Eating Mindfully

By Tara Gidus Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, ACSM-CPT

PHYSICAL HEALTH FOR WIDOWS

Recently, I spoke at MWC’s 2023 Virtual Widow Empowerment Event about emotional eating, satiety, and eating more mindfully. During times of stress and grief it is difficult to follow our hunger and fullness cues, whether that’s eating when we are not hungry due to being sad, angry, anxious, etc., or because stress has shut down our hunger mechanism. When my husband was dying and after he passed, I found that I was losing weight, but in more recent years I turn to chocolate and other comfort foods as my main stress reliever.

It is so easy to use food (and alcohol) as a tool to try and relieve stress. The reality is that it doesn’t actually relieve stress, and only provides temporary comfort. In fact, it can increase emotional and physical stress by leading to feelings of guilt and shame or contributing to health problems over time.

Mindful, Intuitive Eating

The ability to feel hunger and fullness is a quality we were all born with. Over time, we develop habits th…