News

Dr. Lilian Cheung, Harvard School of Public Health
May 13, 2010

 

Lilian Cheung, editorial director of The Nutrition Source website, is the co-author of Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, written with world-renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. In this video, Cheung describes the seven practices of mindful eating.

The Tippy Toe Diet
April 19, 2010
Tippy Toe Diet Blog, weight loss blog

If you’ve been reading here for any length of time, you know that learning to be mindful about my actions (and inaction) played a large role in my successful weight loss and continues to work well for me with managing my weight. It’s an ongoing project and I still have work to do. While I continue to build a better habit of mindfulness of what I’m doing, I also want to learn more about being mindful of what I’m feeling.

Knowing that, you can imagine my delight when I was asked to review Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life ,co-authored by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung, a Harvard Nutritionist.

Savor is a remarkable book that offers much more than the eat-less-move-more advice for dropping a few pounds. Combining ancient Buddhist wisdom and the modern science of nutrition, the authors say that, while eating healthy and increasing movement are important, how we eat, move, and think is every bit as critical if we are to change our behaviors and achieve full success. It’s an approach that might hold a few keys for those like me who “woke up fat one day” and then couldn’t figure out how to fix it.

Joy, Gourmeted.com
April 6, 2010

Raise your hand if you’re a multi-tasker.

I am, too. I think of food, recipes, page design, books to read, to-do list, grocery list, shopping list, or places to travel to during my afternoon runs, or when I’m in the train or bus. I think of what to do next when I’m experimenting in the kitchen, sometimes not watching the stove. At work, my multi-tasking skills have been lauded over and over by bosses, peers, and clients. I can make something good out of whatever chaos they throw at me. Give me 10 completely different things to do and I’ll finish it before the deadline. Because I’m “Super Efficient”. You’d think I was the ideal hybrid car if I were an automobile. Yes, it could be fulfilling. Sometimes. Other times, it takes a toll on my body and psyche. I like being on my toes, on the go. “Go, go, go! I tell my nephews when they’re complaining of walking. Because I just go. Sometimes I forget, if I pause for a moment, where I am, or what I’m doing. I’m completely lost!

Nick Owchar, Los Angeles Times
April 4, 2010
Los Angeles Times

Isn't the quest for stillness hopeless?

All those efforts to attain slowness -- what good are they, especially when the rest of the world isn't paying attention?

Sure, you can achieve some meditative balance and create an island of serenity in yourself -- you'll also be in exile from the rest of the world. Not a good idea if you're working and trying to pay a mortgage. Keep up or else you'll fall behind, right? Isn't rest a liability? Didn't Marcus Aurelius say, "I can rest when I'm dead"? Or was that Warren Zevon?

Writers continually revisit this subject under many guises -- in biographies of spiritual figures, foodie books exhorting us to relish every taste (and thus every moment) and memoirs of personal searches like Elizabeth Gilbert's bestselling "Eat Pray Love" or Judith Shulevitz's new book, "The Sabbath World." Each of them dismantles -- easily -- the straw man argument that begins this column for a simple reason.

Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times
March 29, 2010

"Bear in mind that everything is impermanent, including your extra weight."

So now. Whose book about food might that come from? Buddhist scholar and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. That's right, he's written a food book, "Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life," with Lilian Cheung of the Harvard School of Public Health.

I am certainly of the opinion that food is everything -- nourishment, history, culture, family, industry, career. So I guess it makes sense that he also is concerned with food and with what the authors call "a worldwide crisis" of obesity.

So, they write, being truly mindful about what we eat can "help us avoid the external cues that trap us, avoid mindless eating, and focus in on the practices that keep us healthy."

Mark Feeney, The Boston Globe
March 24, 2010

Eating is as much about mind as matter. That’s one of the main points of “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life,’’ by Thich Nhat Hanh and Lilian Cheung. Hanh is a Buddhist monk who lives in France. Cheung, 57, is a lecturer and director of health promotion and communication at the Harvard School of Public Health. Among her duties is serving as editorial director of the school’s Nutrition Source website (www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource). She has taught at Harvard since 1985, and lives in Wellesley.

Q. What drew you to nutrition?

A. When I was young I wanted to be a doctor. But my mother is very [long pause] traditional. I was still in Hong Kong then. She didn’t think it would be appropriate for a lady to be studying medicine. There would be long nights, and the schedule would not be compatible with having a family. So she was the one to introduce me to the field of nutrition. You see, in Chinese culture food is very important. It’s a form of preventive medicine. So, OK, if I can’t be a doctor, that would be the next best thing.

Harvard Gazette
March 22, 2010

You’ve heard the old saying: Anything’s possible if you set your mind to it.

Mindfulness, the Buddhist principle of being fully aware of the present, is at the heart of Lilian Cheung’s collaborative book “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life,” written with Thich Nhat Hanh, a renowned Buddhist monk and author of “Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life.”

According to “Savor,” the practice of mindfulness is an essential tool in ending weight loss struggles for good.

Xi Yu, The Harvard Crimson
March 19, 2010

Mindfulness is biting into an apple without trying to read a book at the same time. It is taking deep breaths when sitting in traffic or waiting in an elevator. It is paying attention to what is happening now and not stressing about the future or worrying about the past.

At least, according to “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life,” a new book published last week co-authored by Harvard nutritionist Lilian W. Cheung that combines Buddhist philosophy with healthy eating habits.

Cheung—a nutrition lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health who studied under Buddhist Zen master and co-author Thich Nhat Hanh in 1997—suggests that a healthy lifestyle stems from healthy eating and a focus on reducing stress.

MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN, New York Times
March 15, 2010

Healthy dinners for one person can be a challenge. Sitting down at a table alone and savoring a meal prepared for oneself seems to be a foreign concept to singles with empty refrigerators, accustomed to eating on the run. Even those who do cook are likely to be put off by recipes sufficient to feed four or six.

Lilian Cheung
March 9, 2010

To eat or not to eat? That’s not the question. What's more important is to understand our relationship with food.

In this age of high-tech living, we often find ourselves in a hurry, trying to catch up. At times, it seems that we are riding on a tidal wave, not knowing where we are heading. Eating on the run is becoming a way of life, be it in the car or at our desks while responding to emails. And those business lunches: Can we really enjoy our food during a working lunch? Are we eating our lunch or our business problems?

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