Overcoming Weight Loss Challenges with Mindful Eating: 5 Common Challenges to Expect

Mindful eating offers a transformative approach to overcoming weight loss challenges, especially when navigating the emotional and mental hurdles associated with shedding excess weight. While the process of mindful eating may initially take time to master, the results speak for themselves. For me, it took about six months to truly understand this process, and I discovered it during my pregnancy with my second child. Even though I didn’t lose weight until after delivery, the principles of mindful eating helped me connect with my body in new ways.

The challenges we face in mindful eating are often mental rather than physical. As you start this journey, it will feel difficult at first, but over time, recognizing the difference between external forces and your body's natural signals becomes second nature.

Here are five common weight loss challenges you can expect to face:

Overcoming the Fear of Not Eating: A Key Challenge in Weight Loss through Mindful Eating

If you were like me, I was raised in a home that insisted I eat every bite of food on my plate and encouraged me to go for seconds. I distinctly remember health class, where we learned about eating disorders, and the fear of anorexia or starvation was ingrained in me. This fear naturally made me terrified of not eating enough. Then, in the weight loss and diet world, we’re told to eat—just this and not that. (You can fill in the blank.)

But overcoming this fear is essential to achieving mindful eating and lasting weight loss. It requires dismantling old beliefs and acknowledging that, despite what we were taught or exposed to, those teachings were wrong. Eating is essential, but if we’re significantly overweight, we’re likely consuming too much.

To lose that excess weight, our bodies need to tap into stored energy. However, as long as we keep feeding ourselves, our bodies will continue to burn what we've just eaten instead of using stored fat for fuel.

Even as I say this, I know some will think, “Oh, this girl is just about calorie deficit,” or “She’s encouraging anorexia.” This fear of not eating is exactly what I'm talking about. Our culture has instilled such a strong fear of not eating that many people find comfort and security in consuming excess food.

As we work through shedding excess weight and toxicity in our bodies, we begin to realize another truth.

Losing Weight Isn’t Pretty

For instance, a friend of mine recently began detoxing their liver. They shared how their digestion was completely out of balance. When someone has mild fatty liver disease and uses herbs to detox the liver, the reality of weight loss and internal cleansing is not always smooth. This junk that’s accumulated around our organs needs to be released—and it’s not just stored energy that needs to come out.

Practical Questions to Reflect On:

• Am I truly eating only when I am hungry?

• Am I overeating, or am I eating because I’m afraid of not eating?

• What old beliefs about food and eating do I need to release in order to embrace mindful eating?

• When I feel the urge to eat without hunger, what can I do instead?

Understanding Diets: How Mindful Eating Overcomes Common Weight Loss Myths

Common statements I often hear in the weight loss world include:

• “The most common weight loss app tells me I didn’t eat enough today.”

• “This app said I ate too much, but on the scale, I lost weight.”

• “Muscle weighs more than fat, and the goal is to lose fat, not muscle.”

I personally enjoy using apps like MyFitnessPal because they help me plan my meals for the week. It allows me to visualize my goals and stay on track. However, I don’t rely on it for counting calories. I use it to increase awareness about my food choices.

Raising children has taught me a lot about how our bodies work. Some days, my kids are hungrier than others. On some nights, they devour everything on their plate, ask for more, and finish it all. Other days, they barely eat, leaving just a few nibbles. It’s a reminder that our bodies don’t function the same way every day. Some days I feel really hungry, and other days I’m not as hungry.

This is completely natural. When we think of our ancestors, food wasn’t always readily available, and our metabolism was designed to help us survive during times of scarcity. Today, in a world where food is available 24/7, we need to reconnect with our body’s natural hunger cues and stop relying on apps or external rules to tell us when we’re hungry or how much to eat.

Slow Weight Loss? How Mindful Eating Helps You Overcome Stagnation

"our bodies are designed for survival, not immediacy"

When weight loss slows down, it can be disheartening. I get it—I’ve been there. When I did keto, the results were immediate, and it felt like I was finally making progress. But the truth is, the goal isn’t necessarily to lose weight quickly; the goal is to lose weight in a way that lasts—weight loss that sticks for the long haul.

Our bodies are designed for survival, not for immediacy. When weight loss slows, it’s a natural sign that your body is adjusting and adapting. Instead of focusing on the number on the scale, shift your focus to the person you’re becoming. Mindful eating isn’t about instant results—it’s about sustainable, long-term transformation.

When we face mental blocks like this, it’s easy to feel tempted to go back to quick-fix diets, but mindful eating requires patience. If you’re stuck in a plateau for a long time, the best thing to do is reflect on your habits and ask yourself these questions:

Practical Questions for Reflection:

• Am I truly eating only when I am hungry?

• Am I overeating?

• Am I eating like my goal self would eat?

• What have been my food choices recently?

• Is there anything that is not serving me that I am consuming too often?

• What can I adjust? What can I try? Is something medically wrong? Do I need to see a doctor?

Before I got pregnant with my third baby, I found myself gaining weight slowly. I had an IUD that I believe was part of the cause, and after I had it removed, I felt a sense of relief. However, my hormones had shifted, and I struggled to get pregnant with a viable baby. Despite following a healthy diet, something still didn’t feel right.

I realized that it might be related to my liver, as I was experiencing low energy and hormonal imbalances. I began liver detoxing, and the results were profound. Once I felt better, I was able to conceive, and my doctor was amazed at how normal my pregnancy was. This was a major improvement compared to my previous, difficult pregnancies. In my second pregnancy, I had borderline gestational diabetes (and I was 225 pounds at 28 weeks). But with this third pregnancy, I had zero signs of gestational diabetes, and I’ve only gained 25 pounds at 32 weeks, with my body in much better health.

Mindful eating isn’t about quick fixes or rushing through the weight loss process. It’s about recognizing when your body needs healing and making changes that support long-term wellness.

Overcoming Weight Loss Challenges with Mindful Eating: Embracing Patience and Practice

It isn’t a race. This is a mindset shift, one that takes time and patience. The way we were raised, the culture we grew up in, and the billions of dollars spent on marketing encouraging us to "Buy" or get something "on sale" is perhaps one of the biggest battles we face in the weight loss journey.

The key to overcoming this challenge is kindness to yourself. Real, lasting change comes from a place of self-compassion, not from harsh restriction or self-criticism. I love this proverb: "The plans of the diligent lead to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty." (Proverbs 21:5) Planning is intentional, and it requires us to reconnect with who we are, where we are going, and who we want to be.

Mindful eating requires us to embrace patience and practice. Instead of rushing through weight loss, we need to focus on sustainable, long-term habits that support a healthy relationship with food.

Practical Questions for Reflection:

• Next time I think I want food because I smell the Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, I will instead... (fill in the blank)

• When will I be tempted to eat something I don’t want to eat?

• How do I want my goal self to handle this situation in the future?

Breaking the Cycle of Food Restriction: Connecting with Your Overall Goals

The weight loss industry and society have shifted our focus to only care about our physical appearance. When we don’t see the person we want to become in the mirror, it’s easy to get discouraged and feel like what we’re doing isn’t working, or that we need faster results. But we need to remember that mindful eating isn’t just about physical transformation—it’s about connecting with the bigger picture of who we want to become.

Mindful eating helps us visualize our goal self, but we must also look at our physical body as it truly is in this moment. Accepting where we are now, while keeping our long-term vision in mind, is a crucial step in breaking free from the cycle of food restriction.

Reflection Questions for Connection:

• Am I spending my day the way my goal self would?

• Am I making food choices the way my goal self would?

• What is missing now, that is in my goal self, outside of physical appearance?

As of today, I’m not at my goal weight. I’ve lost 70+ pounds, but right now, I’m pregnant with my third child. Before I got pregnant, I noticed I was gaining weight slowly rather than losing it. But something was missing outside of just my physical health. I wasn’t doing what I was called to do.

This—writing this blog, working on my book, and being a stay-at-home mom—is what I’m truly meant to do. I was compromising bigger goals in my life by choosing to eat when I felt an absence, instead of going after my calling.

Closing Thoughts: Embrace the Journey of Mindful Eating

Overcoming weight loss challenges through mindful eating is not a quick fix, but a lifelong journey of patience, reflection, and growth. It’s about embracing who you are today while connecting with the person you’re becoming. As you work through these challenges, remember that progress is made one mindful choice at a time, and your true transformation extends beyond just physical change.

I know that slowing down and shifting your focus can be difficult, but when you stop looking for quick results and start tuning into your body’s true needs, that’s where lasting change happens. You have the power to break free from diet culture, embrace mindfulness, and achieve a balanced, healthy life that aligns with your greater purpose.

Ready to Start Your Own Mindful Eating Journey?

If you’re feeling inspired to take control of your eating habits and make lasting changes, I invite you to join me on this path. Whether you're interested in learning more about mindful eating through my blog, signing up for my email coaching plan, or diving deeper into the tools I offer, I’m here to support you every step of the way.

Let’s work together to create a healthier, more intentional relationship with food. Click here to get started and begin your journey today!

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