{"id":26048,"date":"2019-08-21T10:43:09","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T16:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=26048"},"modified":"2025-03-07T09:23:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T16:23:06","slug":"mindful-eating-am-i-hungry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mindful-eating-am-i-hungry\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindful eating: Am I hungry?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mary Smith may only be 4 feet 10 inches tall, but her short legs have taken her lots of places in her 70 years \u2014 to the top of Colorado 14ers with her husband and across miles of agricultural fields in her career as a scientist in agricultural research.<\/p>\n

Despite her active lifestyle, Smith said she\u2019s always been a bit overweight. She\u2019s tried every popular diet over the past several decades and each worked for a while. Then the pounds returned. She\u2019s just not a rule follower; and she loves food, she said.<\/p>\n

When her husband of 48 years fell ill, the couples\u2019 adventures dwindled and Smith became his caretaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so sweet \u2014 to him, I was still the girl he married,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating workshop<\/div>
In this 8-week program you’ll learn how to be in charge of your eating instead of feeling out of control. <\/b>You will practice\u00a0<\/b>eating the foods you love\u00a0without\u00a0<\/i>overeating or guilt and improve mindless and emotional eating. Taught by Deanna O\u2019Connell, UCHealth Dietitian and Mindfulness practitioner.<\/p>\n
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  • Call instructor Deanna O’Connell with questions: 970.495.8560 or visit UCHealth Community Health Improvement<\/a> for more details. To register, contact the Fort Collins Senior Center at 970.221.6644 (reference class ID: 425409-01.) *class information updated 8\/30\/2021; class start date is Sept. 7, 2021.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \"Photograph
    Mary Smith has been able to take some stress off her arthritic bones by becoming healthier through a variety of UCHealth programs, including “Mindful eating: Am I hungry?” Photo by Kati Blocker, UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Life\u2019s trials and tribulations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    The added stress caused Smith to neglect her body even more. Food became a stress reliever, but the added weight wore on her aging joints. Progressing arthritis in her knees forced her to move out of the fields and into the lab.<\/p>\n

    Eventually, she left work for several months to take care of her husband near the end of his life.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe talked about everything,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe told me, \u2018Take care of yourself,\u2019 and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

    With her husband adamant that she lived a healthy life without him, Smith joined a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction<\/a> class offered to cancer patients and their caregivers at UCHealth Cancer Center \u2013 Harmony Campus.<\/p>\n

    Take care of yourself<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    The eight-week program touched on all facets of mindfulness<\/a>, helping Smith become more aware of habitual reactions as well as how to control them. It taught her tools to help her handle her stress and pain.<\/p>\n

    \u201cEven at the end (of my husband\u2019s life), I was able to sit and meditate,\u201d she said. \u201cThat class was so useful, and that\u2019s where I met Deanna, one of the facilitators, and learned about the \u2018Am I hungry?\u2019 class.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Deanna O\u2019Connell is a registered dietitian and mindfulness practitioner with UCHealth in northern Colorado. In addition to teaching nutrition and other mindfulness classes<\/a>, she teaches \u201cAm I Hungry? Mindful Eating,\u201d a workshop focused on learning to eat with the intention<\/em> of caring for yourself, and with the attention<\/em> necessary for noticing and enjoying food and how it affects your body.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBefore I started, I read the book (Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat<\/a>) and was impressed,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBut the class really brought it all together \u2014 it went way beyond my expectations. It worked and it keeps working to improve my health.\u201d<\/p>\n