Meredith is a hot mess > Status Update

Welp, the reviews are right. This turns into Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook.

Although weight loss shouldn’t be the goal, research suggests that mindful eating can help you settle back into your body’s naturally healthy weight. Pleasure always trumps pain in the race towards good health.

What the Research Says
Not only is mindful eating more pleasurable than cutting calories or counting points, but it’s a hell of a lot more effective at promoting good health. Compared with dieters, intuitive eaters are better able to improve cholesterol levels, blood pressure, disordered eating behaviours, diet quality, and psychological well-being

Comfort foods may bring us joy because they remind us of a memory, a feeling, a relationship, a story—they give us a sense of connection. Acknowledge why food is comforting to you, identify which foods make you feel good, and honour those whims guilt-free.

Foods may not necessarily be nutritionally equal, but we can make them morally equal.

By allowing yourself those little pleasures, judgment-free, each day,those foods will soon start to lose their “forbidden” allure. Maybe you’ll lose interest in them altogether, or maybe they just become another food in the long, boundless repertoire of tasty eats. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just cereal. And I’m no longer good or bad for loving the hell out of it.

Whatever your "forbidden” food is, begin to allow yourself a small bowl or plate each day.

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Next, try beefing up your “forbidden” food with something a bit more satiating—as long as that doesn’t interfere with the pleasure factor of the food.

I have no idea if that tidbit about iron is true; she didn't include citations. But I'm interested"

We start to eat what feels good in amounts that feel good. It might even make these foods more nutritious! One study showed that women absorbed 50 percent more iron from a meal they liked than they did from one that lacked flavour, even though the nutrient content was exactly the same.