Success with Mindful Eating

Note: To learn more about the Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating program, visit www.AmIHungry.com, or my website.

Recently when I had lunch with a friend, she asked me how things were going with my mindful eating work, if I was having much success with it.

It was an interesting question because it made me think about what we mean by success.

If we’re talking on a purely financial level, it’s not successful for me in the terms of paying bills and sustaining my lifestyle.

But despite what some people might say, money is not the only measure of success. And by other metrics, I’d say it’s definitely successful.

For instance, here’s some of the feedback I got from my recent Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating workshop.

One person wrote: “I’m headed in the right direction and feel better about it than any other method that I’ve tried.”

From another: “I am more mindful about what I am going to eat and why. I am continually listening to my body more and do not beat myself up when I don’t listen to my body. It’s a slow process but very fulfilling.”

And a third: “I have started to live my entire life more mindfully…. Being mindful has allowed me to more instinctive and intuitive rather than having my brain ‘on’ all the time…. I am much more happy living this way!”

All of these are success stories. They won’t make big headlines. They may not seem earth-shattering to someone on the outside.

But if you’re someone who’s struggled with eating for most of your life, and you suddenly find that you can take a more relaxed approach to food, that’s huge.

And for me to know that I’ve been a part of helping in that journey – I can’t truly express how happy that makes me. It fills me with such delight and a sense of gratitude to be able to do this work. When I leave the workshops, I feel relaxed myself, and uplifted.

Plus, one of the women commented how much she’s enjoying my memoir, wanting to read it slowly to savor it – much like mindful eating itself. That made my day.

And one of the women wrote on the evaluation form: “The course was well-structured but it was Erica who made the class. She was very professional and personal with us. The personal touch helped a lot because we were able to see someone who had been through [this]…. She created a safe space and shared her struggles so we could relate to her.”

From this perspective, my mindful eating work is a great success. And if I had to choose between that kind of success with it or just making a lot of money, I’ll take this any day.