Use of Social Media for Mindful Eating Over the Holidays: Theory and Empirical ResultsShalini Bahl – MindfulUniverse.comGeorge R. Milne – Isenberg School of Management, UMass AmherstSpencer Ross -- Simmons School of Management

holiday eating In India

Weight GainWeight Gain A Growing Threat in

America A Growing Threat in

America

Obesity costs the U.S.

$190.2 Billion

Figures from APA 2012http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/a-label-calls-attention-to-obesity/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Irreversible Gain up to 5 Pounds During Holidays

PurposeWeight Management With Mindful

Eating

• Theory of Mindful Eating

• Method

• Findings

What is Mindfulness

Mindfulness is awarenessin the present moment

on purposewith a gentle curiosity

and non judgment

mindful Eating

• Intentional

• Attending to present moment experience

• Non-reactive

• Conscious choices

The Mindful Eating Model

The Methodology

The MethodologyPhotographs

Journaling

Online Community

Thanksgiving to

January 1st

Social Media Site: www.mindfuluniverse.com

Six Participants

What did We Find

Stimuli

“They had the leftover marshmallows in a glass on the

table. I ate most of them, and not very mindful.”

ExternalInternal

“When I am grading or doing other mundane work I like to eat

chocolatey stuff.”

Non-Conscious Mind

Affliction Habit Mindful Habit

“I love frozen food. It's a completely irrational thing. I know it's bad for me. I

know it's not organic. I know there are lots of additives. I know the nutritional content

is marginal, at best. And yet, there's something about it that makes me

continue eating it.”

affliction habit

“Today was a very busy day, but I did manage to start my day with juice.  Even

though I was in a hurry I managed to really enjoy the flavors of the different fruits and

veggies.”

mindful habit

Conscious Mind

Narrow Mindset

Spacious Mindset

“This holiday (Thanksgiving) is great, its about Family, Food, and Football. Football

and beer and snacks.  I thought about skipping this ritual, but why have a bad

holiday?”

narrow mindset

“At the end of the evening we drank wine by the tree and fire.   Katie brought out a tray of cookies.   In years past I would have tried one of each—there were six varieties, and maybe have a few repeats of my favorites.  This year however, I asked for a knife.  I cut the cookies in half.  I got the variety

and half the calories.”

spacious mindset

Behaviors

“I gotta admit today was a mindfulness fail because I was multitasking as I ate.... I

guess I was too excited for the holidays.” #MindFail

Mindless Behavior

“I now make it a point to actually sit down to enjoy the taste of it.”

Mindful Behavior

“We had been out of chips in the house, so I bought a bag of Doritos. The Lean Pockets were

my lunch and I decided that I was going to mindfully be mindless and eat as many of the

Doritos as I wanted without documentation of all the chips I ate (the flavor was actually pretty

horrible).”

stress

mindfulness training

“I am finding that this experiment is giving me more time to think about my relationship with

food and get a better sense of what I am eating and how it is making me feel.   For example, by limiting myself to a relatively small lunch and

only one beer, I felt much more energetic later in the afternoon.    I need to remember this

feeling when I am making food choices in the future.”

“I noticed I started eating my food in a hurry, but then I tried to slow down and

enjoy the ingredients of my omelet and the tasty flavor of avocado. I think it worked :)”

Attentional Training

“I indulged on several things I don't

regularly eat so this weekend I decided I was not going to feel guilty about it. I can

start my usual diet on Monday :) When we got home, I made

myself some chamomile tea

again :)”

non reactive training

Looking ForwardLooking ForwardFuture Research:Neuroplasticity & Mindful Consumer BehaviorRelationships In Mindful Eating Model Short Mindfulness Practices as An Intervention

New Apps For Mindful Eating

See for yourselfEat Mindfully Today