WHAT IS NORMAL EATING?
By Ken Weisner, A.C.E., Certified Personal Trainer
"Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose a food you like, eat it, and truly get enough of it not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to use moderate constraint in your food selection to get the right foods, but not being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to sometimes eat because you are happy, sad, bored, or just because it feels good.
Normal eating is three meals a day, or it can be choosing to munch along. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you'll have more tomorrow, or eating more now because they taste so wonderful when they are fresh. Normal eating is overeating at times: feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. It is undereating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area in your life. In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food." Source: Ellyn Satter, M.S., R.D., How to Get Your Kid to Eat … But Not Too Much, 1987.
It's ironic how basic needs, like eating, can become more distorted the older we get. As infants and young children, we are naturally attuned to our body's signals of hunger and fullness, what we call "natural eating." Later in life, as we begin to diet or control our food intake, our eating habits become anything but natural. We start to diet, gain weight, diet more in response, and find ourselves involved in a vicious cycle-one that all too often results in eating less and less, binging in response, weighing more and more, gradually losing any sense of pleasure or natural control in relation to food. Diets teach people to focus on what they eat, rather than how they eat, yet it is our relationship with food that most determines if we are eating more than our body is asking for. Although many typical nutrition books look at food strictly in terms of calories and nutrients, we want to increase our awareness of the other issues that exist when we eat. There is no wrong or right way to eat. Healthy eating is flexible. It varies in your emotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food. Unfortunately, may of us succumb to the "dieting" mantra, which can lead us to eat abnormally and not trust our own bodies. This can create food obsessions and eating disorders.
Throw out the terms "good" and "bad." All too often, we feel bad for eating french fries, but say we've been good if we order a plain baked potato. These words stigmatize food choices in ways that are destructive of natural, normal eating. Instead of the terms "good" or "bad," try using "supportive" and "non-supportive." Ask yourself, "Would eating this food be supportive (or not supportive) for me at this time?" The answer may not always be clear-cut, but that's all right. It's not easy to abandon assumptions that cake is bad, while broccoli is good. Eating for well-being and enjoyment is possible! Chances are, you don't need more nutrition knowledge you just need to find ways to fit food your body needs into your diet and lifestyle on a regular basis.
I recommend the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid. One of the biggest benefits of the Food Guide Pyramid is that it focuses on eating normally: eating for health and enjoyment. Here are some of the other benefits of the Food Guide Pyramid:
• It is flexible and easy for everyone to use. You don't have to learn a new system for eating or cross certain foods of your list.
• It recognizes that rigid food rules are nearly impossible to follow, at least for the long term, because they take the fun out of social activity all of us want to enjoy ... eating! By focusing on what to include in our daily meals rather than what to avoid, the Food Guide Pyramid can help take some of the stress out of eating well.
• It includes variety, balance, and moderation. The Food Guide Pyramid recommends how much food to eat to get all the nutrients your body needs.
• It includes foods from all cultures. No matter what your cultural heritage is,your traditional foods will fit. Knowledge is the key to good health.Get educated and put your health in your own hands. Ken Weisner is a Certified Personal Trainer and owner of One On One, Inc. on Hilton Head Island, SC.