Mindful Benefits | Lisa Schmidt Counseling
Mindfulness based therapeutic counseling and stress management services
The father of modern medicine scribed these words nearly 2,500 years ago. The words of Hippocrates have been used to communicate how a connection with nature through a relationship with food can provide health benefits far beyond any other type of “prescription”. Seen through this lens, eating is an intimate way to extract life-sustaining energy from Mother Nature. [Read more…] about The healing power of plants
How do you want to spend the rest of your life? Whether its traveling, spending time with your loved ones, living out your passions, or even climbing Mt. Everest, what you eat and how you eat can help you get there. It also can help the planet, too! [Read more…] about Sustainable Living & Mindful Eating
Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment without judgment. Here is a cool way to learn more about it and why it’s important:
Two years ago today, my husband Ed, my son Melvin, and Ed’s brother Bill Schmidt loaded up a U-Haul truck with all of our worldly possessions and we moved from Bellevue, Washington to Scottsdale, Arizona.
It’s been an eventful two years! I’ve successfully launched my own Nutrition and Health Counseling private practice, Mindful Benefits. Located at the 101 and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale, I have helped people of all ages navigate challenges related to choosing food in the right amounts in order to support a healthy weight using mindful eating. The secret to mindful eating couldn’t be easier….
As a Certified Nutritionist, one of the things I remind my clients is to thoroughly chew their food. 
Why is chewing so important? One reason is because physically chewing food in your mouth begins the process of digestion by breaking down larger pieces of food into smaller particles. Swallowing smaller pieces of food takes pressure off of the esophagus, making the act of swallowing more efficient. Chewing also releases saliva, which has digestive enzymes. The release of enzymes into the throat and stomach begins the process of digestion. Chewing helps with IBS, and other digestive problems.
Have you ever considered what purpose your eating pattern serves? Any type of disordered eating pattern, whether it is restricting food intake (a “diet”),
counting calories obsessively, counting fat grams, avoiding entire categories of food (dreaded “gluten”, “carbs”, or “sugar” are three examples), overeating past the point of satisfaction, throwing up, compensatory behaviors like laxatives or exercising to extreme – all of these patterns are your relationship to food. And your relationship, like any other relationship, serves a purpose in your life.
What would you be doing with your life if you weren’t spending all of your time counting calories? Hating yourself? Wishing you were something – anything other than you think you are? How much time are you spending each day with thoughts about food, feeding, body size & weight? Most importantly, what would you be thinking and feeling if your mind wasn’t occupied with thoughts about food and your body?
[Read more…] about What purpose does your disordered eating serve?
Springtime has come to the desert! As I travel around the Sonoran Desert Preserve, I see the signs of spring everywhere. Even in the barren desert, spring brings life and new beginnings to my surroundings. I am reminded of the restorative power of nature, and the ways that all living things go through periods of dormancy, and new life. It’s never too late to create the life you want – look to the desert for inspiration!
Have you thought about the impact that eating and drinking “non foods” has on your body? Have you thought about the difference between real food and food like substances? It can be helpful as you work towards a fuller relationship with food and your body to think about how real food impacts your life, and how non foods interfere with your body’s natural workings.
There are three types of food like substances – processed, junk, and fake foods. Processed food is made from real food that has been put through chemical processes and is filled with chemicals and preservatives. Some examples of processed food include beef jerky, canned tea, jam, hot dogs, and low or non fat yogurt with sugar or sucralose.
It is currently popular to talk about our evolutionary roots and why certain foods belong in our diet. Terms like “Paleo” and explanations from those who influence our eating habits try to explain what kind of foods we should be eating. It can be useful to explore what anthropologists have learned about our historical roots.
Our ancestors were hunter-gatherers who never knew exactly where their next meal might be coming from. In fact, their “meals” were probably eaten on the run as they stalked enough prey to build an actual meal, but it is unlikely that their meals were regular or even eaten daily. Given the conditions under which food was obtained, it was impossible for them to take any of it for granted. Every morsel was hard-won and therefore, extremely precious, savored, relished.
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