Maggie (Host): Welcome to Total Health Talks, your cookcountyhealth.org/podcast, where we empower your journey to better health. I'm your host Maggie McKay, and today we're going to talk with dietician if Gua Evans about mindful eating and healthy coping skills. Thank you so much for being here today. Nice to meet you.

Evgeniya Evans: Thank you so much for having me here. I'm thrilled to share my expertise with you all.

Maggie (Host): Let's start with what exactly is mindful eating? I have to say I've never heard that term.

Evgeniya Evans: great question. So mindful eating is coming from a broader mindfulness concept, which is coming from Zen Buddhism and means bringing full nonjudgmental awareness. To the present moment. So when applied to eating, it pretty much means paying attention to your physical, mental, emotional state and removing the, judgment from the moment in bringing, curiosity and self-compassion to it.

Maggie (Host): is there real scientific evidence that mindful eating works? what line of changes happens in the brain or the body when we eat more mindfully?

Evgeniya Evans: yes, absolutely. More and more studies are coming up, um, on that topic. And yes, at this point I can say there is a strong evidence of the benefits of mindful eating for our health. Uh. Total health. I would say mental and physical. So research shows that mindful eating helps with improving emotional eating.

disordered eating patterns and specifically binge eating like it's a true eating disorder. it helps with overeating, it does improve blood sugar control, for those with pre-diabetes or diabetes, and generally it brings more positivity and enjoyment into our eating experiences, which is incredibly important. Lastly, it does help with successful weight management as we know.

People usually do not have problem with losing weight, but the sustaining that weight loss becomes challenging and mindful eating can be a very helpful tool with that. So, the second part of your question, what happens physiologically? we are basically shifting from. fight and flight, response of our body to rest and digest response.

So we calm in our nervous system, we increase in the satisfaction and, we even feel fuller with our meals when we are bringing more mindfulness in our eating experiences. So a lot of benefits not only for physiology, but also for emotional state.

Maggie (Host): So some might say that this sounds a little bit abstract. What is the simplest way to explain how to eat mindfully?

Evgeniya Evans: Excellent question because This is the last thing. I want people feeling that it's, oh, it's too difficult or too abstract or too fancy. I teach classes on that at least once a month where I try to. Make it as little obstruct as possible. So have three strategists of mindful eating, which I typically introduce my patient's to.

and broadly, those three strategists are number one looking outward. Basically assessing your environment, checking what's going on. Am I rushed? Am I distracted? Am I eating in front of tv? What's going on? Do I have any environmental triggers? What is my environment for success? And what is my environment for failure, In terms of my health goals?

Number two, looking inward where we are trying to, learn better our body signals, our hunger levels, our satiety, our energy levels, our emotional state. So it's definitely, shift you from autopilot. To like getting more in tuned with a beautiful instrument of your body. And the third strategy is one of my favorite ones where we actually pour in all our attention to the food we eat.

We have five senses And we can experience our food with all of them. This is the third, strategy where we trying to bring more. Awareness, removing judgment, and just becoming very, very curious about the process of eating. so those three are basically practical strategies of mindful eating. When people asking me what mindful eating is, I'm like, okay, three things you can be doing.

And that kind of reduces that abstractness of the term.

Maggie (Host): It sounds doable for sure. can mindful eating be taught to family members or kids?

Evgeniya Evans: absolutely. Mindful eating is for everyone. Actually kids, especially well respond to mindful eating just because they're naturally more curious and they don't have this preliminary knowledge of what should be on your plate, how much, and All this burden we have as adults with years of education and dieting sometimes.

So simple activities like describe the colors on your plate, the textures, the smells, can be fun and educational with children, right? we can also ask our child to, chat a little bit more about. Fullness, sensation or hunger sensation or energy levels, that can be something very helpful for children to learn, to pay attention to.

With adults, though, I would, suggest being. Non preachy and focusing more on shared positive experiences to not bring mindful eating as another rule to the table. So maybe starting with a shared gratitude practice for the meal we have, or just slowing down or creating an environment where you light a candle, at the dinner table, which kind of brings everyone, towards.

together as, and focused on the mealtime rather than other interruptions we may have.

Maggie (Host): That all sounds like very good advice. do I have to be a monk or a vegan or give up enjoyable foods to practice mindful eating?

Evgeniya Evans: no, you do not have to give up anything. Mindful eating is more of how we eat. Some people refer to it as a art of eating rather than what we eat. So unless you choose to be vegan, you don't have to enjoy only plant-based foods with mindfulness. you can, enjoy animal foods, cultural foods, less healthful foods in your, opinion.

It's all can be done mindfully. The most important thing, it's not about restriction, it's about freedom and curiosity and paying attention to how you feel after, before eating. Over time though, with more and more mindfulness around eating people, gravitate towards healthier options actually. That's how that weight management is happening and normalization of eating behaviors happens.

How. The magic behind all this mindfulness, just because, we start paying attention to what makes us feel better, how we feel more energized. And people do tend to choose more a whole food based foods, more plant reach foods, but it comes from true alignment rather than restriction or deprivation.

And This is the goal. This is the, the secret, the secret sauce.

Maggie (Host): I think, you really notice it when you give up sugar And then maybe you have a little sugar, like a little cupcake or something and you just feel not good. I wasn't eating it for a while, And then I had literally a little mini cupcake and I, afterwards I just felt like, eh, lethargic.

And I thought, why? I'm like, oh my gosh. A little tiny bit of sugar when you're not used to it. Maybe that might've been it, but you mentioned some strategies. what's your favorite mindful eating strategy or exercise and why?

Evgeniya Evans: Yeah. I'll get to this, but thank you for sharing your personal experience because This is exactly mindfulness. You just paid attention to how you feel afterwards and instead of being judgemental with like. This is so horrible. I can never have this cupcake. You have this freedom in your mind.

I can have it any time. I just need to be intentional. I know how it'll make me feel. So I need to know, can I afford this or not? Like, will I start my day with that if I have a full day of work and, and, you know, podcasts to record.

so my favorite mindful eating exercise, oh my God, they all like my children. I love them all. But, um. Probably the third strategy of, bringing the full awareness to the eating. I typically use a classical raisin eating exercise developed by, John Kein. where we eat a small piece of food that initially started with raisin, but typically in my classes I use either a small berry, like a blueberry or almond or a small piece of chocolate, something really easy, portable, And we just experience this tiny bit of food.

With all the senses, with the smell And the texture and how it looks. And we imagine that we were just dropped on this planet with no knowledge about this food before, And we just exploring it. And it takes out about four or five minutes to go through this practice of smelling, touching, tasting it.

And then it becomes, for many of my patient's, it becomes very liberating because they learn that they can get so much satisfaction from eating such a tiny piece. Of something. And then we learning how to apply it to foods which we are sometimes afraid of because we feel like, oh, I always over, over eat this chips or this sweets or this or that.

and by knowing that you are actually in control, if you truly taste it and allowing the full experience. be there without judgment, without fear. Just, just be there. it becomes profound. Not for everyone. Some people just read it and say, I didn't notice anything. But people do say a lot that it's dramatically different than the typical way they eat, because we eat, when we drive, we eat, when we do other things.

And this like. Five minutes of a full attention to this tiny bit of food is quite eye-opening. So, it. That is why it's probably one of my favorites.

Maggie (Host): who tends to benefit the most from mindful eating.

Evgeniya Evans: I would say. Most people would benefit because as you remember, I mentioned that the scientific evidence is pretty robust. Anyone who is interested in weight management, have any, disordered eaten patterns. It doesn't have to be eaten disorders, a diagnosis, it can be just, occasional overeating or undereating or eating on autopilot.

You can already benefit from this, mindful eating strategy. But generally, someone who feels truly disconnected from their bodies. Would benefit the most people who get stuck in the diet cycle, I call them chronic dieters, they always searching for new trend, for new diet. And I think sometimes just, learning about mindful eating and learning to trust your body again can be very, very helpful.

in anyone with, what sugar problems. Pre-diabetes. Diabetes, we have quite a bit of evidence that it can be beneficial with balancing your, glucose levels.

Maggie (Host): And how often do I need to practice mindful eating to see a real change?

Evgeniya Evans: Oh, practice. So consistency is the key, as with many things in our lives. I would say since we eat. Multiple times a day, every day. And there is no way around that. you don't have to do it at every meal. This is the bottom line. You can do it once, twice per day.

You can do it every other day, but more you practice easier. It becomes, it's like with meditation, it's not about quantity, it's about quality of that time. Just as long as you come back and allow yourself to. experience it again, you will build that muscle until it become stronger and stronger, And then it'll be something natural your body is asking.

having a screen on like a, a loud music or something will feel disruptive while you eating. You will want naturally lean towards more calm experience because you will notice that it actually increases the enjoyment of your food. And helps you to connect with your body better.

Maggie (Host): can I eat my favorite less healthy foods mindfully, or is that missing the point altogether?

Evgeniya Evans: less healthy foods mindfully. Absolutely. And you actually should eat less healthy foods mindfully. Yes. It'll, it'll help you with enjoyment. Yes. We kind of touched upon that already when I educate my patient's on the proper nourishment on what to eat, and only then we kind of transition to how to eat to the mindfulness component.

I always bring in that 80 20 rules so that yes, our buddies are function best, on like a good. Nutrition. Right. But it should be about 80%, the bulk of your nourishment. Right. But we always have to keep this 2015 to like 25% of food for fun because food is way more than just fuel.

It's connection, it's love, it's experience, it's culture, right? So we have to have those fun foods, less healthful foods for different people. Those are different things. And we should learn how to, enjoy them mindfully. So you get more positive experiences and remove the guilt from that experience. Yeah.

Maggie (Host): I want sort a trainer say during the holidays since we're in it. you don't have to overeat. You could have like. Two bites of everything. Try everything but just a little amount and just don't gobble it up. Just enjoy it and savor it. And I thought that's a good way to go on holidays.

'cause you know, you wanna try it all. what other mindfulness or wellbeing practices can help somebody become better at mindful eating?

Evgeniya Evans: Yes. I just wanted to, say something about the holiday. Many people come to our classes And our classes are on, like generally, weight management and health. and they saying, oh, but it's a holiday season. It's so hard to improve anything right now. How can I enjoy my Thanksgiving without.

You know, guilt and I'm saying we are introducing you to the principles to build in your plate around plant rich, fiber rich foods, And the balance. So you can absolutely use a ho holiday table, as a bar for building that nourishing plate where my vegetables, where's my protein, where's my complex carbs?

Do I have a flavor from beautiful fats? do I feel satisfied? And then you can apply all those. Mindfulness strategist, what's my hunger? How do I feel emotionally? It's actually very easy during holidays and you absolutely can try anything else. Just make sure you do, keep in mind, okay.

Did I give my body some things for nourishment? Because, I'm strongly against of the, like, I'm fasting all day because I have a big event at night and I'll eat it all. This is so not kind. So give yourself nourishment and still still enjoy those foods. Just be a little bit more mindful around it.

other practices to support mindful eating. anything mindfulness. It can be deep breathing. Yoga exercises, short meditations. One of my favorite is gratitude practice when just nightly or every morning you check in with what's going well in my life? What am I grateful for? Can be something small or something big.

You can do it even once a week. not even every day, but gratitude is good and journaling is good. It can be food journaling where you just know that, oh, I had breakfast, lunch, dinner, I felt this or that. Or it can be just general journaling where you. Get little check-ins with your state of being, you express yourself.

Those are all mindfulness practices. Also, I want to say that since mindfulness, it's a brilliant full awareness to the, present moment. you can do anything mindful. It can be mindful grocery shopping, mindful listen in, mindful dish washing. You can wash your dishes mindfully while just focusing on the sensations and thinking about the act itself and finding positive and just being curious about things.

So yes, plenty of things you can do, in addition to eating mindfully.

Maggie (Host): All good ideas. What are the biggest misconceptions or myths about mindful eating that you wish more people understood?

Evgeniya Evans: Biggest misconceptions. number one, that mindful eating is only for those who meditate. Yes, it's not true. It's for all humans. You don't have to be a, a long-term meditator. You can be, or yoga practitioner, you don't have to. Right? Mindful eating can be your first mindfulness practice you ever try in your life.

Another thing, we kind of briefly talked about it already. mindful eating is only for plant-based eaters, not necessarily because we know it can be aligned with any dietary pattern. and lastly, what I hear often that, ah, mindful eating is just slow eating. Well, it's not exactly just a slow eating.

Speed is one tool, as we discussed, but it also about bringing this full awareness and removing the judgment, right? Bringing that curiosity, compassion, love, positivity into the experiences. So. Not only slow eating, I would say it's more complex and more fun than that.

Maggie (Host): For somebody who's starting their journey toward a better relationship with food, what is one small step that you recommend beginning with.

Evgeniya Evans: Yes. One small step. That will be my recommendation. Don't try to involve the whole ocean right away with like, okay, now I'm becoming so, so mindful. in everything, I would say just pick one practice, which is most aligned With yourself, You know, maybe sitting down more when you eat.

maybe turning off screens at one or two meals your day. Maybe redesigning your environment a little bit more. And now, having little bit nicer, a dining table where you light your candle before dinner or you have little bit more organized area at work or something just cannot. Treat respectfully your environment of eating.

If you feel stressed around eating and you feel like, oh, I'm not in control, or, there is something can be happening, maybe. Taking a few cycles of breathing before you eat. So again, bringing a little bit more awareness and intention into your eating experiences will be great. But start small baby steps.

small consistent steps add up. That's what I see in my practice and that's what actually signs also supports.

Maggie (Host): Is there anything else you'd like to add today? Maybe a resource for people to tap into that could help their wellness journey.

Evgeniya Evans: Well, in addition to listening to all Total Health, episodes, I would recommend, people visit Cook County Health Food as a medicine webpage. It highlights nutrition and food resources available through Cook County Health Insurance plans, like County Care and Community Partners. you can find a lot of great information there, which will help us to stay well and healthy.

Maggie (Host): it's a good reminder as we approach the new year, you know, always a good reset. Sometimes you just need to be reminded of healthy things to do. So thank you so much for sharing your expertise today. This has been so interesting and informative. We really appreciate your time.

Evgeniya Evans: And thank you so much Maggie and your team for this opportunity. It was truly a joyful experience.

Maggie (Host): Absolutely. I agree. Again, that's Ifgenia Evans. As we wrap up another insightful episode of Total Health Talks. Make sure to visit cook county health.org/podcast and subscribe to our podcast, share and connect with us on social media. Stay tuned for more engaging discussions. This is Maggie McKay signing off from Total Health Talks.

Stay well.