Learn the three red flags of mindfulness and mindful eating so you can unpack it from diet culture. Get clarity on how mindfulness relates to mindful eating. Learn how mindful eating can unpack internalized bias surrounding diabetes distress, burnout, as well as disordered eating, weight, body image, and oppression.

 Welcome!

My name is Megrette Fletcher, MEd, RD, CDCES and I am delighted that you are joining me for this course. Mindful eating is near and dear to me because in 2005 I wrote my first book, Discover Mindful Eating. It is the book that started my mindful eating journey. In 2006, I became a co-founder of The Center for Mindful Eating, TCME.org.

I went on to write The Core Concepts of Mindful Eating, Discover Mindful Eating for Kids, and Eat What You Love Love What You Eat with Diabetes with Dr. Michelle May. All of these books focus on being and returning to the present moment when eating. Since 2006, mindful eating has become a term used in weight-centric programs. In fact the term mindfulness is used in everything and it seems like you can be mindful of your financial situation, diet, exercise, mood, in short of everything. Yet is it true? This program will help you learn what are the red flags to mindful eating and how can you include mindful eating in your diabetes training without reinforcing diet culture? You know diets don’t work, but how do you separate mindful eating from dieting, especially when your client says, “I heard the trick was to eat mindfully and I won’t crave sweets,” what do you say? 

Learning Objectives

• Identify two red flags surrounding mindful eating
• Identify three ways mindfulness and mindful eating are related
• Engage in counseling role-play

Megrette Fletcher has no conflicts to disclose.

Timed Outline

1-5 minutes: Defining Mindfulness, and mindful eating. 

5-10 minutes: 3 Common Red Flags of Mindful Eating

11-20 minutes: Understanding the root of mindfulness. How to dismantle the belief that Mindful Eating is an instruction instead of awareness building practice.

21-30 minutes: How Mindful eating helps unpack internalized bias for people with elevated blood sugar.

31-40 minutes: How to avoid the binary either/or choice regarding food, and mindful eating in diabetes care.

41-50 minutes: Case Study: Working with a client with diabetes

51-60 minutes: Question and Answer comparing mindful eating with other nutrition teaching models. 

References:

“Mindful Eating Questionnaire Sample - Fred Hutch.” Mindful Eating Questionnaire, https://www.fredhutch.org/content/dam/www/research/divisions/public-health-sciences/nutrition-assessment/mindful-eating-questionnaire-sample.pdf. 

Winkens, Laura H.H., et al. “The Mindful Eating Behavior Scale: Development and Psychometric Properties in a Sample of Dutch Adults Aged 55 Years and Older.” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vol. 118, no. 7, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2018.01.015. 

Center for Mindful Eating, The. “The Center for Mindful Eating.” The Center for Mindful Eating - Principles of Mindful Eating, https://thecenterformindfuleating.org/Principles-Mindful-Eating. 

Neff, Kristin. “Self CompassionCompassion.” Self-Compassion, 23 Sept. 2022, https://self-compassion.org/.