INFOGRAPHICWELL-BEING

Use Mindful Eating to Manage Your Weight and Enjoy Your Food More

Reviewed by Claudia Levi, R.N.
May 14, 2025
How Mindfulness Can Change the Way You Eat Mindfulness is an awareness of yourself and your surroundings in the present moment, without judgment. What Is Mindful Eating? Mindful eating means eating with intention and attention. That includes: Listening to your body’s cues of hunger and fullness Eating only when you’re truly hungry Eliminating or minimizing distractions while eating Tuning into the ambiance, as well as the flavors, smells, temperature, and texture of the food Meeting your body’s needs by choosing food that is nourishing and/or satisfying Eating with intent to feel better when you’re finished than you did when you started —Michelle May, M.D., author of <i>Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle</i> How Mindful Eating Can Benefit Your Health Promotes Healthy Weight Eating mindfully can help you maintain a healthy body weight, according to research. Distracted eating, like snacking in front of the TV, is associated with higher body mass index (BMI). Decreases Emotional Eating Mindfulness skills combined with self-compassion exercises may help you eat for true hunger satisfaction rather than emotional reasons. Emotional eating can contribute to overeating, weight gain, and lower mood. Helps Prevent Binge Eating Among people with binge eating disorder, mindful eating has helped reduce episodes of binge eating, improving overall eating habits and quality of life. Improves Body Image For those who experience body image dissatisfaction, eating mindfully may help reduce these uncomfortable feelings. Helps with Better Digestion Practicing mindfulness when you eat may help you experience better digestion and fewer stomach discomforts. Encourages Better Heart Health People who are more mindful tend to have better cardiovascular health, including healthier blood pressure levels. Improves Nutrition People who practice more mindful eating tend to eat healthier diets overall. Lifts Mood Mindful eating may also decrease stress and is associated with better mood. Teens who eat based on their hunger cues tend to experience less depression, disordered eating, and other psychological effects in adulthood, a study suggests. Encourages Better Blood Sugar Control Learning to eat mindfully is effective in reducing excess weight and regulating blood sugar (glucose) levels for adults with type 2 diabetes. 5 Tips for Mindful Eating Try these practical suggestions to eat appropriate amounts and enjoy your food more each day. 1. Take a Moment Before Diving In Before you start eating, pause to get in touch with how you feel. Rushed? Sad? Bored? Determine whether you’re actually hungry. 2. Sit at the Table Sit down and focus on the meal. Try to avoid eating while standing or driving, which can encourage mindless or distracted eating. 3. Turn Off Screens Likewise, avoid watching TV or looking at a computer or phone while eating. Be present and attentive to your meal. 4. Resign from the Clean Plate Club It’s okay to leave a few bites, or to pack up some of the meal for later. Follow what your hunger cues are telling you. 5. Slow Down and Savor Chew slowly, observing the texture, flavor, and aroma of your food, as well as how much you’re enjoying it. Notice when you’re satisfied. Practices that Go Hand in Hand Exercise Regular physical activity helps to support mindful eating, in part because it helps decrease stress that can contribute to emotional eating. Yoga A regular yoga practice is another excellent way to practice mindfulness skills that you can apply to your eating habits. Mindfulness Meditation Meditation is another way to foster our ability to be mindful. A study published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that practicing mindfulness meditation can temper the stress response, helping to limit unhealthy food cravings and stress-related overeating that contributes to weight gain. SOURCES American Psychological Association. Mindfulness. Accessed February 12, 2025. Cherpak, C.E. (2019). Mindful Eating: A Review of How the Stress-Digestion-Mindfulness Triad May Modulate and Improve Gastrointestinal and Digestive Function. Integrative Medicine. Demirbas, N., et al. (2021). The Relationship between Mindful Eating and Body Mass Index and Body Compositions in Adults. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. Donofry, S.D., et al. (2020). Relationship between Dispositional Mindfulness, Psychological Health, and Diet Quality among Healthy Midlife Adults. Nutrients. Fernandes V., et al. (2023). How Does the Level of Physical Activity Influence Eating Behavior? A Self-Determination Theory Approach. Life. Hazzard, V.M., et al. (2020). Intuitive eating longitudinally predicts better psychological health and lower use of disordered eating behaviors: findings from EAT 2010–2018. Eating and Weight Disorders. Kaiser Permanente. Mindfulness: A lasting approach to healthy eating. August 2024. Loucks E.B., et al. (2023). Adapted Mindfulness Training for Interoception and Adherence to the DASH Diet: A Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. Minari T.P., et al. (2024). Effects of Mindful Eating in Patients with Obesity and Binge Eating Disorder. Nutrients. Morillo-Sarto, H., et al. (2022). ‘Mindful eating’ for reducing emotional eating in patients with overweight or obesity in primary care settings: A randomized controlled trial. European Eating Disorders Review. Muñoz-Mireles, G., et al. (2023). Mindful Eating as a Tool for Diabetes Prevention and Management: A Review of Potential Mechanisms of Action. Mindfulness. Tapper, K. (2022). Mindful eating: What we know so far. Nutrition Bulletin. Torske, A., et al. (2024). Mindfulness meditation modulates stress-eating and its neural correlates. Nature. Van Meer, F., et al. (2022). Daily distracted consumption patterns and their relationship with BMI. Appetite.

For a text version of this infographic, read on:

How Mindfulness Can Change the Way You Eat

Mindfulness is an awareness of yourself and your surroundings in the present moment, without judgment.

What Is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating means eating with intention and attention. That includes:

  • Listening to your body’s cues of hunger and fullness

  • Eating only when you’re truly hungry

  • Eliminating or minimizing distractions while eating

  • Tuning into the ambiance, as well as the flavors, smells, temperature, and texture of the food

  • Meeting your body’s needs by choosing food that is nourishing and/or satisfying

  • Eating with intent to feel better when you’re finished than you did when you started

—Michelle May, M.D., author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle

How Mindful Eating Can Benefit Your Health

Promotes Healthy Weight

Eating mindfully can help you maintain a healthy body weight, according to research.

Distracted eating, like snacking in front of the TV, is associated with higher body mass index (BMI).

Decreases Emotional Eating

Mindfulness skills combined with self-compassion exercises may help you eat for true hunger satisfaction rather than emotional reasons. Emotional eating can contribute to overeating, weight gain, and lower mood.

Helps Prevent Binge Eating

Among people with binge eating disorder, mindful eating has helped reduce episodes of binge eating, improving overall eating habits and quality of life.

Improves Body Image

For those who experience body image dissatisfaction, eating mindfully may help reduce these uncomfortable feelings.

Helps with Better Digestion

Practicing mindfulness when you eat may help you experience better digestion and fewer stomach discomforts.

Encourages Better Heart Health

People who are more mindful tend to have better cardiovascular health, including healthier blood pressure levels.

Improves Nutrition

People who practice more mindful eating tend to eat healthier diets overall.

Lifts Mood

Mindful eating may also decrease stress and is associated with better mood.

Teens who eat based on their hunger cues tend to experience less depression, disordered eating, and other psychological effects in adulthood, a study suggests.

Encourages Better Blood Sugar Control

Learning to eat mindfully is effective in reducing excess weight and regulating blood sugar (glucose) levels for adults with type 2 diabetes.

5 Tips for Mindful Eating

Try these practical suggestions to eat appropriate amounts and enjoy your food more each day.

1. Take a Moment Before Diving In

Before you start eating, pause to get in touch with how you feel. Rushed? Sad? Bored? Determine whether you’re actually hungry.

2. Sit at the Table

Sit down and focus on the meal. Try to avoid eating while standing or driving, which can encourage mindless or distracted eating.

3. Turn Off Screens

Likewise, avoid watching TV or looking at a computer or phone while eating. Be present and attentive to your meal.

4. Resign from the Clean Plate Club

It’s okay to leave a few bites, or to pack up some of the meal for later. Follow what your hunger cues are telling you.

5. Slow Down and Savor

Chew slowly, observing the texture, flavor, and aroma of your food, as well as how much you’re enjoying it. Notice when you’re satisfied.

Practices that Go Hand in Hand with Mindful Eating

Exercise

Regular physical activity helps to support mindful eating, in part because it helps decrease stress that can contribute to emotional eating.

Yoga

A regular yoga practice is another excellent way to practice mindfulness skills that you can apply to your eating habits.

Mindfulness Meditation

Meditation is another way to foster our ability to be mindful. A study published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that practicing mindfulness meditation can temper the stress response, helping to limit unhealthy food cravings and stress-related overeating that contributes to weight gain.

Sources:

American Psychological Association. Mindfulness. Accessed February 12, 2025.

Cherpak, C.E. (2019). Mindful Eating: A Review of How the Stress-Digestion-Mindfulness Triad May Modulate and Improve Gastrointestinal and Digestive Function. Integrative Medicine.

Demirbas, N., et al. (2021). The Relationship between Mindful Eating and Body Mass Index and Body Compositions in Adults. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism.

Donofry, S.D., et al. (2020). Relationship between Dispositional Mindfulness, Psychological Health, and Diet Quality among Healthy Midlife Adults. Nutrients.

Fernandes V., et al. (2023). How Does the Level of Physical Activity Influence Eating Behavior? A Self-Determination Theory Approach. Life.

Hazzard, V.M., et al. (2020). Intuitive eating longitudinally predicts better psychological health and lower use of disordered eating behaviors: findings from EAT 2010–2018. Eating and Weight Disorders.

Kaiser Permanente. Mindfulness: A lasting approach to healthy eating. August 2024.

Loucks E.B., et al. (2023). Adapted Mindfulness Training for Interoception and Adherence to the DASH Diet: A Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open.

Minari T.P., et al. (2024). Effects of Mindful Eating in Patients with Obesity and Binge Eating Disorder. Nutrients.

Morillo-Sarto, H., et al. (2022). ‘Mindful eating’ for reducing emotional eating in patients with overweight or obesity in primary care settings: A randomized controlled trial. European Eating Disorders Review.

Muñoz-Mireles, G., et al. (2023). Mindful Eating as a Tool for Diabetes Prevention and Management: A Review of Potential Mechanisms of Action. Mindfulness.

Tapper, K. (2022). Mindful eating: What we know so far. Nutrition Bulletin.

Torske, A., et al. (2024). Mindfulness meditation modulates stress-eating and its neural correlates. Nature.

Van Meer, F., et al. (2022). Daily distracted consumption patterns and their relationship with BMI. Appetite.