What is normal eating?

Normal eating is:

• Being able to eat when you are hungry and continue to eat until you are satisfied.
• Being able to choose food you like, eat it, and truly get enough of it, not just stopping to eat because you think you should.
• Being able to use moderate constraint on your food selection in order to consume the right food, without being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods.
• Giving yourself permission to eat because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good.
• Normal eating consists of three meals a day or it can mean choosing to snack in between.
• It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful when they are fresh.
• Is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable.
• It also means under eating at times and wishing you had more.
• Trusting your body to make up for eating mistakes.

In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger and your proximity to food.

There are times however, when food is employed as a means to deal with stress, sadness and or boredom. Learning to eat mindfully can help foster a sense of balance in regard to food consumption, and therefore help us to develop a healthy relationship with food.