Do you want to eat like a “normal” person: to sit down to a satisfying, filling meal that offers pleasure and nourishment? Do you long to exit the diet/binge roller coaster? Do you want to have a healthy relationship with food?
Navigating the literature on nutrition can make the most easygoing woman neurotic. Everyone has their pet theory on how to eat: low carb, low fat, vegan, macrobiotic, raw, whole foods, no laws (eat whatever you want.) It’s bad enough that there are 20 different approaches to diet and nutrition; worse when the experts start contradicting one another.
At some point, you have to lighten up. As a wellness consultant told me, “It’s only food.” We’re not talking about nuclear war here. Yet the foods we eat have a direct bearing on how we feel: our energy, mood, appearance, and body image are all influence by our dietary choices.
I’ve tried many different ways of eating: vegan, vegetarian, low carb, high protein, low sugar, whole foods, and the junk food/eat whatever I want diet. I’ve been bulimic, an undereater, an overeater, and a chronic dieter. From my experiences, I’ve come up with an eating plan that works for me. It’s simple, easy to follow, yet life changing in its application. Here are my five rules for normal eating:
- I eat when I’m hungry; I stop when I’m full. Being hungry or irritable from low blood sugar feels terrible. Too much food makes me feel bloated, stuffed, and sick. So I eat enough food to give me energy, health, and enjoyment. And the next time I feel hungry I eat again.
- I eat three meals a day, everyday, including breakfast. When I was overeating, a huge part of my bingeing stemmed from undereating: I would eat as little as possible during the day (because I was on a perpetual quest to lose ten pounds) only to be starving by dinnertime. Then I would overeat, not because I had poor willpower, but because I was hungry. Eating food at regular intervals makes me feel grounded, stable, and satisfied.
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