From vegetarian to vegan to gluten free—there are so many ways of eating it could make your head spin! Many of these new “eating trends” are sneakily disguised as dieting and can cause disordered eating.

I truly feel that all these styles of eating that are being promoted as the way to eat for optimal health have blinded us and steered many away from plain old normal eating. Instead, normal eating has become something that is abnormal, while dieting and disordered eating have been normalized!

 

What is “Normal” Eating?

“Normal” eating is eating when you are hungry or you have a craving, choosing foods that you believe will satisfy you, staying connected to your body and the experience of eating by eating with full awareness and enjoyment, and stopping eating when you are comfortably full.

 

Sounds simple, right?

 

Not so for the chronic dieter who’s been eating based on the rules of others and/or diet programs.

 

If you identify as a compulsive eater, an emotional eater or a restrictive eater, then you likely don’t feel “normal” around food and can’t even imagine what that feels like.

 

There is no one right way to be a ‘normal’ eater. “Normal eating varies in response to your hunger, your schedule, and your proximity to food and your feeling” (https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org)

 

Behaviors of a “Normal” Eater

• Arrives at the table gently hungry and eats until satisfied.
• Chooses to eat foods based on what they really want.
• Gives themselves unconditional permission to eat.
• Does not label foods as good, bad, healthy, unhealthy, etc.
• Has full trust in the food decisions they are making.
• Decides to leave food on the plate when comfortably full, or decides to eat more after identifying satiety and ends up overfull sometimes.
• Stays connected to their taste buds and inner cues of fullness and satisfaction

 

Bottom line:

“Normal” eaters will say yes or no to a food, and it’s not a big deal either way.

I share the steps to stop dieting and learn to eat normally in my latest video upload right here!