Mindfulness for Permanent Weight Loss By MJ Allen S ince my article in the last issue of ELMTM Maine, I have been


asked by several of you how to incorporate mindfulness to lose weight. The simple answer is to be present when you are consuming food. One of the techniques of mindfulness is to scan the body to see how you feel throughout your body without trying to change whatever is there or to expect relaxation….it is to feel what there is to feel without judging. For example, close your eyes, focus on your breath and begin scanning your body from your feet to the crown of your head. If you encounter an area such as your shoulders holding some tightness or tension, you don’t try to change the tension or even try to understand where it is coming from…you simply note that it exists and move the scan to your neck and head. This is not a time to say to yourself “I should relax” or “that tightness is causing my shoulder joint to ache”.


When you employ mindfulness techniques to food consump- tion, first start with scanning the body…are you actually hungry? Are you eating because you are bored, upset, anxious or angry? By being present with the answer, you know whether you are eating for a reason other than hunger or sabotaging your healthy relation- ship with food. From there you have choices…continue to eat, step away from the food, or choose something different.


The Marshmallow Experiment Walter Mischel’s Marshmallow Study of the 1960s at Stan-


ford University explains the phenomena wonderfully. During his experiments, Mischel and his team tested hundreds of children — most of them around the ages of 4 and 5 years old — and revealed what is now believed to be one of the most important characteris- tics for success in health, work, and life.


16 ELM™ Maine - January/February 2018


The experiment began by bringing each child into a private room, sitting them down in a chair, and placing a marshmallow on the table in front of them. At this point, the researcher offered a deal to the child.


The researcher told the child that he was going to leave the room and that if the child did not eat the marshmallow while he was away, then they would be rewarded with a second marshmal- low. However, if the child decided to eat the first one before the researcher came back, then they would not get a second marsh- mallow. So, the choice was simple: one treat right now or two treats later. The researcher left the room for 15 minutes.


As you can imagine, the footage of the children waiting alone


in the room was rather entertaining. Some kids jumped up and ate the first marshmallow as soon as the researcher closed the door. Others wiggled and bounced and scooted in their chairs as they tried to restrain themselves, but eventually gave in to temptation a few minutes later. And finally, a few of the children did manage to wait the entire time. It’s great to watch replications of the study and you can view some on Youtube!!


As the years rolled on and the children grew up, the research- ers conducted follow up studies and tracked each child's progress in a number of areas. What they found was surprising. The chil- dren who were willing to delay gratification and waited to receive the second marshmallow ended up having higher SAT scores, lower levels of substance abuse, lower likelihood of obesity, better responses to stress, better social skills as reported by their parents and generally better scores in a range of other life measures.


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