Be mindful: reduce your stress, lose weight and build more muscle

October 15, 9:41 PMRaleigh Fitness ExaminerAmy Mastrogiuseppe

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Practicing yoga or mindfulness can lower your BMI,
among other health benefits. (AP Photo/Journal Times,
Gregory Shaver)

Yoga, meditation or just taking 5 minutes to clear your head will help you see faster results in the gym and stop eating once you're full according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

More than 300 people from yoga studios, gyms and weight-loss centers responded to a questionnaire created by researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington in Seattle.

Here's what they found:
• Mindful eaters weighed less, as measured by BMI.

• 40 percent of respondents who practiced yoga for at least one hour per week had an average BMI of 23.1, compared with a BMI of 25.8 (slightly overweight) for those who didn't.

What else can mindfulness get you? How about less stress, guilt-free eating, stronger immune system and faster fitness results. It can even transform your life. "Mindfulness is the awareness that arises when you intentionally pay attention in an open, accepting and discerning way," says Shauna Shapiro, PH.D., associate professor of psychology at Santa Clara University and the author of The Art and Science of Mindfulness.

So how do you achieve mindfulness? If you are exercising, put your mind in your muscle. Think about every movement and how the chain reaction from pressing through your heel makes your glute contract. Close your eyes and as you go through a rep notice how deep your inhale and exhales are.

If you have trouble controlling yourself at the table, look and examine your food. Focus on each bite and minimize distractions. Pay attention to your hunger. Are you really hungry or just thirsty? Take at least twenty minutes to eat, so you can feel satisfied. And tell yourself you do have control over your "weakness". If you keep telling yourself chocolate is your weakness, it always will be. So say out loud right now, chocolate is not my weakness.