excerpt from Eating Mindfully, 2nd ed. by Susan Albers, PsyD

Readers have asked many wonderful questions during the past few years like, “I love ice cream. Can I still eat sweets mindfully?” and “What is the best way to start improving my eating habits?” Here are the ten most popular questions on the minds of readers, and their answers.

1. If I Start Eating Mindfully, What Will Happen To My Weight? Will I Lose Weight?”
2. “Is ‘Eating Mindfully’ A Diet? What’s Wrong With Dieting?”
3. “How Will Awareness Help Me Eat Better?”
4. “How Does Mindfulness Help People With Different Kinds Of Eating Issues?”
5. “How Did You Learn About Mindfulness?”
6. “Is There Evidence That Mindful Eating Can Help Me?”
7. “What Is The Difference Between Mindfulness of the Mind and Mindfulness of Thoughts?”
8. “Does Mindful Eating Mean I Can Eat Anything?”
9. “What is the Difference Between Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness?”
10. “Do I Have To Have A Spiritual Practice or Be Buddhist to Use a Mindful Eating Approach?”

excerpt from Eating Mindfully 2nd ed. by Susan Albers, PsyD

How common and effortless it is to eat in an uncontrolled, unaware, mindless manner. If you’ve ever continued to snack when you were full, cut calories despite being hungry, or used guilt to guide your eating, you’ve experienced mindless eating firsthand. Let’s face it. Deciding what to eat is not an easy task. It’s so tricky that in the United States eating concerns and weight obsessions have reached epidemic proportions, with serious health, emotional, and economic consequences for a large part of the population. We desperately need something new to help us overcome these issues—mindful eating may be the answer.

What is mindful eating? A few weeks ago, I discovered an excellent example of it, and the incident involves the best chocolate lava cake I’ve ever had.

by guest blogger Susan Albers, PsyD, author of But I Deserve This Chocolate!

It's that time of year again for some of the best cookies on earth. How can you resist buying a box (or five) from your favorite schoolgirl? Let's face it. Those little cookies are hard to eat mindfully. Even the most conscientious eaters will admit to going a little overboard with a box of Do-Si-Dos or a sleeve of Thin Mints every now and then. Have no fear. Try these 10 psychological tricks to help you savor your stash of Girl Scout cookies mindfully.

by guest blogger Michelle May, MD, author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat with Diabetes

The response to Paula Deen's revelation that she has Type 2 diabetes highlights the false "either-or" dilemma that plagues our culture's approach to eating (and most other things): good or bad, right or wrong, all or nothing.

Paula Deen's popular brand was based on her audacious use of ingredients that are "evil" in this dichotomous view of healthy eating. Viewers watched in fascination and vicarious enjoyment as this sweet but naughty woman unabashedly broke "the rules." Now some of her critics are angry that she hasn't fallen to her knees, begged our forgiveness, and sworn off butter and sugar forever to pay penance and set an example for all the other sinners she led astray.

This all or nothing thinking has characterized yo-yo dieting for decades. At first, dieters are highly motivated to adhere to a strict diet of "good" food. Eventually, feelings of deprivation set in, leading to preoccupation and cravings for "bad" food, increasing sensitivity to temptations, giving in, guilt and consequently, overeating. I call this predictable pattern the eat repent repeat cycle.

by guest blogger Margaret Floyd, author of Eat Naked

If you’re committed to healthy living, this time of year can be quite a predicament. The holiday parties, the big over-stuffing dinners, the endless temptations of sweet treats and general excess. How to navigate through this minefield of dietary “don’t” without being a total killjoy?

Well, my approach to this situation might surprise you a little. I’m not going to give you a list of ways to make sure you don’t overeat at Thanksgiving dinner (that’s part of the experience, for goodness sakes!) or a list of foods to say “yes” or “no” to at the holiday party buffet table. I don’t believe in this approach for three reasons:

by guest blogger Margaret Floyd, author of Eat Naked

One of the first questions I’m asked when someone finds out I’m in the nutrition field is “So, you’re a vegetarian?” It’s a loaded question, whether they realize it or not. Here's a little bit of information:

• The prevailing belief when it comes to our food and health is that the fewer animal products we eat, the better.
• I was a vegetarian of some shade or another for the better part of 12 years.
• During my years as a vegetarian, I had loads of digestive issues and was constantly hungry.
• What a horrible choice: feel good in your body but guilty about the impacts of your choices; or feel good ethically and miserable physically.
• There’s no one diet that works for everyone.
• With a little more investigation, I learned that there was indeed a way to eat meat and feel good about it on an environmental and ethical level.
• These farmers are using traditional farming techniques that not only preserve but enhance their environments
• The great news is that when I’m eating this way, I feel fabulous.
• Here are three ways your body could be telling you it needs animal protein: