Month: October 2020

What Is Faith-Based Mindfulness and Nutrition, What are the Benefits, and How Do I Incorporate It into my Life?

*This is a sneak peek into the book 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life was written by Lacy Ngo, a dietitian nationally recognized as a top expert in faith-based mindfulness and evidence-based nutrition. She shares the exact steps that, based on science, produce the most dramatic health and weight loss success in her book, 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. This book is like nothing you have ever seen before. It combines faith and science. Both are crucial when it comes to producing real change because real change involves the mind, body, and spirit. 

Mindfulness can help with our moods, behaviors, and even our health as well! The benefits of mindfulness cannot be overstated.

This may site contains affiliate links (See full disclosure here.)

The Benefits of Mindfulness

In fact, mindfulness techniques are so beneficial that some schools have even started implementing mindfulness programs. Although more research is needed, current research indicates that implementing mindfulness programs in schools may improve social behaviors, mood, stress levels, and even academic performance and test scores. Schools are even reporting less suspensions, detentions, violent incidences, principal visits, bullying, and classroom disruptions since incorporating mindfulness programs!

If you think about it, these results make since, don’t they? Practicing mindfulness techniques can relieve stress and help us have better self-control. When we have less stress and learn to have more self-control, we tend to make better choices. Less ideal choices can sometimes cause even more stress, which brings us full circle. Furthermore, aren’t we better able to focus and learn when our brains are calm verses stressed? Mindfulness can help with stress and promote a more positive outlook on life. Less stress and more positivity promotes better health. It’s all beautifully related.

So, you can see how mindfulness activities can be so impactful, but, of course, for me, the most profound impact happens when I combine faith and mindfulness.

The Benefits of Faith-Based Mindfulness

Remember, one aspect of mindfulness is about focusing on being present. But with faith-based mindfulness, you are focusing on how God is present with you in that very moment, and while focusing on God’s presence you get to notice all the gifts from God and the beautiful little things in God’s world.

This is why Mindful Living (and mindful eating is a part of mindful living) can help you live your healthiest, happiest most purposeful life. I know, these are big words, but hear me out.

What do you want your life to look like? What about your children’s lives? Are there things you would change? What does YOUR healthiest, happiest, and most meaningful life look like? These are some of life’s biggest questions. How do we attempt to answer them?

I am a list person, so when I am asked this question, my immediate impulse is to make a list.

Sooo here is my list (Does your list look similar to mine?):

1.My greatest desire is to glorify God in all that I do. I want to show God’s love through kindness and giving. My prayer is that I listen for God’s guidance in every situation because when I listen to God, amazing things happen, and I WANT TO BE AMAZED!!!

2. I wish to have a peaceful and positive life and a grateful attitude. I want to enjoy the little moments by taking the time to notice God’s world and soak it up!

3. We humans seem to have a natural desire to work and create. We want to have meaning and purpose in our lives. This is true for me too. In my ideal life, I want to learn, grow, and work. I want to create something new, and in some small way make the world better. I want to challenge my mind through reading and learning from God and others, and I want to challenge my body through physical activity. 

4. Just as I desire to work, grow, and be challenged, I equally want to have time to rest, relax, and play. Sometimes finding the time to relax is the most difficult challenge in life, and yet so important for our health and our ability to serve God and others. 

5. In a nutshell, when I think about how I want to be described, I think of these words: kind and thoughtful; full of energy and light; a pleasure to be around; loyal and helpful. So trying each day to be a person with these characteristics is a life goal.

What Do We Want for Our Children?

Of course, I want these things, even more for my children. One of my greatest joys is watching my children as they feel God’s presence. They look so peaceful and content. My 2nd greatest joy is seeing my children show kindness to others, and my third greatest joy is witnessing my children living in the moment and appreciating the little things. So if we want this for our children, shouldn’t we want this for ourselves?

We may all have different wishes and desires, but when we break them down, I’m guessing that for people of faith, this list is at the heart of most of our desires. 

But how do we become this person and live this healthy, happy, purposeful life? Faith-based mindfulness helps me fulfill that list like nothing else.

Here is how my life has been transformed through faith-based mindfulness:

• I listen to God more and (like the mindfulness techniques), listening to God helps me make better choices. I’m not letting negative emotions take control of my actions. (At least not as often, anyway)
• Now I am more at peace and comforted because I am noticing God is with me everywhere.
• I get to have more goose-bump-“I’m awe struck” moments because when I intentionally focus on God in the present moment, I actually see what God is doing in my life and the lives of others around me. By focusing on God in the present moment, I get to experience the feeling of amazement more often, and I WANT TO BE AMAZED!!! (Don’t we all want to be beautifully amazed?)

Do you see how all of these benefits relate back to the goals I had listed above?

The Benefits of Faith-Based Mindful Eating

When you mindfully eat, you get to experience ALL these faith-based mindfulness benefits and more. Mindful eating gives us the opportunity to focus on God’s presence, feel gratitude for God’s gift of food, and rest our brain! We get to have mini-mindfulness moments with God EVERY. TIME. WE. EAT!

With mindful breathing, we are pausing and centering out minds on one thing- breathing. When we are mindfully eating, we are still pausing and centering our brain on one thing, but this time that one thing is eating. With faith-based mindful eating, we are resting our brain by focusing on God and the food God provided.

Some of the other benefits to mindful eating are:

Relieves Stress and Promotes Better Cognitive Function:

Like the mindfulness practices above, mindful eating is a stress reliever. Have you ever noticed, we don’t seem to think or react as well on our feet when under stress. Also stress can cause weight gain so this is yet another way mindful eating helps with weight loss.

Promotes Gut Health and May Reduce the Risk of Many Chronic Conditions:

Mindful eating can aid in digestion. How? When you mindfully eat, you take your time chewing your food. Chewing thoroughly gives your stomach enzymes more surface area to do their work, which again promotes healthy digestion and absorption. Because mindful eating helps relieve stress and promotes healthy digestion and absorption, mindful eating promotes a healthy gut. Poor gut health is related to inflammation and reduced immune function. Gut health, inflammation and immunity are all linked to many conditions including IBS, Crohn’s, Autoimmune Disease, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke, brain function and focus, mood and even depression and anxiety, to name a few.

So, anything that promotes a healthy gut is something worth looking into in my book. (Fortunately, a mindful eating guide IS included in my books!)

Weight Loss:

Just to recap, I don’t want to focus too much on this because different sizes can be healthy. Some people are naturally smaller and some naturally weigh more. We have different builds and genetics. Plus, other things like medications, medical conditions, and even uncontrollable seasons in life can affect weight. I also don’t want you to feel that wanting to lose weight is somehow wrong. You may want to see if weight loss will help you have more energy or help with a medical condition. Maybe you feel like you could keep up with your children more if you carried less weight or maybe you want to see if weight loss can help with joint pain. There are reasons you may desire weight loss, and fortunately mindful eating can help with weight loss while also helping you stop that food obsessing often associated with dieting. Mindful eating helps you feel full and notice your hunger/satiety cues. Moreover, the desire to binge decreases because you are actually enjoying your food ALL THE TIME.

A Note on Weight Loss from a Dietitian Who Lost 50 Pounds After She Stopped Focusing on Weight and Started focusing on Faith-based Mindfulness and Nutrition

“I find myself conflicted as I try to figure out the best way to promote the lifestyle approach I discuss in my books. You see, I am an advocate for focusing on nourishing your body while enjoying your food INSTEAD of focusing on weight loss. (The fact is health comes in different sizes.) And yet the irony is I lost over 50 pounds when I stopped thinking about weight. (I have not weighed myself in years, and I only found out about the weight loss after hearing the news at a doctor’s visit).

So when I promote my approach to health, I hesitate to show pictures of how my weight has changed, and yet since I KNOW weight loss is a benefit of this faith-based mindfulness approach, and I know this approach can and has helped others who want to lose weight, I hesitate NOT to share this weight loss benefit. So I decided to share, but I encourage you to remember, this is currently my weight, but it won’t stay exactly the same. My size and shape will change and fluctuate, and that is normal. The important thins is to continue to focus on nourishing your body and enjoying your food” -Lacy Ngo, MS, RDN

How Does Nutrition Help us Live Our Healthiest, Happiest, Most Purposeful Life?

Eating nourishing foods from God’s earth feeds my mind, body, and soul so that I can feel my best and have energy to seize the day, which helps me live out the goals of my life that I listed earlier.

Nourishing Foods:

• Promote health and provide energy to serve God and others.
• Fuel our minds to learn and grow.
• Promote a positive mood and self control. Although we should try to show kindness no matter what is going on in our lives; spreading kindness is so much easier when we aren’t hurting inside ourselves. This is 100% true for me.

More Benefits of Nourishing Foods

You see, nourishing foods help our mind stay sharp, provide energy, and promote a positive mood, all of which are beneficial in regards to living our healthies, happiest, most purposeful life.

Our bodies are not made to work all on it’s own. God provided what we need to survive AND thrive, and it comes straight from the ground of our earth: Delicious food! (Side note, this is why we humans need to do a better job getting food, this amazing gift from God, to all our brothers and sisters all over the world.)

I have learned to judge people less and less based on their actions. Maybe they have had a hard day, or they have experienced hardships for years that we can’t even imagine; maybe they have chemical imbalances or a medical condition and don’t have control over how they are feeling or acting, or maybe they are just hangry in more ways that one. Or maybe they currently have nutrient deficiencies that are causing them to feel negative and lash out. Maybe their brains are craving nutrients that promote optimal cognitive function and mood. Food can truly have an impact on how we feel, think, and act.

What’s Next?

Where do you go from here? Well, I want to offer you several free downloads that help you get started on your faith-based mindfulness and nutrition journey. You can download them here.

Also, my book, 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life, goes into actual strategies you can use to implement faith-based mindfulness and nutrition into your life.

With 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life you get:

• The 18-week journey: This journey will provide small, simple challenges each week to produce the biggest impact on your health, mood, and life.
• The Mindful Journal: This journal helps you keep a record of what is really important when it comes to wellness and weight loss. 
• Easy meal plan ideas that can be tweaked to your preferences and lifestyle.
• The exact steps that, based on scientific research, produce the most dramatic health and weight loss success.

Ngo is also a top expert in faith-based mindfulness and nutrition and is the author of several books including Faith, Mindfulness, & Nutrition, Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals and The Nourishing Meal Builder. You can also find evidence-based nutrition articles, recipes, convenient healthy snack lists, inspiring faith stories, and faith-based mindfulness techniques on her blog, Mindfulness in Faith and Food.

Copyright © 2020 Mindfulness in Faith and Food.

Nutrition and Our Skin: Nutrition for Acne

In past posts, I have mentioned that I was surprised when I noticed my acne clear up after I simply changed my diet. This was an unexpected positive benefit, but why did my acne go away? How is nutrition and our skin related?

According to research three nutrition factors can make acne worse.

This Site contains Affiliate links (See full disclosure here)

1. Nutrition and Our Skin: High glycemic foods

According to several studies, including a randomized-controlled trial, eating more low glycemic load foods appears to improve acne (1, 2, 3).

So as for me, when I intentionally began limiting refined carbohydrates and refined and added sugar consumption, I was also decreasing the amount of glycemic load foods I was eating.

2. Nutrition and Our Skin: Dairy Foods

In several studies, including a recent meta-analysis, researchers found a link between dairy consumption, including whole milk, low-fat milk, and skim milk consumption and acne occurrence. Interestingly, the researchers found no association between yogurt and cheese consumption and acne (4).

3. Nutrition and Our Skin: Stress

Stress has been shown to increase the occurrence of acne, and although stress is not a food, you can eat foods that may help with stress. So since certain foods can help with stress (you can find more on that here and in The Nourishing Meal Builder), eating foods that help reduce stress and anxiety may indirectly help improve acne.

Incorporating mindfulness and mindful eating practices can also help us cope with stress. You can find all the details on mindful living and mindful eating in my faith-based mindfulness books including, Faith, Mindfulness, & Nutrition, The Nourishing Meal Builder.

On a personal note, eating more anti-anxiety foods and adding mindfulness and mindful eating techniques to my daily life may have been two other factors that appear to have helped with my acne.

4. Nutrition and Our Skin: Gut Health

Improving my gut health may have been at play in my life as well. Extensive research suggests that improving overall gut health by eating probiotics, prebiotics, and anti-inflammatory foods may help with stress and anxiety (I wrote a post that talks about this here). Moreover, early research shows probiotics may help reduce acne as well.

Nutrition and Our Skin: Nutrition for Wrinkles

According to research, a Mediterranean-style diet may protect our skin against wrinkles. One study followed subjects from different parts of the world to determine the connection between diet and sun damage. It was found that people with a diet high in vegetables, legume, olive oil, and fish had low risk of sun damage. Foods that increased wrinkling from the sun included butter, margarine, milk products, meat, carbohydrates, and sugar (5). Vitamin C intake appeared particularly important. Higher intakes of vitamin C are associated with better skin-aging appearance (6).

Learn more about what nutrition can do for your body in The Nourishing Meal Builder

The Nourishing Meal

How does nutrition and mindfulness help us live healthier, happier, more purposeful lives? Find out more in The Nourishing Meal Builder!

In the Nourishing Meal Builder books, you will get:

• An evidence-based list of foods that boost mood; promote cognitive function, focus, attention, alertness, and memory; support the immune system; aid in weight loss; reduce the risk of chronic diseases, autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, joint pain, and even seasonal allergies.
• A simple meal plan checklist that will help you eat balanced meals on a daily basis that fuels your mind, body, and spirit.
• A faith-based mindfulness and mindful eating guide.
• Printable Meal Builder cards.

About Lacy Ngo, MS, RDN and Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC

Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC focuses on how to live your healthiest, happiest, most meaningful life through faith-based mindfulness and evidence-based nutrition.
Several branches fall under the Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC umbrella. One is Mindful Vending, which is one of the few dietitian owned and operated vending companies in the nation!

Ngo is also a top expert in faith-based mindfulness and nutrition and is the author of several books including Faith, Mindfulness, & Nutrition, Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals and The Nourishing Meal Builder. You can also find evidence-based nutrition articles, recipes, convenient healthy snack lists, inspiring faith stories, and faith-based mindfulness techniques on her blog, Mindfulness in Faith and Food.

Copyright © 2017 Mindfulness in Faith and Food.

What are the Benefits of Faith-Based Mindfulness?

Mindfulness, and for me, especially faith-based mindfulness, can help with our moods, behaviors, and even our health! The benefits of mindfulness can not be overstated. (You can read more about the benefits of faith-based mindfulness here.)

In fact, mindfulness techniques are so beneficial that schools have even started implementing mindfulness programs. Although more research is needed, current research indicates that implementing Mindfulness programs in schools may improve social behaviors, mood, stress levels, and even academic performance and test scores. Schools are even reporting less suspensions, detentions, violent incidences, principal visits, bullying, and classroom disruptions since incorporating mindfulness programs!

This site contains affiliate links (See full disclosure here.)

Practicing mindfulness techniques can relieve stress and help us have better self-control. When we have less stress and learn to have more self-control, we tend to make better choices. Less ideal choices can sometimes cause even more stress, which brings us full circle. Furthermore, aren’t we better able to focus and learn when our brains are calm verses stressed? Mindfulness can help with stress and promote a more positive outlook on life. Less stress and more positivity promote better health. It’s all beautifully related.

So you can see how mindfulness activities can be so impactful, but for me, the most profound impact happens when I combine faith and mindfulness.

One aspect of mindfulness is about focusing on being present. But with faith-based mindfulness, you are focusing on how God is present with you in that very moment, and while focusing on God’s presence you get to notice all the gifts from God and the beautiful little things in God’s world.

Here is how my life has been transformed through faith-based mindfulness:

• I listen to God more. Listening to God helps me make better choices. I’m not letting negative emotions take control of my actions. (At least not as often, anyway)
• Now I am more at peace and comforted because I am noticing God is with me everywhere.
• I get to have more goose-bump-“I’m awe struck” moments because when I intentionally focus on God in the present moment, I actually see what God is doing in my life and the lives of others around me. By focusing on God in the present moment, I get to experience the feeling of amazement more often, and, again, I WANT TO BE AMAZED!!! (Don’t we all want to be beautifully amazed?)

You can read more about how faith-based mindfulness transformed my life in my book Faith, Mindfulness, & Nutrition

What Does a Faith-Based Mindfulness Day Look Like?

Mindfulness is about being in the present moment. The past is gone and the future has not happened, but the present is HERE and NOW.

Think about it. What do we spend most of our time stressing and worrying about?…The past and the future. Think about how much less stress we would have if we learned to focus on the present moment.

Mindful eating is about focusing on eating and enjoying every bite. Mindful living is about focusing and enjoying whatever you are doing in that moment. Mindfulness is also about having a grateful approach to life. When we are mindfully living, we focus on the positive and what we are thankful for in the present moment. For me, mindfulness is about focusing on God’s presence in our lives at every moment and focusing on the beauty in God’s world. Sounds simple right? Yeah, I know. It is a lot easier said than done. Sometimes we will still worry about the past and future, but fortunately mindfulness techniques can help us live in the present a little more often.

Hopefully we have established the characteristics of mindfulness, but how do we incorporate mindfulness into our daily lives?

A Day of Faith-Based Mindfulness

1. Pause, Pray, and Breath Before Entering a New Place

Pause…take a moment to breath and mindfully pray before entering a new environment and before eating. We will talk more about the prayer before eating later, but for now let’s focus on the pause before entering a new environment.

When I pray, I ask God to help me remember to show love and kindness in this current environment. I then thank God for being with me, and I pray that I hear and mindfully listen for God’s guidance while I am in this place. So pausing and praying before entering a new environment means, I pray on the way to my kids school, before entering the grocery store, or before entering my friend’s house, or going to a park. I pray before a family reunion or a meeting at work.

Another great place to pause and pray is at a red light. Instead of feeling impatient and bored while waiting for the light to change, try taking deep breaths and praying. Use the red light as a time to relax and be present. By doing this, we remember God is with us everywhere. By pausing, breathing, and praying, we can better focus on the moment and on God in every place.

This act helps keep us calm and comforted and helps us react in a more loving way in different situations.

This one pause was not only crucial for my nutritional health, but also in every aspect of my life. Yes, I pause before meals, but I also found that pausing before every new situation was crucial to my behavior, actions, and mood.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 talks about praying continuously. In a way, this pause throughout my day and before eating helps me pray more continuously.

But there is more. I also paused when I was feeling a strong emotion, and I began to notice the importance of pausing and praying when I felt angry, or before saying something difficult, or before even talking with my children. 

I noticed the importance of not only pausing and praying before meals and snacks, but also before bed and before getting up in the morning. When I forget to do this, I noticed the difference in MY actions and my strength to endure life.

On the days that I do a better job of pausing, I notice God’s presence and God’s guidance more. When I pause more, I feel like I am truly letting God lead me, and I am reminded that no matter what happens, God is right there. I can feel God’s presence in the very room with me, and I feel I have the strength to focus on God’s will instead of my emotions. We don’t have to rush into every situation, and we don’t have to rush to speak. We can and should PAUSE and take our time in life.

2. Use Your Senses to Focus on the Places and the People Around You

Once you have entered each new environment, place, or building, the next step is to focus on the people and the place you are in. In other words, use your senses to be present in the moment instead of thinking about all the things you have to do later. This is particularly important to me when I am with my children. Worrying about all that I have to do, doesn’t help me, and I miss out on beautiful moments with my kids. Why worry about things you can’t do anything about at that moment?

This is a hard one, but one we should continue to strive to achieve. I recently caught myself worrying instead of being present with my child. I was late for a meeting, and I was waiting on my daughter’s teacher to arrive so that I could leave for the meeting. While I was impatiently waiting, my 4-year-old daughter was twirling and giggling. I suddenly realized that I was missing out on what was right in front of me. I couldn’t do anything about being late so why should I worry?

At that moment, I stopped worrying and started twirling and giggling with my daughter. This moment of waiting ended up being a beautiful, special moment, all because I chose to live in the moment.

3. Practice Gratitude

When we approach life with a grateful attitude and look for the good in life, the benefits are endless. According to “Time Special Edition Mindfulness: The New Science of Health and Happiness,” gratitude practices have been associated with improved kidney function, reduction in blood pressure, decreased stress hormones, increased energy levels, and increased reports of happiness. When we focus on the positive aspects of life, we tend to have more compassion and kindness for others; thus, the circle of positivity continues. Now the person you showed kindness to may leave feeling more grateful and positive. Now they will be more likely to pass it on.

Do you know you can do some things that can help you have a more grateful attitude?

Gratitude Techniques:

Keep a gratitude journal is a helpful gratitude technique. Every night, write down what you were thankful for that day. Again, according to “Time Special Edition Mindfulness: The New Science of Health and Happiness,” even this small exercise is also helpful.

Don’t want to even write? Try this… You remember that moment you pause and pray before entering a new place? While you are praying, remember to thank God for something as well.

4. Make Time for Quiet Time

We all need to rest. We need time to clear our thoughts and feel the weight of responsibility lifted for a little while. When I take time to just relax in God’s presence, it feels like a chance to completely be myself with the only One who loves me unconditionally. The problems of the world are gone for a moment. I am safe, free, and at peace. My favorite ways to experience quiet time with God is through prayer, reading (either the Bible or uplifting faith books), and through journaling, which brings me to mindfulness technique number five…

5. Mindful Journaling

You can do three of these five techniques in one with journaling. You can practice gratitude, focus on God’s presence, and have quiet time all through mindful journaling. Keeping a journal has been a part of my life for years, but I truly saw the difference in my outlook on life when I focused on God and gratitude as I wrote.

Things to Include in your Mindful Journal:

• All the positive things about the day (what you are grateful for)
• Written prayers or letters to God
• Any lessons you learned through either your experiences, reading, or Bible studies
• Any questions you have about life
• God moment stories: These are stories about when you notice God working in your life. One cool thing about taking the time to mindfully notice God’s presence every day is that you…well… notice God’s presence regularly.

Since I started mindfully taking the time to notice God in the present moment, I have had so many “goose-bump” God moments. These are those moments that I think, ‘oh I will remember this,’ but as time passes, I find I can’t remember the details. Before including these God moment stories in my journal, I would remember something pretty cool happened, but I couldn’t bring the vague memory to the surface in my mind.

By including these God moment stories in my journal, I solidify these events to my memory, and if I do forget, I can look at my journal and experience the awe and wonder all over again.

(P.S. You can find some of my “God Moment” stories on my “Inspiring Faith Stories” Pinterest Board)

6. Mindful Eating

As mentioned earlier, mindful eating is yet another time to pause from the day and focus on God, feel grateful, and enjoy a peaceful experience. When I mindfully focus on God’s presence while eating, I do much less overeating. In fact, I like to say a little prayer before I eat.

As I pray, I think about 1 Corinthians 10:31 which says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

My prayer before I eat goes something like this, “God, thank you so much for this food. Thank you for this time that I have to sit and enjoy the food you have given me. I want to eat for the glory of You, God.”

After saying this prayer, I enjoy my food, and I enjoy my time eating in God’s presence.

And there you have it; six mindfulness exercises you can incorporate into your day.

You can find a step-by-step guide to faith-based mindful eating in my faith-based mindfulness books, including 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life

Lacy Ngo, MS, RDN, the owner of Mindfulness in Faith, LLC, is one of the top experts in faith-based mindfulness and nutrition. Ngo is the author of several books including 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life, The Nourishing Meal Builder,  The Nourishing Meal Builder: the Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Edition, and Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals.

This article has been updated and was adapted from 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. This unique book was written by Lacy Ngo, a dietitian nationally recognized as a top expert in faith-based mindfulness and evidence-based nutrition. She shares the exact steps that, based on science, produce the most dramatic health and weight loss success in her book, 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. This book is like nothing you have ever seen before. It combines faith and science. Both are crucial when it comes to producing real change because real change involves the mind, body, and spirit. 

Copyright © 2019 Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC

The Benefits of Mindful Eating

Did you know learning to pause and pray is what finally helped me (a dietitian) stop overeating! Faith-based mindful eating gives us the opportunity to focus on God’s presence, feel gratitude for God’s gift of food, and rest our brain! We get to have mini mindfulness moments with God EVERY. TIME. WE. EAT!

This site contains affiliate links (See full disclosure here.)

With mindful breathing, we are pausing and centering out minds on one thing- breathing. When we are mindfully eating, we are still pausing and centering our brain on one thing, but this time that one thing is eating. With faith-based mindful eating, we are resting our brain by focusing on God and the food God provided.

Some of the Other Benefits Are

Weight Loss

Although I would like to encourage you to focus on the other benefits because all sizes can be healthy, I do want to quickly mention that weight loss can be one benefit to mindful eating. However, remember some people are naturally smaller and some naturally weigh more. We have different builds and genetics. Plus, other things like medications, medical conditions, and even uncontrollable seasons in life can affect weight. 

But I also don’t want you to feel that wanting to lose weight is somehow wrong. You may want to see if weight loss will help you have more energy or help with a medical condition. Maybe you feel like you could keep up with your children more if you carried less weight or maybe you want to see if weight loss can help with joint pain.

There are reasons you may desire weight loss, and fortunately mindful eating can help with weight loss while also helping you stop that food obsessing often associated with dieting.   Mindful eating helps you feel full and notice your hunger/satiety cues. Moreover, the desire to binge decreases because you are actually enjoying your food ALL THE TIME.

Although, mindful eating is so much more than weight loss and weight loss is not the general focus, I still want you to know all the possible outcomes of mindful eating and one outcome can be weight loss. In fact, I lost 50 pounds, myself, through mindful eating!

Relieves Stress

Mindful eating is a stress reliever. Making time for mediation or quiet time can help reduce stress, but when you are super busy you can make eating a time to de-stress by eating mindfully. Mindfulness is about slowing down and calming your brain. When you meditate you center your thoughts. When you mindfully eat, you center your thoughts on eating. You try to focus on eating and nothing else. You eat slowly and taste your food.  In other words, mindful eating is a time to de-stress in a busy world.

Did you know that stress feeds harmful bacteria in our gut? Stress, alone, can cause inflammation, decrease immune function, cause weight gain, and increase your risk for many chronic conditions so you can see, yet again, how mindful eating promotes a healthy mind, body, and spirit.

Mindful Eating and Gut Health

Mindful eating can aid in digestion. How? Although most digestive enzymes are released in the stomach, digestion actually starts in the mouth. One enzyme, called Salivary Amylase, is released in the mouth. This enzyme starts breaking down carbohydrates. In fact, if you let a piece of bread sit in your mouth for a moment, you may notice a sweeter taste. That taste occurs because the more complex carbohydrate is breaking down into a simpler sugar. Chewing thoroughly helps with digestion because digestion starts in the mouth! Plus, chewing thoroughly gives the enzymes in your stomach more surface area to do their work, which again promotes healthy digestion and absorption.

May Reduce the Risk of Chronic Disease

These reasons, along with the ability to relieve stress, are how mindful eating can aid in digestion. Remember, poor gut health is related to inflammation and reduced immune function. Gut health, inflammation, and immunity are all linked to many condition including IBS, Crohn’s, Autoimmune Disease, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke, brain function and focus, mood and even depression and anxiety, to name a few. So anything that promotes a healthy gut is something worth looking into in my book. (Fortunately, a mindful eating guide IS included in my book!)

Do you remember those astonishing people from the Blue Zones? Interestingly, along with following similar diet patterns, the people in these Blue Zone tend to naturally practice mindful eating and are in tune with their hunger as well! Hmm, perhaps they really are onto something!

You can find an in-depth step-by-step guide to mindful eating in The Nourishing Meal Builder.

This article has been updated and was adapted from 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. This unique book was written by Lacy Ngo, a dietitian nationally recognized as a top expert in faith-based mindfulness and evidence-based nutrition. She shares the exact steps that, based on science, produce the most dramatic health and weight loss success in her book, 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. This book is like nothing you have ever seen before. It combines faith and science. Both are crucial when it comes to producing real change because real change involves the mind, body, and spirit. 

Lacy Ngo, MS, RDN, the owner of Mindfulness in Faith, LLC, is one of the top experts in faith-based mindfulness and nutrition. Ngo is the author of several books including 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life, The Nourishing Meal Builder,  The Nourishing Meal Builder: the Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Edition, and Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals.

Copyright © 2019 Mindfulness in Faith and Food.

Faith-based mindful eating can have a positive impact on our stress levels, our gut health, and even our body weight (although weight loss is a benefit, I talk in my books about why I try not to focus on weight loss). Since mindful eating has a positive impact on our gut health and may have the ability to help with stress, mindful eating may also indirectly reduce the risk of chronic disease as well. And with mindful eating, we get to enjoy our food every time we eat!

For me, faith-based mindful eating was even more impactful than just mindful eating alone. Faith-based mindful eating gives us the opportunity to focus on God’s presence, feel gratitude for God’s gift of food, and rest our brain! We get to have mini mindfulness moments with God EVERY. TIME. WE. EAT!

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Use these steps below to get started with faith-based mindful eating.

Steps to Faith-Based Mindful Eating

Step 1: Preparing your Food

When preparing, avoid mindlLESSly tasting and nibbling while you are cooking. Instead focus on the joy of cooking. When you are sautéing vegetable, for example, focus simply on stirring your vegetable. Notice the color of the food, the feeling of the spoon in your hand, and the way the food swirls in the skillet. Think of all the beautiful nourishment in the food you are creating, and thank God for the food and the opportunity to create something delicious and nourishing.

Step 2: Plating your Food

When plating your food, be conscious of how much you are plating. PAUSE and ask yourself is this a reasonable amount of food? Think about a nourishing satisfying plate vs. an over-the-top plate. How does your plate compare? Before sitting down, PAUSE to make sure you were not mindlessly piling on the food. Remember, pausing is the major piece to the mindful eating process. Enjoy the process of plating your food.

Step 3: Eating your Food

Remember to sit down and eat from a plate. Before putting a bite in your mouth, PAUSE. Really notice the food. Thank God for this time to enjoy your food. Notice the color, textures, and smells before your first bite. Continue to do this for every bite. This is your chance to decompress and enjoy your food. Let go of the stresses of the day and focus on the bite of food in your mouth. Put your fork down between each bite. Prepare the next bite after you have swallowed and taken a sip of drink. Take a sip of drink between each bite. During the meal, PAUSE occasionally to notice if you are full and ask yourself questions.

Ask questions like “Am I full?”; “How does this bite taste?”; “Am I enjoying my food?” Asking these questions helps you stay mindfully aware throughout the meal. You will be surprised at how full and satisfied you will be on the appropriate amount of food for your body. The key is pausing before you put food into your mouth. Listen to your body.

Learn more about Faith-Based Mindful Eating

Try these three steps to having a faith-based mindful eating experience now. You can find more in-depth faith-based mindful eating strategies in 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life.

This article is written by Lacy Ngo, a dietitian nationally recognized as a top expert in faith-based mindfulness and evidence-based nutrition. She shares the exact steps that, based on science, produce the most dramatic health and weight loss success in her book, 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. This book is like nothing you have ever seen before. It combines faith and science. Both are crucial when it comes to producing real change because real change involves the mind, body, and spirit. 

Lacy Ngo, MS, RDN, the owner of Mindfulness in Faith, LLC, is one of the top experts in faith-based mindfulness and nutrition. Ngo is the author of several books including 18 weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life, The Nourishing Meal Builder,  The Nourishing Meal Builder: the Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Edition, Faith, Mindfulness, & Nutrition, and Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals.

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Copyright © 2019 Mindfulness in Faith and Food.