
  • Mark Blackwood, MD, Primary Care Physician, Durham Family Health, Durham, NH
  • Frederick Burggraf, M.Ed., Author, Publisher DayOne Publishing, Maryland MD
  • Lisa Dinsmore, M.S., R.D., L.D. Dietitian, Eliot, ME
  • Marianne Evans-Ramsay, R.D., L.D., C.D.E., Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator, S. Berwick ME
  • Barbara Haine, MEd, RD, LD, Manager of Nutrition Services, Elliot Hospital, Manchester, NH
  • Daniel Herring MA, LMHC, Director of Cornerstone Day Treatment Center, Haverhill, MA
  • Megrette Hammond MEd, RD, CDE, LD, Author and Diabetes Educator, Dover, NH
  • Jean Kristeller, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Director of The Center for the Study of Health, Religion and Spirituality, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN
  • Dr. Paul Shagoury, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Manchester, NH
  • Ronald Thebarge, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Brown University Prov., RI
  • Char Wilkins, LCSW, Psychotherapist, W. Hartford CT
  • Derreth C. Roberts, RN, MS, MSN, NP Integrative Therapies Manager, Dover, NH