Mindfulness for Hunger and Appetite

Mindfulness is a state of living in the moment, where you think about and appreciate 
and absorb what is happening right now, without worrying about the past or future. It is 
not helpful for your mental health and wellbeing, but for your hunger and appetite as 
well. Here are some ways to use mindfulness to help with your appetite.

Change Your Eating Habits

The first benefit for your hunger and appetite is changing your eating habits. In 
mindfulness, you learn to live only in the moment. What does this mean for eating? 
When you eat, you get rid of all outside distractions so that you are only thinking about 
what you are eating. This means turning off the TV, not using your cell phone, and not 
listening to music. 

You want to be in a quiet, peaceful environment where you really concentrate on what 
you are eating. Focus on the quality of the food, the smells, tastes, and textures. You 
learn to enjoy and appreciate food for what it is and how ti fuels your body, instead of 
just mindlessly eating without ever thinking about it. You are changing your eating 
habits by developing a mindful eating practice.

Learn to Identify Hunger

Another way mindfulness helps with hunger is by helping you to identify true hunger 
from other types of hunger. There are many types, including mouth hunger and mind 
hunger and emotion hunger. True hunger is when your stomach sends you cues that it 
is time to eat. If you are on a normal eating schedule, you should start getting these 
hunger pangs around the same time each day. However, if you tend to eat and snack 
haphazardly, then you might feel constantly hungry because your body doesn’t have a 
good eating routine or signs that you need to eat.

Live a Mindful Life

Not only will mindfulness help when it comes to eating and your appetite, but it helps in 
other ways as well. You learn to appreciate each moment and focus only on how you 
feel right now. You don’t stress yourself out about worries of the future or regrets of the 
past. Living in the moment is about acknowledging your life right now, and using that to 
better yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally. 

There are so many benefits to mindfulness even beyond helping with your hunger and 
appetite. But once you have that under control, you can manage your weight and have 
a healthier lifestyle overall.

