Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time

To *really* benefit, you must do the exercises, not just read them.Somov's book is different from other books I've read on either diet or Buddhism in that his focus seems to be on specific experiments that readers will do on themselves, not on advice or meditation, though both of those appear here, too.----------Activities leading to discoveries:I like this better than other books on related topics because it's not just "talk" that will raise our awareness. Somov suggests activities that will show us the root causes of our own particular idiosyncrasies.-For example, he asks that we study a menu's photos and words and to take notes on what stirs us (he offers helpful how-to details).-Another example: He asks that we under-eat one day and indulge another day, with note-taking, then compare and contrast physical sensations.----------Needs a companion journal:I wish he had created a slim journal to go with this book, something with the exercises alone, with columns and prompts already written in, with space for our own note-taking, so we could just pick that up and start using it ASAP.----------Good example of companion journal:Since I didn't find such a journal (I looked online), I will have to sit down to re-read certain passages, with some clean pieces of paper in hand, to create my own notebook, concentrating without distraction to get the instructions down before I can begin.Not that this will be hard. It's just that I would have purchased a companion journal had there been one. A good example is "The Mayo Clinic Diet Journal," which I have used with success.----------Experiential learning is most effective:In my work life, I give workshops and train professionals to do their jobs differently. I recognize in Somov's book some of the success factors of my workshops. He emphasizes experiential learning over knowledge acquisition.

A colleague recommended this book to me when I confided in her about my weird food habits. I'm taking my time reading it so it can sink in and hopefully resonate with me. But I can already tell this is different from anything else I've ever read. This is not a fad diet. Perhaps what has resonated most with me is the idea of mindfulness. The book doesn't chastise you when you snack, engage in emotional eating, etc. It just asks you to recognize why you are eating and to look for patterns in behavior. Somov, the author, just wants you to start noticing how and why you eat. That is the first step to eating more mindfully.The book is broken up into different sections and has activities and exercises to help you practice more mindful and aware eating. Some are weird, I won't lie. But some are incredibly powerful. I can't believe how much more aware of my eating and my patterns I am.My boyfriend, who is one of those annoying people who forgets to eat, says he notices a real difference in my eating habits. I'm eating slower, snacking less, and not clearing my plate. I notice I'm thinking about food less which was one of my biggest struggles.

This book has been an extremely engaging read for me. I'm new to the whole Mindfulness philosophy but it makes a lot of practical sense to me now.The format of the book is very engaging and the exercises are very beneficial for me. I bought the hard cover at a bookstore and recently ordered an e-copy for my Kindle to use as a backup. Thus far, I've managed to gain a much more peaceful and healthy relationship with food as well as dropping about 15lbs in the past 3 1/2 months. It was really scary to realize how much I ate simply due to environmental and emotional triggers rather than by what my body actually needed.Dr. Somov has a wonderful ability to convey his thoughts and theories into easily understandable lessons that make paying attention to what/why/where/when I'm eating something second nature. Or at least it's getting closer to second nature! It's still hard work but very well worth it in my opinion :) I'm also using his theories for spending money which I also tend to do impulsively. So I suppose this could also be considered a general Mindful Living book even though it's focused on eating.Also? This is far from my first review on Amazon lest anybody think I'm being paid to offer it.

I want to first off note that I am not in any way familiar with the author - even though I've not written very many reviews on Amazon.(I think this only the second or third.) I didn't realize there were "review police" on this site! Now that we have that cleared up, I have found this to be a very good tool for day to day use - reminders, if you will, about what is really going on "inside there" and whether I am really truly hungry. I don't have an intense eating disorder (for lack of better words), but I am a work-related stress eater, and frankly, I just love food! One exercise of note that I appreciated is on identifying the PEOPLE who trigger specific eating patterns. I am not finished with this book, so perhaps I will update this later, but I do think it's a helpful book for those of us who may suffer from environmentally triggered mindless eating. Just of note, I'm no expert on severe or diagnosed eating disorders and so could not comment on whether this would be helpful to those who suffer with them.

The ideas in this book are good, but it feels too compressed to me. Maybe this is partly because the book (at least my copy) was physically small? But I also think it rushes too quickly from one idea to the next. Honestly, I think this type of thing might be better broken up into more of a journal format or at least spread out. So one day you get a certain set of ideas to implement, think about, and experiment with. Then when you feel ready - you can move on to the next set. You could do that with this book (of course) - it just isn't immediately conducive to it.My advice would be to take little bites and savor it the same way it suggests you treat food. This one is a dense dense little nugget! ;p

In a direct, down-to-earth, concise and frank style, without esoteric babbling or page-filling, the author guides you with practical propositions, commentaries, observations, and interesting psychological and physiological facts you can't deny (but always unconciously have, in many cases), into becoming more aware of all the things that happen in your body and mind related to eating. Simply becoming aware of what happens when you eat, digest, or feel hungry, is in my experience already enough to initiate a huge change in how, what, how much, and when you eat, and this book can be a good help.This is a book purely aimed at helping you become a more mindful eater - no diet plans or nutritional or health-related information about specific foods or diets. It is about emancipating...I personally appreciate the no-nonsense tone, which is a difference from many other books about mindfulness that tend to be a bit "floaty" and too "nice" for me.In the same line, I can also recommend  One Bowl: A Guide to Eating for Body and Spirit ... One Bowl: A Guide to Eating for Body and Spirit

Huge disappointment. Manages to say very little and what it does say isn't worth saying. I wasted my money please do not waste yours on this rubbish.

Full of useful and practical tips for the daily practice of mindful eating. Would also strongly recommend Mindful eating by Jan Chozen Bays (my personal favourite book in this category). Mindful Eating: Free Yourself from Overeating and Other Unhealthy Relationships with FoodMindful Eating: Free Yourself from Overeating and Other Unhealthy Relationships with Food