This study examined the use of social media and mindfulness for mindful eating over the holidays. It presented a theory of mindful eating and the mindfulness eating model. It then described a methodology where 6 participants used a social media site and journaling from Thanksgiving to January 1st. The findings showed that mindfulness helped participants develop more spacious mindsets and mindful behaviors, while reducing mindless behaviors, stress, and narrow mindsets. It concluded by discussing opportunities for future research on neuroplasticity and mindful consumption as well as developing new apps to support mindful eating.

1. Use of Social Media for Mindful Eating Over the
Holidays: Theory and Empirical Results
Shalini Bahl – MindfulUniverse.com
George R. Milne – Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst
Spencer Ross -- Simmons School of Management

2. holiday eating In India

3. Weight Gain
A Growing Threat in
America

4. Obesity costs the U.S.
$190.2 Billion
Figures from APA 2012
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/a-label-calls-attention-to-obesity/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

5. Irreversible Gain up to
5 Pounds During Holidays

6. Purpose
Weight Management With Mindful Eating
• Theory of Mindful
Eating
• Method
• Findings

7. What is
Mindfulness

9. Mindfulness is awareness
in the present moment
on purpose
with a gentle curiosity
and non judgment

10. mindful Eating
• Intentional
• Attending to present
moment experience
• Non-reactive
• Conscious choices

11. The Mindful Eating Model

12. The
Methodology

13. The
Methodology
Photographs
Journaling
Online Community
Thanksgiving to
January 1st

14. Social Media Site:
www.mindfuluniverse.com
Six Participants

15. What did
We Find

16. Internal
Stimuli
“When I am grading or doing
other mundane work I like to eat
chocolatey stuff.”
External
“They had the leftover
marshmallows in a glass on the
table. I ate most of them, and not
very mindful.”

17. Non-Conscious Mind
Affliction Habit
Mindful Habit

18. affliction 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.”

19. mindful 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.”

20. Conscious Mind
Narrow
Mindset
Spacious
Mindset

21. narrow 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?”

22. spacious 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.”

23. Behaviors

24. Mindless Behavior
“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

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

26. stress
“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).”

27. 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.”

28. Attentional Training
“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 :)”

29. non reactive
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 :)”

30. Looking
Forward
Future Research:
Neuroplasticity &
Mindful Consumer
Behavior
Relationships In Mindful
Eating Model
Short Mindfulness
Practices as An
Intervention
New Apps For
Mindful Eating

31. See for yourself
Eat Mindfully Today