Mindful Eating (ME)

Mindful Eating (ME): Emotional Eating and Food Craving

Management Group

Class 1Introduction to ME program

Measuring successIntroduction to CBT

Harnessing your Motivation & Determining your Core Values

Effective Goal Setting

Class 1 outline

• Introduction to ME Group Program

• Measuring your success

• Foundations

– Introduction to CBT

– Harnessing your motivation

– Determine your core values

– SMARTER goal setting

– Problem solving

• Relaxation exercise

Welcome to ME!

ME is a 6 week mindful eating program designed to help you better understand and manage your food cravings while healing your relationship with food.

In ME, you will learn about

• How to listen and respond to your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues

• The benefits of mindfulness and how to practice mindful eating

• Finding balance by enjoying foods that nourish the body as well as the soul

• Where food cravings come from and how to identify them

• A powerful approach to Managing Food Cravings. This includes a variety of cognitive behavioural change strategies that you can use to help manage your food cravings and feel better about your food choices

• How to stay on track for lifelong better health!

What else should I know?

• During the ME Program, you will be asked to keep a journal to help you identify eating triggers, become more self-aware and improve mindfulness around eating behaviours. You will also be asked to set weekly goals in order to help you move forward in your journey to achieving better health.

• There will be plenty of opportunities to learn from each other and share your personal knowledge and experience with others. We expect participants to keep any information shared during this program confidential.

• You will be asked to complete questionnaires and evaluation forms in order to help support continuous quality improvement of this program.

• You have the right to withdraw from the program at any time.

• Information you provide to the Hamilton Family Health Team is kept anonymous and always treated as strictly confidential.

• ME is offered in various locations and times throughout the year.

Does food affect my mood?

Yes! Food plays a key role in our mental health and wellbeing. Studies have shown that following a healthy diet can help to reduce depression and anxiety. Getting the right amount and balance of nutritious foods are important however, we will not be going into detail about these aspects of nutrition (i.e. what to eat?) in this program. If you are interested in learning more about these areas of nutrition, consider taking our Healthy You program.

Healthy You is a 12 week lifestyle program that helps people achieve better health and wellness through good food choices, increased physical activity and feeling better about themselves. Ideal for those who are looking for more information about: healthy food choices, how to plan well balanced meals, how to read and understand food labels, how to manage difficult situations such as eating away from home, ways to become more physically active and reduce sedentary behaviours.

www.hamiltonfht.ca

http://www.hamiltonfht.ca

How do you measure your success?

If you're like many, you might consider using a scale to measure your success in this program. This can be very problematic for a number of reasons. What most people don't realize is that we have very little control over the number on the scale. Even when we make major changes to our lifestyle, how this impacts our weight and shape is largely dictated by our genetics and not by our actions. So why is it that we tend to take full responsibility for changes we see on the scale? How does a change in your weight make you feel and affect your motivation?

Food for thought...

How do you feel when the number goes down?

How do you feel when you've decided you've achieved your weight loss goal? How does this affect your motivation to continue?

How do you feel if the number goes up? How does this affect your motivation to continue?

You are more than just a number on the scale! Focus on other aspects of your health to help measure your success in this program. Through mindful eating and better management of food cravings, you can discover improvements in your energy, mood, digestion, mental focus, sleep quality, enjoyment of eating to name a few. This can also be an important step in helping to prevent or manage different chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

The bottom line is, we don’t need to lose weight in order to become healthier. What matters most are our lifestyle choices. ME follows a Health at Every Size(HAES) approach to achieving better health and wellness. This is a non-diet, weight neutral model that supports people in adopting healthier lifestyle habits for the sake of health and wellbeing rather than for weight control. The focus will be on changing your thoughts and behaviours in order to help you enjoy a healthier relationship with food and allow you to feel your best!

To learn more about HAES:

haescommunity.org

sizediversityandhealth.org

Image reference: https://empoweredeatingblog.com/ditching-diet-culture/health-at-every-size/

http://www.haescommunity.org/

http://www.sizediversityandhealth.org/

https://empoweredeatingblog.com/ditching-diet-culture/health-at-every-size/

Self-care 101

In order to feel our best and be the best we can be to others, we all need some basic TLC. Self-care is NOT selfish! When we don’t meet some basic self-care needs, our body and brain can respond in different ways.

– Feeling tired, sluggish or run down– Difficulty concentrating– Experiencing food cravings– Low mood, feeling short tempered, easily stressed and anxious

Here are some basic but important self-care rituals that will help you to feel your best:1. Eat regular meals (and snacks as needed)2. Avoid dieting3. Stay well hydrated4. Keep active5. Get enough sleep6. Practice self-compassion7. Take time for yourself – reduce stress

Image reference: https://totallyinspiredmind.com/2018/03/10/you-cant-pour-from-an-empty-cup-take-care-of-yourself-first/

https://totallyinspiredmind.com/2018/03/10/you-cant-pour-from-an-empty-cup-take-care-of-yourself-first/

What is CBT?

CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This model is used to explain the link between our thoughts, behaviours and emotions. What we think affects how we feel which in turn affects how we behave.

CBT allows us to become more aware of how our relationship with people and our reactions to different situations are connected to our beliefs about ourselves, others and the world around us. It broadens our self-awareness, builds on our strengths, helps to create new thinking patterns and coping responses to difficult emotions.

How we think affects how we act and feel.

What we feel affects what we think and do.

What we do affects how we think and feel.

Thoughts

Behaviours Emotions

Are you ready to make change?

In order to make lasting changes in your eating habits, you need to first decide if you are ready for it. Likely, the fact that you are here is a good sign that you are at least contemplating change.

You don’t have to change everything at once! You may feel ready to change in certain areas of your lifestyle and not in others. That’s ok! Small changes add up to make a big difference.

In this group, we will be strongly encouraging you to experiment at home, try out new things, and change your perspective around health. All of which require effort, and practice.

If there are significant priorities in your life that might interfere with your work here, just know that we run this group throughout the year, and it is always better to start a new challenge when you are really ready to do so!

Image reference: www.pinterest.ca/pin/331929435007612814/

http://www.pinterest.ca/pin/331929435007612814/

Staying motivated

Rethink Willpower:In order to make lasting change to your eating habits it is helpful to start re-thinking the need for willpower. People are often quick blame themselves: "I just need more discipline!" But, willpower is temporary, and can be easily drained during a stressful day. It is not reliable enough to depend on day-to-day.

So, if willpower is not the answer, what is?

Food for thought: Do you need much willpower to do something you enjoy?

External (extrinsic) motivation – enjoy the outcome, not based on Core Values, may be imposed on us by society/others, often relies on willpower

Internal (intrinsic) motivation – enjoy the process, rooted in Core Values, doesn’t rely on willpower

Our ability to make change is SIGNIFICANTLY more powerful when we are motivated by intrinsic or internal factors.

The ME approach: Finding ways of eating and being active that you enjoy and that makes you feel good, both mentally and physically.

As you move through this program take some time to really think about how you want your life to look. Think about how healthy eating, activity and taking time for regular self-care can support the life you want.

This will help you to determine your core values and harness intrinsic or internal motivation.

Value-based decision making

The first step is to determine WHY you want to change.

Change is hard. What do you value enough to put all the time, energy and effort to make the changes in your life that you want?

But how? By understanding your core values! These can act as a compass to help guide you in making daily health-related decisions. Rather than self-imposed rules and regulations, which we are more likely to break.

Understand your personal values and motivationSome questions to help guide you:

Why do you want to change the way you are eating?______________________________________________________________________

What does "feeling good" actually mean for you in your life?______________________________________________________________________

How could you set up your daily eating habits in a way that made you feel good physically and mentally?

______________________________________________________________________

Behaviour change takes effort. What 3 things matter to you enough to want to put in the effort needed to make change that will improve your health?

My Core Values: Examples: I want to be active and feel energetic enough to keep up with my grandchildrenI enjoy being outside in natureI want to feel good physically and mentally

Write down 3 core values related to your health:1. _______________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________

Refer back to this list when setting your goals or any time you need some extra motivation!

SMARTER goals

SMARTER goals are one of the best tools we have to support lasting change. The key to their success is to actually practice them, track them and reflect on them.

S – specific

M – measureable

A – action oriented

R – realistic

T – time oriented

E – evaluate

R – repeat or readjust

Determine what you want and

why you want it. Once you

understand what’s important,

you can utilize your passions

and achieve anything.

~Brooke Griffin

All our dreams can

come true if we

have the courage to

pursue them.

~Walt Disney

SMARTER Goals - practice

Use this space to write a SMART goal. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Make sure your goal is realistic:

How confident are you in achieving your goal? 1 --- 2 --- 3 --- 4 --- 5 --- 6 --- 7 --- 8 --- 9 --- 10

If you’re not at least 7/10, how can you tweak your goal to make it a little bit easier and increase your confidence? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Consider barriers. Is there anything that might get in the way of you achieving your goal? If so, how might you overcome these barriers? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SMARTER Goals - practice

Evaluate – how is it going?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Repeat – if things are going well, continue to work on your goal and creating a new healthy habit.

Re-adjust – if you need to tweak your goal, use the space below to write down what you will do differently:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction to Problem Solving

Understanding how to effectively problem-solve is an important skill to learn. Not only can it be helpful for improving our eating habits, but it can assist in any area of our lives that we may be struggling with.

It is impossible to solve all of life's problems! This is not the goal. However when faced with a problem in our life, if we apply the 3 easy steps to problem solving as outlined in this section, we may find that we have the ability to manage our problems more effectively and successfully than we originally thought!

Often when we are dealing with a particular problem in our lives, the tendency is to keep trying the same/similar solution over and over again. Not only can this be ineffective, but it can become very frustrating and contribute to any stress that the problem is causing.

The time is now right to try a new problem solving strategy! This can be a very helpful skill to learn early on in this program in order to help reduce food cravings and better manage emotional eating.

3 easy steps to problem solving

Be curious, not furious!

Step 1 - Determine the problem• It is important to accurately identify the problem in order to find

effective solutions. Be specific, it can be helpful to ask the following questions:

"When did I start experiencing this problem?""What are the circumstances/people/situation surrounding this problem?""What is likely contributing to this problem?""What are my priorities right now?""What are my goals right now?"

Step 2 - Consider possible solutions• Have I been in this situation before?

If so, how did I deal with it?• Brainstorm solutions.

Ask others for help. Write them down!

Step 3 - Take action• Pick a solution from your list and try it! Create a SMARTER goal to

help ensure you are successful. Try one solution at a time.• Give your plan a fair chance then evaluate it. • If it’s working: keep going! You’re doing great! • If it's not working: don’t worry, you have options!

– Re-adjust your goal to make it more realistic– Go back to step 2 and pick another solution from your list.– If still not working…have you identified the correct problem?

It may be that some problems can’t be solved at this time. In this case, work on acceptance and re-visit it down the road.

Abdominal breathing (do for 2-3 minutes)

We tend to breathe shallow, too high in the chest or to over breathe, which can cause hyperventilation. Abdominal breathing and calming breath exercise has several benefits and can trigger a relaxation response. By practicing Abdominal Breathing for three to five minutes a day minutes, you can achieve a state of deep relaxation in a short period of time. You can also say the word “relax” or “calm” or “let go” silently to yourself if you wish. Eventually just saying the calming word will bring on a state of relaxation.

Script: Get into a comfortable position. You can close your eyes if you’re comfortable, or just look down. • Take a slow inhale…Pause…slow exhale. Ten• Slow inhale….Pause…slow exhale. Nine• Slow inhale….Pause…slow exhale. Eight• Now continue breathing and silently counting until you get to one.

Practice at home and add the word “calm” or “relax” or “let go” at each exhale.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

A relaxation technique that involves tensing and relaxing individual muscle groups. Allows for effective release of physical tension thereby reducing overall tension and stress.

Passive Muscle Relaxation

A relaxation technique that involves simply focusing on each individual muscle group without tensing them, and imagining them relaxing.

Image reference: http://www.wallartprints.com.au/zen-art/

http://www.wallartprints.com.au/zen-art/

Weekly Challenges

• Determine your 3 core health values – write them down in your workbook• Practice using the 3 easy steps to problem solving for a problem you are currently facing

in your life• Try a relaxation exercise at home• Work on your SMART created during todays class or you can practice writing a new one

that you will work on over the next week:

Use this space to write a SMART goal. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Make sure your goal is realistic:


If you’re not at least 7/10, how can you tweak your goal to make it a little bit easier and increase your confidence? __________________________________________________________________Consider barriers. Is there anything that might get in the way of you achieving your goal? If so, how might you overcome these barriers? _________________________________________________________________

Track your progress

Evaluate/Repeat/Re-adjust: What went well?

What got in the way?

What could I do differently next time?

What are my next steps?

Notes…


Management Group

Class 2

Self-care 101

Class 2 outline

• Check-in

• Learn about self-care

– Eat regular meals

– Avoid dieting

– Stay well hydrated

– Keep active

– Get enough sleep

– Practice self-compassion

– Take time for yourself – reduce stress

• Group activity: mindfulness

• Set a SMART goal

Image reference: www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-practice-self-care-2/

http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-practice-self-care-2/

Eat regular meals (and snacks as needed)

It's normal to skip a meal from time to time but if we get in the habit of skipping meals on a regular basis, this will have a negative impact on your overall nutrition status, your energy levels and can result in increased food cravings.

Unlike other organs, your brain can't store the fuel it needs to function well. It needs to be fueled regularly to function at its best. Regular meals will help to provide you with sustained energy throughout the day by properly fueling your brain and your muscles.

• Aim to eat breakfast within 1-2 hours of waking and subsequent meals every 4-5 hours

• Plan to include a snack if you’re hungry or if you’re meals are timed more than 6 hours apart

• Well timed meals can help to increase energy levels, regulate blood sugar, boost metabolism and prevent food cravings.

Avoid dieting

Many people have seen some success with dieting in the past. Maybe you have, or you know of a family member or friend who has been very successful. But does it last? And more importantly, does it make you any healthier?

What happens when we diet:• Our metabolism changes, making it very difficult to maintain weight loss in

the long run• We can feel stressed, anxious, or preoccupied with thoughts about our

food. “What can I eat?” “I shouldn’t eat that!”• We can experience difficulty concentrating, mood changes and irritability

(we get hangry!)• Many of us feel guilt, shame and failure when we stray from our diets. Even

if it’s just once! • Weight cycling or “yo-yo” dieting, where our weight drastically changes

many times, actually makes us less healthy

The majority of people who lose weight following a diet will regain most or all the weight back within 5 years. Many will even gain back more than they lost. This weight loss and regain takes a toll on our body, minds and overall health. It can create a frustrating battle with food, increase stress, reduce self-esteem and increase the risk of chronic disease.

Check out this 12 minute video online by Sandra Aamodt, a neuroscientist who explains the science behind dieting and weight loss in easy to understand terms.

Sandra Aamodt: Why Dieting Doesn't Usually Work at TEDGlobal 2013

https://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work

Instead of dieting, focus on your health, finding peace with your body and listening to your true needs through mindful eating and taking control of food cravings.

https://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work

Stay well hydrated

Staying well hydrated is important for both physical and mental health. Even mild dehydration can cause restlessness, irritability and fatigue.

• Women: 9 cups total fluid per day• Men: 13 cups total fluid per day

Avoid drinking too much caffeine from beverages like coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cola and energy drinks. Caffeine acts as a stimulant and can mimic or worsen anxiety in some people as well as interfere with sleep.

Keep active

For the first time in human history, more people live in cities than in rural environments. North Americans spend 95% of their time indoors or in the car, away from the natural environment. As Tim Gill from The Ecologist states, “Humans are disappearing from the outdoors at a rate that would make them top any conservationist’s list of endangered species.”

Many studies show significant health gains for those who are more active and increase their contact with nature:

- Decreased stress, anxiety and depression

- Increased energy and stamina

- Stronger muscles and bones

- Improved immunity

- Reduced risk of chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer

- Improved relaxation and sleep

- Improved brain function

Find enjoyable ways to add

movement to your day and reduce

the time you spend indoors and

sitting down. Every little bit counts!

Hamilton is home to over 120 waterfalls! Learn more about these natural wonders at: http://www.waterfalls.hamilton.ca

You can also explore Hamilton’s many trails at: www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/PublicWorks/Parks/PublicTrails/

Image reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tews_Waterfall.jpeg

http://www.waterfalls.hamilton.ca/

http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/PublicWorks/Parks/PublicTrails/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tews_Waterfall.jpeg

Get enough sleep

Getting enough sleep is critical to our health and well-being. We need periods of sleep in order to repair, restore and rejuvenate our body and mind. Each person is different and some people need more sleep than others. Most adults would sleep 10 to 12 hours a night without clocks or routines. You know that you’re getting enough sleep when you don’t feel tired or drowsy during the day.

We can probably all agree that getting enough helps us to feel our best. So why is it the first thing to get sacrificed in order to make time for everything else in our busy lives?

What happens when we don't get enough sleep on a regular basis?• Feel tired, have low energy & stamina• Reduced motivation for health goals• Feel moody, irritable, grouchy and are less resilient to stressors• Reduced ability to concentrate, difficulty learning new tasks and

retaining new information• Affects hunger hormones (less satisfied with food)• Increases food cravings – seek out comfort foods, boost of energy

(sugar, caffeine)• Increases cortisol (stress hormone)• Reduced immunity – more likely to get sick

Make sleep a priority! This will help you to feel your best physically and mentally. Improve you sleep hygiene – see 'tips for getting a good nights sleep'.

10 Tips for getting a good night's sleep

One of the most powerful ways to improve sleep is to make small changes in everyday behaviours that impact how fast you fall asleep and whether you stay asleep. The goal is to increase the behaviours that improve sleep while you reduce the behaviours that interfere with sleep. This is called Sleep Hygiene.

Top 10 tips for improving sleep hygiene:1. Increase activity – one of the benefits of exercise is improving sleep quality and quantity. Just be careful to avoid intense activity right before bed as this can be too energizing.2. Avoid caffeine too close to bedtime – caffeine is found in tea, coffee, energy drinks and chocolate3. Avoid alcohol close to bedtime – although it may feel like alcohol can help you fall asleep faster, it actually leads to a poor quality of sleep.4. Avoid going to bed too hungry or too full – if necessary, give yourself permission to have a light snack before bed but be careful to avoid greasy and spicy foods that may lead to heartburn.5. Avoid screens within an hour of bedtime – screens including TV, computer and phone emit a type of light that tricks our brain into thinking that it is daytime. This affects the release of important sleep hormones.

6. Unwind before bed – reduce stress by reading a book, having a bath or listening to relaxing music.7. Avoid taking naps – for some people, napping can lead to sleep disturbance. If you do nap, keep it to 30min or less.8. Follow the same routine – aim to keep roughly the same sleep/wake times each day, even on the weekends. 9. Make your bedroom comfortable and relaxing – keep your bedroom uncluttered and at a moderate temperature.10. Avoid getting stressed if you can't sleep – even when we do everything right, some nights it may be more difficult to fall asleep than others. Turn the clock away from view and trust that your body will make up for the occasional poor sleep. Try deep breathing or visualization exercises while resting in bed.

Still having problems? Talk to your doctor or mental health professional. Sometimes sleep problems can be a sign of a sleep disorder or another problem.

The practice of self-compassion

The benefits of self-compassion: - Helps us to face set-backs and situations that don’t go our way with kindness,

care, and understanding.- Will increase pleasant emotions, and provide motivation to take on new

challenges with less doubt. Inspires a “can-do” attitude! - Reduces cortisol, the stress hormone and increases feeling of connectedness

and trust. - Reduces thoughts and behaviours that interfere with our ability to regulate our

emotions, like self-judgements, avoidance, pushing away emotions, and overthinking or paying too much attention to our emotions.

- Reduces negative feelings that may lead to the need for comfort food

Why Not Self-Esteem?

Self-esteem is based on judgements and evaluations of ourselves in comparison to others, and can change based on circumstance.

Self-compassion does require us to compare ourselves to others, as we are all deserving of self-compassion simply by being human. As such, an increase in self-compassion lasts longer than an increase in self-esteem and have a greater impact on our overall happiness and well-being.

The 3 Key Elements of Self-Compassion

Self-Kindness: Treating ourselves as we would a caring friend or loved one.

Common-Humanity: Recognizing we are not alone in our suffering.

Mindfulness: Noticing current thoughts and feelings without judgement. Mindfulness and self-compassion go hand in hand. Practice of one skill serves to reinforce practice of the other.

What does self-kindness look like this week?

Take a few moments to find a quiet, safe space. Close your eyes if you are comfortable, and focus on your breathing, and take a few deep breaths. Focus on the word “Kindness.”

What would it look like if you were kind to yourself?

How might this week be different if you were?

Take a few moments to sit with this and your breaths. When you are ready, write down a few ideas that came to mind on what it would look like to be kind to yourself. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Are there any items on your list you could add to your day or week to show yourself some kindness?

Take time for yourself – reduce stress

All aspects of self-care require you to take time for yourself, whether it's planning healthy meals, setting aside time to be active or protecting your sleep. Like all new behaviours, it will feel more difficult at first but with practice, it will become more routine and feel much easier. Don't forget, self-care is NOT selfish! When you take care of yourself, everyone benefits. You and your loved ones are worth it!

All of us will experience stress in our lives from time to time. We can’t entirely avoid it! Often, when we experience stress, we may respond by eating food. This might take our minds of the stress but only temporarily. Not only this, eating in response to stress can add new stress through feelings of guilt, regret, shame, etc. Instead, plan to take a bit of extra time for yourself each day to nurture yourself. Not only will this help to reduce overall stress but we can also become more resilient to dealing with stressful situations by engaging in regular self-nurturing activities. It doesn't have to take long, even a few minutes can be beneficial! See below for a list of suggestions. There is extra space to add your own ideas. As you move through this program, you will learn and practice a variety of ways to better manage stress levels. This is an important piece of overall self-care.

All too often we respond to stress with food! Try self-nurturing instead:• Do some deep breathing• Practice 2-5 minutes of meditation• Read a chapter of a book• Call a friend or loved one• Play a game, colour a picture or work on a puzzle• Listen to relaxing or uplifting music• Go for a walk or do some yoga• Write a list of positive self-affirmations and read aloud• Have a bath• Paint your nails• Pick some wild flowers

My ideas:

One self-nurturing activity I plan to try over the next week:_________________________________________________________

Self-care 101

Eat regular meals

Avoid dieting

Stay hydrated

Keep activeGet enough

sleep

Practice self-

compassion

Take time for yourself

Ways I can improve my personal self-care:

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

Body Scan (3-5 minutes)

The Body Scan is an effective mindfulness activity and can be done while lying

down, sitting, or in other postures.

Begin by bringing your attention into your body. You can close your eyes if

that’s comfortable for you.

You can notice your body seated wherever you’re seated, feeling the weight

of your body on the chair, on the floor.

Take a few deep breaths.

And as you take a deep breath, bring in more oxygen enlivening the body. And

as you exhale, have a sense of relaxing more deeply.

You can notice your feet on the floor, notice the sensations of your feet

touching the floor. The weight and pressure, vibration, heat.

You can notice your legs against the chair, pressure, pulsing, heaviness, lightness.

Notice your back against the chair.

Bring your attention into your stomach area. If your stomach is tense or tight, let it soften. Take a breath.

Notice your hands. Are your hands tense or tight? See if you can allow them to soften.

Notice your arms. Feel any sensation in your arms. Let your shoulders be soft.

Notice your neck and throat. Let them be soft. Relax.

Soften your jaw. Let your face and facial muscles become soft.

Then notice your whole body present. Take one more breath.

Be aware of your whole body as best you can. Take a breath. And then when you’re ready, you can open your eyes.

“3 Things”

Observe to yourself:

➢ 3 things in the room that you see

➢ 3 things you hear

➢ 3 things you can feel

➢ 3 things you smell

➢ 3 things you taste

Weekly Challenges

• Consider ways to meet your personal self-care needs• Try a mindfulness activity at home

Use this space to write a SMART goal. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



If you’re not at least 7/10, how can you tweak your goal to make it a little bit easier and increase your confidence? __________________________________________________________________Consider barriers. Is there anything that might get in the way of you achieving your goal? If so, how might you overcome these barriers? __________________________________________________________________

Track your progress





Notes…


Management Group

Class 3

Introduction to mindful eating

ME Journal

Class 3 outline

• Check-in

• Learn about:

– “normal eating” and “mindful eating”

– The benefits of mindful eating and the Hunger/Fullness Scale

– The key elements of mindful eating

• Group activity: practice mindful eating

• Introduction to the ME journal


Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are

satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly

get enough of it – not just stop eating because you think you should.

Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection

so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that

you miss out on enjoyable food. Normal eating is giving yourself

permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or

just because it feels good. Normal eating is three meals a day or four or

five or it can be choosing to munch along the way. It is leaving some

cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again

tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful.

Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable.

And it can be undereating at times and wishing you had more. Normal

eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating.

Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its

place as only one important area of your life. In short, normal eating is

flexible. It varies in your response to your hunger, your

schedule, your proximity to food and your feelings.

Ellyn Satter 1998

Healthy eating includes both food for our body and food for our soul

Getting the right balance of good nutrition that will nourish your body while giving permission to eat other pleasurable foods that nourish the soul is ok! Healthy eating is not about deprivation or perfection. The key to good health to find a balance that is right for you and your body. The best way to do this is to start paying attention, listening to your body and responding appropriately by giving it what it needs.

Food for the body – ‘nutritious food’ required by our body for the vitamins, minerals, fibres, healthy fats that are essential to maintaining good health and keeping our body functioning at it’s best.

Food for the soul – ‘enjoyable food’ designed to taste amazing. Can illicit a very pleasurable sensory experience.

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular

way, on purpose, in the present moment and non

judgmentally” Jon Kabat Zinn

Image reference: https://psychprofessionals.com.au/mindful-eating/

https://psychprofessionals.com.au/mindful-eating/

Mindful Eating

There are many benefits to practicing a more mindful approach to eating:

• Helps you to respond to hunger and fullness cues

• Prevents overeating

• Reduces food cravings and emotional eating

• Boosts satisfaction

• Improves how food tastes

• Helps you better nourish your body

• Helps with prevention and management of chronic disease

Mindful eating is a form of self-care!

Key Elements of MINDFUL EATING

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• How?

• How Much?

• Where?

For more information – see handout “It’s not just what you eat but why” and visit www.AmIHungry.com

http://www.amihungry.com/

Becoming more mindful…

Why? Why do I eat? - My EATING TRIGGERS

Types of Hunger

Stomach Hunger • Physical hunger, eating for your health

Mouth or Taste Hunger• Craving food with a particular flavour, texture or aroma

Heart Hunger • Eating in response to a feeling or emotion

Head Hunger • Eating in response to a rule or a learned behaviour

Internal eating trigger:

External eating triggers:

Why do I eat?

“Am I hungry?” or

“Do I have the BLAHS?”

B – bored

L – lonely

A – angry/anxious

H – happy

S – sad/stressed

Becoming more mindful of environmental triggers

Another important step in becoming more mindful and answering some of the questions from the ‘elements of mindful eating’ is to get a better understanding and awareness of some of the subtle yet powerful environmental eating triggers that are around us all the time! Environmental eating triggers are an example of an external eating cue that can influence us in each element of those Mindful Eating questions.

- Think about how our food environment has changed over the past several decades

- Consider how our food environment here in Canada might be different to the food environment in other countries

What are some environmental eating triggers?

Becoming more mindful…

How? How do I eat?

Many people say they love food, but they don’t eat in a way that reflects this. How do you eat? Are you eating quickly? Are you eating while distracted by other activities such as watching a TV show or a movie, driving, or working at the computer? How can we enjoy what we are eating when we are distracted by other activities? Also, very importantly, how can we pay attention to what our body is telling us when we are distracted by other activities?

Make eating a priority! Limit distractions. Become consciously aware of your food and take the time to savour the flavour.

Slow down – take time to savour and observeCheck hunger and fullness levels

Image reference: https://insighttimer.com/fearlessmentor/guided-meditations/enjoy-the-art-of-mindful-eating

https://insighttimer.com/fearlessmentor/guided-meditations/enjoy-the-art-of-mindful-eating

The Hunger and Fullness Scale

When do I eat? How much do I eat?

Ravenous Starving Hungry Pangs Satisfied Full Very Full Discomfort Stuffed Sick

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Adapted from:

May, M., Galper, L., Carr, J. Am I Hungry? What to do when diets don’t work. 2005. Phoenix: Nourish Publishing.

Mindful Eating Journal

Mindfulness training

• Stop, Breathe and Think – Guided meditations that are tailored to your emotions. Available for android and iPhone, as well as a web page you can visit

• The Mindfulness App – Designed to help new-comers to meditation ease into a meditation practice. More in depth meditations are also available for seasoned practitioners

• Calm.com – Relax with Calm, a simple mindfulness meditation app that brings clarity and peace of mind into your life.

• Headspace.com - Website and phone app that follows an evidence based approach to training the mind with the goal of creating more ‘headspace’. Includes guided meditation and video tutorials. Great for beginners.

• Mindfulness Hamilton - The website provides various articles, events, and resources that promote mindfulness and offer strategies to deal with stress. www.mindfulnesshamilton.ca

• Yoga with Adriene - Free yoga videos designed for all interests and skill levels. www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene/videos

http://www.mindfulnesshamilton.ca/

http://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene/videos

Weekly Challenges

• Become more aware of environmental eating triggers

• Ask yourself “Am I Hungry, or do I have the BLAHS?”

• Practice eating something mindfully

• Start to use your Mindful Eating journal

• Write a SMART goal

Use this space to write a SMART goal. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



If you’re not at least 7/10, how can you tweak your goal to make it a little bit easier and increase your confidence? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Consider barriers. Is there anything that might get in the way of you achieving your goal? If so, how might you overcome these barriers? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Track your progress





Notes…


Management Group

Class 4

Re-engineer Your Food Environment

STOP to Manage Food Cravings

Cognitive Behavioural Techniques

Class 4 outline

• Check-in

• Learn about:– Ways to reduce food cravings

• Review of self-care and mindful eating

• Strategies to "re-engineer food environment"

– Use STOP to manage food cravings

• Review self-awareness strategies

• Using cognitive behavioural techniques (CBT) to re-wire the brain

– Positive self-talk

– Name your emotions

• Group activity: meditative relaxation exercise


Ways to Reduce Food Cravings

• Engage in regular self-care

• Practice mindful eating

• Re-engineer your food environment

– Willpower alone is not enough to help us change our eating behaviors in the long run. Renovating your environment is an effective way to help support healthier eating behaviours and reduce the frequency and strength of food cravings. Small changes around the home or office can make a big difference in making the healthier choice the easier choice!

My SMART Goal to re-engineer my food environment is:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Re-wiring the brain

Our brain is composed of billions of cells called neurons. These

cells are interconnected via countless pathways which allows our

brain to send and receive information to other parts of our body

and receive information from the outside world.

The brain has the ability to change and strengthen (or weaken)

throughout the lifetime. This is called neuroplasticity.

When we talk about ‘re-wiring’ the brain, we are referring to

our ability to change the way we think, feel, and behave!

We have the ability to create and strengthen new pathways or cellular

connections in order to help us reinforce healthy thoughts and behaviours. At

the same time, we can weaken certain pathways that are currently contributing

to unhelpful thoughts and less healthy behaviours.

Every time you practice using a CBT strategy, you are literally changing the

shape of your brain! You are wiring new pathways and building new habits all

while dismantling or breaking up the old brain pathways that automatically lead

you to crave and eat food.

STOP to Manage Food Cravings

Food cravings can be strong and confusing. They are a combination of thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. The following acronym will help you to build self awareness and make different choices all while starting the process of re-wiring your brain.

S – stop what you are doing

T – take a breath

O – observe non-judgmentally without expectation

P – proceed with awareness and kindness

STOP to Manage Food CravingsS – stop what you are doingTake a moment to simply pay attention. Try to limit distractions. If you can do so, close your eyes.

T – take a breathTake 3 deep breaths to help calm the mind and body. This will allow you to listen to what they are telling you.

O – observe non-judgmentally without expectationObserve your body sensations, emotions, thoughtsAsk - "Am I Hungry? Or do I have the BLAHS?"Check in - Use the Hunger Scale to work on getting in tune with your internal hunger signals

P – proceed with awareness and kindness Is it real hunger?YES – Eat! Practice mindful eating and try to eat according to your hunger level.NO – You have a choice. You can eat anyway - practice mindful eating. Or, you can use a CBT strategy from your list.

CBT: Cognitive Behavioural Model

How we think affects how we act and feel. What we feel affects what we think and do. What we do affects how we think and feel.

By changing the way we think and the way we behave, we can re-wirethe brain. This will lead to reduced food cravings and a more positive

relationship with food!

Self-talk

Self-talk describes what we say to ourselves. This is fundamental to how we feel about ourselves.

We often assume that it is what is happening around us (external events) that makes us feel the way we do. But in reality, it’s our interpretation and thoughts (or self-talk) about what is happening that form our feelings.

The good news is, we have control over our self-talk! Therefore, you have control over how you feel in response to a given situation.

Look at the evidence. Ask yourself the following questions:• What is the evidence for this?

• Has this been true in the past?

• Is this always true?

• What are the odds of this really happening (or being true)?

• What is the very worst that could happen? What is so bad about that? What would I do if the worst happened?

• Would my best friend agree?

• Am I looking at the whole picture?

• Am I being fully objective?

Creating positive self-talk

Tips for writing positive statements

• State as a positive (avoid negatives)

• Keep in present tense

• Keep in first person by using “I…..”

• Have some belief in your positive self-talk. If you don’t believe it then go through the questions provided to look at the evidence!

Negative or

unhelpful thought

Evidence for this

thought

Evidence against this thought Positive counter--thoughts

“I’m such a failure, I

can’t stop eating

chips!”

“I’ve been so good

this week, I can eat

these chips”

No matter how

often I’ve tried to

cut out chips, I

always seem to fall

off track

I went for my walk

3 days this week

I’ve been successful in cutting back

on chips and making healthier

snack choices in the past.

I don’t need to completely cut out

chips or avoid the foods that I love.

I don’t need to go for a walk to

earn the right to eat chips, I have

permission to eat chips regardless

of activity. I am neither good nor

bad if I walk, don’t walk, eat chips

or don’t eat chips.

“I can do this!”

“I am successful”

“I’ve made changes in the

past and will be successful in

the future.”

“I’m worth the effort!”

“I am a good person”

“I have a choice. I can eat

chips mindfully whenever I

want them.”

Use the following chart to capture negative self-talk. Consider the evidence for and against these thoughts and create one or more positive counter-thoughts. Each time you ‘catch’ yourself saying this negative or unhelpful thought to yourself replace it with a positive counter-thought. Practice, practice, practice! Eventually, the positive thoughts will outweigh the negative and become habitual. This will change your brain, and improve the way you feel about yourself.

Self-affirmationsSelf-affirmations or positive realistic statements to counter the mistaken beliefs we hold about ourselves.

It’s helpful to:

• Keep them short and simple

• Use present tense

• Avoid negatives

• Declare a positive change you want to make in your life

• Have some belief in the statement

Positive self-affirmations

Reciting positive self-affirmations can be uplifting, motivating and inspiring. It can also be a great way to help better manage stress levels. Here is a few examples: - I trust my body to tell me what it needs - I accept myself and value the body that I have - I engage in self-care every day to enjoy good health- I forgive myself for not being perfect because I know that I am human - I learn from my mistakes

It's best to come up with your own, personal affirmations that are meaningful to you. Have fun with it and don't be afraid to be creative! You're worth it!

My personal self-affirmations:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name your emotions

This strategy can also be called 'Name it to tame it!'. This term was coined by the psychiatry professor Dr. Dan Seigel.

On any given day we can experience a full range of emotions from feeling happy to frustrated to angry to sad and back to happy again! These emotions are simply the result of our brain responding to our environment. They are our brain trying to protect us or meet a specific need. They provide us with a sense of meaning, passion and vitality.

We've learned that our emotions have a profound impact on our behaviours. Many of us have developed the habit of automatically responding to certain emotions with food (heart hunger) or other distractions. Science tells us that rather than avoiding difficult emotions, it is helpful to NAME them. This allows us to step back from the emotion and activates a different part of the brain that provides a calming effect on your mind and body.

Moving from "I am angry" to "I am feeling angry" means that we are not that emotion. It also gives us space between the emotion that we're experiencing and our response to that emotion.

Naming your emotions can be a very simple yet powerful tool. Give it a try next time you're experiencing an emotion and tune inwards to notice how your body responds. This strategy is most effective if you say it out loud or write it down. To help you identify your true emotion(s), use the following list.

To learn more about the science of our brain and emotions:

https://www.drdansiegel.com/

https://www.drdansiegel.com/

…I am having the emotion of:

Weekly Challenges

• Continue to use your ME journal and practice mindful eating

• Choose one way to re-engineer your food environment in order to reduce eating triggers

• Use STOP to help manage food cravings

• Practice using positive self-talk

• Practice using positive self-affirmations

• Try naming your emotion


Track your progress





Notes…


Management Group

Class 5

CBT

Class 5 outline

• Check-in

• Journal

• Avoid all or nothing thinking

• Put cravings on hold

• Distraction

• Breaking the thought cycle

• Visualization

• Group activity: nostril breathing and visualization

Journaling

Journaling may be helpful for some people to increase awareness and insight, promote change and growth and further develop your sense of self. Writing down thoughts and feelings about a problem or a stressful situation can help to reduce negative emotions.

It may be helpful to write about the connections you are making between thoughts, feelings and behaviours in your ME journal or your experiences in trying some of the different CBT strategies.

There is space to write down your thoughts here or in a separate journal. You can either practice free writing or use the questions below as a guide, or a combination of both.

Looking at the ME journal, what connections do I notice between my thoughts, feelings and behaviors? How have my behaviours changed?How have my feelings changed? What has been my experience with trying a new CBT strategy?

Give journaling a try!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Avoid all or nothing thinking

Life is not black and white. Why is it that we try to make food black and white? We often label food as good and bad. We see ourselves as being good or bad for eating this food.

What happens when we label a food as bad?

____________________________________________

What happens when we eat a food that we’ve labeled as bad?

_______________________________________

How can we stop feeling like failures every time we eat?

Re-frame our thoughts!

Foods for the body – physically nourishing foods. Designed by Mother Nature to meet our nutritional and energy needs, to allow our body to function well and to help us feel our best.

Foods for the soul – mentally nourishing foods. Designed for pure plain pleasure!

We can enjoy both foods for the body and foods for the soul and still be healthy. Bring pleasure back to soul foods! Give yourself permission to eat any food while practicing mindful eating. Engage all of your senses (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste) especially when eating soul foods. Without doing so we are missing the entire point of eating them…pleasure!

How much soul foods are ok? Let your body be your guide! Practice mindful eating and pay attention to how your body responds. The goal is for you to feel your best both physically and emotionally without any feelings of guilt or deprivation.

This strategy can go a long way to healing your relationship with food.

Distraction

Food can take our mind off our worries. We often use food as a temporary distraction from uncomfortable feelings like sadness, stress, anger and anxiety. In addition, we know that eating while distracted can result in consuming more food than intended!

This strategy is about turning the tables on distraction and using it as an intentional response to a food craving.

We can distract ourselves using the power of our mind (thought distraction) or by changing our behaviours (behavioural distraction).

Thought distraction

Thought distraction - needs to be consuming enough to redirect mental focus away from thoughts of food or worries.

Examples: - Counting backwards from 100 in increments of 7- Recite the alphabet backwards- Try to remember your relatives birthdays- Use the alphabet to recall names of flowers, countries, band names, song titles- Plan a trip or think about all the countries you’ve visited in the past- Try to recall the numbers worn by the players on a sports team- Practice a visualization exercise - _____________________________________________________- _____________________________________________________- _____________________________________________________

Behavioural distraction

Behavioural distraction – switch up what you’re doing to redirect your focus away from food. The best distractions are those that you can engage in fairly quickly, without much planning and that you do not currently associate with food or eating. For example, switching your activity to watching TV might not be a great plan for behavioural distraction as many people associate watching TV with eating.

Examples: - Go for a walk around the block- Do 10 minutes of yoga or practice deep breathing- Call a friend - Work on a puzzle- Do some knitting - Have a bath - Clean the floors - Organize your ‘junk’ drawer - _______________________________________________________- _______________________________________________________- _______________________________________________________

Visualization – guided imagery

Visualization using guided imagery can be a powerful and stress relieving form of thought distraction.

Examples:• Relaxing on the beach • Walking through a peaceful forest• Relaxing at home

Create your own Peaceful Scene and practice returning to it every time you do any relaxation or deep breathing exercises or whenever you wish to turn off anxious thinking and calm yourself.

Ask yourself:• What does the scene look like (colours, scenery)?• What sounds are present?• What is the temperature?• What am I touching?• What does the air smell like?

Visualization - break the thought cycle

We can also use visualization techniques to change our thought patterns that can be triggering food cravings. When noticing a food craving, first use STOP (stop, take a breath, observe, proceed with awareness and kindness). If you observe that your food craving is caused by negative self-talk or worrisome thoughts, try using visualization to break the thought cycle!

Thoughts that are acting as eating triggers:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Using visualization to break the thought cycle:

- Picture a large red stop sign

- Visualize yourself tossing the thought away and out of your mind

- See your trigger thoughts as words written- in the sand being erased by the sea

- in the clouds and peacefully drifting away

- on a chalkboard and being erased

Visualization -enjoy the food in your mind!

Rather than attempting to ignore the food you are craving, you could try embracing it! Harness the power of your mind. Visualize the food you are craving – imagine how it looks, how it smells, how it tastes. Then take it a step further and visualize yourself actually eating this food. Studies show that this type of visualization can be an effective way to reduce a food craving – it works if you actually envision eating the specific food that you are craving. Picture yourself eating in a mindful way. Take your time and imagine how the food looks, how it smells, how it feels in your mouth, how it tastes. Visualize yourself eating as many bites of this food as you are craving. Relax and enjoy every bite!

Delay your craving

Delay your craving

Give yourself permission to eat the food you are craving. This is not about depriving yourself. Rather, it is about creating additional space between a the eating trigger/food craving and your automatic response of eating.

Consider using distraction or visualization while you delay. With time, you’ll learn your own craving pattern and your cravings will become less frequent and less intense.

Be sure to reward yourself after each delay! Consider non-food related rewards such as self-praise. Repeat positive statements to yourself such as “I was stronger than my food craving”, “I did it!”, “I was successful in delaying my food craving”.

Nostril Breathing

Can use this as a form of behavioural distraction or next time you feel you need the benefit of a simple relaxation exercise

• Use your right thumb to close off your right nostril. • Inhale slowly through your left nostril. • Pause for a second. • Now close your left nostril with your finger and release your thumb off

your right nostril. • Exhale through your right nostril. • Now, inhale through your right nostril.• Pause.• Use your thumb to close off your right nostril. • Breathe out through your left nostril.

This is one round. Start slowly with 1-2 rounds and gradually increase. Never force the breath. Sit quietly for a few moments after you have finished.

Weekly Challenges

• Continue to use your ME journal, practice mindful eating


• Try journaling

• Avoid all-or-nothing thinking

• Try thought or behavioural distraction

• Practice a visualization exercise

• Try delaying your craving

• Practice nostril breathing at home


Track your progress





Notes…


Management Group

Class 6

Staying on Track

Next Steps

Class 6 outline

• Check-in

• Review

• Staying on track:– Dealing with lapses

– Using assertiveness

– Avoid self sabotage

– Continual goal setting

• Happiness

• Gratitude

• Group activity – practice gratitude

• Follow-up options

• Wrap up

Dealing with lapses

We experience a lapse when we engage in a behaviour that does not agree with our core values or health goals. It’s important to know that lapses are completely normal and natural! We will all experience lapses from time to time and this is ok.

If left unchecked however, multiple lapses can lead to relapse and eventually we may find ourselves back to where we started. To prevent this and keep us on track, it’s important to manage lapses in a way that puts us in charge.

Be aware of self-talk and practice being compassionate with yourself.

Reframe the lapse

Rather than seeing a lapse as a personal failure, see it as an opportunity! An opportunity to grow and learn something about yourself, the situation, and others around you. Dealing with lapses in this way will allow you to learn new skills. It will help you to prevent the same situation from happening again in the future and/or to deal with a similar situation more effectively.

Remember the 3 steps to problem solving. When facing any problem (in this case a lapse), remember to be curious, not furious!

1. Determine the problem

2. Consider possible solutions

3. Take action! Set a SMART goal.

Practice being assertive

Learning to be more assertive will help you to express your true feelings and ask for what you want (or don’t want) more easily. This can help you to stay on track with your health goals. In addition, being more assertive will often result in increased respect from others as well as self-respect.

Discussion: differences between non-assertive or submissive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, manipulative and assertive. Think about where you generally fit.

Assertiveness Script:

“I feel __(emotion)______when___(observation)________.”

“I would like for you to ___(way you would like things to change)________.”

One thing

You would like to stop doing to yourself:

You would like to stop doing to/for others:

You would like to start doing for yourself:

You would like to say to others:

Avoid self-sabotage

Did you know that we can sometimes be the ones responsible for tripping our own selves up?

Do you follow any ‘rules’ that make it difficult to stay on track? When something goes wrong, do you engage in harsh self-criticism?

Many ‘rules’ related to food and eating and either learned behaviours that have turned into habits or they are created based on assumptions. What would happen if these rules were broken or tweaked in order to support your self-care needs?

• Be aware of self-talk• Accept responsibility • Practice self-compassion• Be assertive!

Make sure your

worst enemy is

not living

between your

ears.

~Laird Hamilton

Ready, Set, Goal!

Hopefully you’ve been practicing setting and working toward your SMART goals throughout this program. Don’t stop now! This is only the start of your journey. The trick to long term success and staying on track is continual goal setting. Is there a goal that you had in mind at the start of this program that you haven’t yet started to work towards? This is your time! Consider writing a SMART goal to get you started on this specific pursuit before you leave today.

A goal without a

plan is just a wish.

~Antoine de Saint-

Exupery

Set a goal that makes

you want to jump out

of bed in the

morning!

Happiness

“A state of well-being and contentment”

“A pleasurable or satisfying experience”

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary

What does happiness mean to you?

What makes you happy?

Happiness is a journey, not a

destination; Happiness is to

be found along the way, not

at the end of the road, for

then the journey is over and

it’s too late. The time for

happiness is today not

tomorrow.

~Paul H Dunn

Happiness is a skill. We can foster it with practice and intentional activity.

Interacting outside in daily activities

1. Giving – doing things for others2. Relating – connecting with people, fostering healthy relationships3. Exercising – taking care of your body, spend time outside 4. Appreciating – noticing the world around you, practice gratitude 5. Trying out – learning new things, acknowledge and use your strengths

Interacting with self, looking inside

1. Direction – have goals to look forward to2. Resilience – find ways to bounce back, challenge and change faulty beliefs 3. Emotion – take a positive approach and practice positive self-talk4. Acceptance – be comfortable with who you are5. Meaning – be part of something bigger

Strategies to boost happiness

Name- Three things that happen each day- Things that you did this day- Things you feel good about or are grateful for

Thank You Message

Writing a thank you message expressing gratitude for someone can boost our own happiness. It can positively affect the one who receives the letter and may help make relationships stronger.

Think about someone you are grateful to. Write this person a thank you card, or call them and tell them what you are grateful for, how it helped you/helped make you who you are.

Gratitude

Research shows that grateful people are happier, healthier and more fulfilled. When we show gratitude we build resilience, increase self-esteem and are better able to recognize our own strengths and the strengths of others.

We have a natural negativity bias...

"The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences

but Teflon for positive ones"- Rick Hanson, Hardwiring Happiness

Our brain is hard wired to be more sensitive to negative experiences and stimuli such as unpleasant thoughts, emotions or social interactions. These have a greater impact on how we feel than similar neutral or positive experiences. In other words, something very positive will generally have less of an impact on your thoughts and behaviour than something equally emotional but negative.

On average, we need 5 positives to balance out 1 negative. This is true for our personal relationships as well as how we feel within ourselves – our level of happiness.

In order to combat our natural negativity bias, adopt a regular gratitude practice in your life!

Activity – practice gratitude

Think about 3 things you are grateful for today. Can be everyday things we take for granted or something specific about the day.1.

2.

3.

Then think about 3 people you are grateful for in your life. It can be someone you know or someone you don’t; can be someone you just happened to cross paths with on the way to group or can be someone in your home. Think about one of them and fill out the script below.1.

2.

3.

“I feel/felt____________________________________________

When you ___________________________________________.

I would like to thank you for____________________________. "

Later, you may want to take this further and write this person a thank you note or call and tell them what you are grateful for and/or how it helped make you who you are today.

Weekly Challenges

• Continue to use your ME journal and practice mindful eating


• Pick a situation to practice being assertive at least once this week

• Practice a strategy to increase happiness

• Adopt a daily gratitude practice


Track your progress





Evaluations

Please take a some time to complete any post-group evaluation forms as well as the participant feedback form.

Take a moment to reflect on...

- your overall experience over the past 6 weeks

- progress noted from your questionnaires

- any new knowledge you may now possess

- new thought patterns or behaviours that you're engaging in

- new habits that you're forming

Follow-up options

Congratulations on completing the ME program!

You have already achieved tremendous success by taking these first important steps toward improving your health and wellbeing. In order to help you continue to move forward toward achieving your long term health goals, there are a few different follow-up options to help you stay on track:

• Take this program again

• Sign up for another group program

• Attend the monthly Change for Life nutrition support group program

• Follow-up with your Registered Dietitian and/or Mental Health counsellor in your family practice

Notes…

Mindful Eating (ME)

Documents

Transcript of Mindful Eating (ME)