I just Tweeted about this article. I got 2 pages into the comments and gave up, but you’re right they are great. I think your insight about this kind of eating only happening in nature is brilliant. But even then, my dog would eat treats and other naughty things all day long if we let her.

One thing I noticed is that they used the word “normal” not “healthy.” Especially in this country, the two are very different. Isn’t the average fast-food intake something CRAZY like 3x per week? I know I don’t have the greatest relationship with food (partly in that I let it be too important a part of my life) but I know I do make more healthy choices and feel I’m more informed then many “normal” eaters out there.

Lesse here, my comments:

-Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied.

I guess in terms of what’s considered “normal” among the general population, sure. However, what most people consider satisfied is really stuffed (it took me a while to learn the difference). Eating smaller meals more frequently is popular in the “healthy living” set, but most people look at me funny when I say I’m trying to lose weight but snacking all the time.

-Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food.

I think this one is right on the money. What they’re trying to say here, I believe, is not having to skip a slice of delicious homemade birthday cake to celebrate your best friend’s special day, but perhaps making sure earlier in the day you get a nice, light, healthy lunch to balance it out.

-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.

This confuses me too. Maybe they mean that you can just eat one cookie and enjoy it and be satiated and not have to eat the whole box because they’re tasty and there?

-Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating.

After 2 years, I can go off the grid and trust my body to maintain. I spent November completely off the grid tracking nothing. I went on a 5 day cruise and tried to make sure I got some healthy eating in there, but I definitely indulged. A lot. I hosted Thanksgiving. I ended the month either the same or slightly lighter. Though it’s taken me 2.5 years to do what I was hoping to do in about 1 or 1.5, I did a lot more learning than if I would have gone faster and can’t wait to go off the grid for good and trust myself.

-Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.

Yep, I guess normal people are not nearly as food obsessed as we crazy people are. I have a friend who loves to eat but also pays no thought to what he wants and pretty much whatever appears in front of him is just fine. Instead, I spend time making a meal plan, a grocery list, shopping (and comparing labels and prices), cooking (or most days helping Zliten cook), eating, and then tracking and analyzing what I ate. I don’t think I will ever be most people, though I hope to relax a little and remove the track and analyze part when I get to my goal.

That being said, I don’t think “normal” eating = “healthy” eating in any sense. The normal US citizen does not eat a balanced diet (and I am pulling this out of my hiney but I think it’s probably true, hehe). Without attention, I doubt I’d get my 5 fruits and veggies and fiber and protein and the like. What I think they are trying to say is that normal people enjoy food and enjoy enough food to sustain them, but it isn’t a big part of their life.

I’m ok not being normal in this regard, cuz when I’ve tried to be that’s when I pack on the lbs.

WOW!!! I wish I had time today to really get into this. Normal eating for me is choosing a healthy lifestyle that I can live with long term & that not only fuels my body with good stuff but allow room for some fun as well. I pay attention to what my bod is telling me. It is a life long learning process for me!

omg i just got your package! i LOVE it! Just LOVE it LOL. I was so excited to see chocolate, granola and a CD Music is my life so thanks so much!

xoxo
Lo

i completely agree with your interpretation of normal eating .. and the best example of this can be found in kids.. they just eat what they want, when they want, how much they feel like — it seems so simple. right? why do us lame adults have to complicate things so much?

I think when people refer to “normal” eating these days, they refer to the cultural norm, which I personally want to avoid as much as possible, as it’s not conducive to good health. But I have to agree with your take.

I would say that normal is relative to the person. I think that everyone eats differently, just like everyone (usually) has different personal beliefs and feelings. That’s what I say.

how did eating get so complicated?

Great post! I think it’s a post that many of us need to rethink and reevaluate…you’re right that many of us give TOO much of our time and life obsessing abt our quality of food…
I really don’t know the EXACT definition of normal eating, but I’ll go by my faith. I think God created everything for US to enjoy, and not to restrict or label anything as “bad” and “forbidden”.
And He certainly didn’t make our bodies in a way so that we starve ourselves, or overfeed ourselves. He made sure there are bad consequences for that so that we’ll correct it.
I think food is there for enjoyment AND nourishment AND sustenance. I guess somewhere in there we should find a healthy balance, and find what works best for our own unique bodies, meanwhile not letting it deter our quality of life. Food isn’t supposed to be solution to our confidence issues, or our stress reliever. It should be a source of GOOD for us. And yes, sometimes we reach for an extra cookie we don’t need, but if we don’t stress out abt it, somehow our body will naturally adjust itself so we don’t eat an extra serving of mashed potatoes during dinner.

I do eat until I’m satisfied and that is my biggest problem. I’m just not easily satisfied, lol.

As for “normal eating” I completely agree there too. What on earth is “normal”? Being vegetarian? Eating fast food every day? Eating until you’re satisfied? Never being satisfied?

Gah! It’s all so crazy, you’ve got my mind spinning in circles. Circles. What was that you wrote? About needing landmarks to guide us or we end up going in circles…? That’s what I need – guidance from my brain and not from my stomach to straighten me out.

Thought provoking as always, a pleasure to read your blog.

“Normal” eating is “eating until you’re satisfied”?

I despair. I cannot even begin to express my exasperation with the NYT.

The place I ate the healthiest was when I lived in Japan. I cooked for myself, and when I went out I ate like my Japanese friends. Meaning, I ate until I was at 80%. They said it takes time for your brain to realise your body is actually satisfied. So if you ate to 100% you overate. You know what? It always worked.

Brain and body do not always equal / work together / there is a time delay. (sigh)

Food and consumption is highly personal, I need to get off my soapbox now before I overly rant and preach. Thanks for posting this thought provoking blog.

I (a lurker!) understood her description, because that is how I eat. But I don’t think “normal eating” is a good descriptor. What she describes is intuitive eating, which for the majority of adults isn’t the norm.

It’s interesting to read your comments. I can offer some insight into what she means by her definitions, though I don’t really think that the guidelines are necessarily right or helpful for everyone.

1. I eat when I am hungry. Not because I am bored, or because food is there and it is yummy. I can wait to satisfy my cravings when the hunger hits. I stop when I am satisfied, not full or stuffed. Just when I feel comfortable and not hungry anymore. To lose weight I would have to allow myself to be uncomfortably hungry, and to gain weight I would have to allow myself to be uncomfortably full. I don’t like those feelings, so I maintain weight.

2. About giving thought to food: I might ultimately want eat half a pepperoni pizza, but I might opt for two slices and a salad. Or half a veggie pizza. Or I might just eat half the pepperoni pizza for lunch and a big salad for dinner. It doesn’t take a lot of thought, just a basic attempt at balance.

3. Cookies on the plate: If I am full and someone offers cookies, I’ll pass. If I still crave something sweet by time I’m hungry again, I’ll eat it. At the same time, if someone brings cookies and they look good, I won’t feel bad about eating one…or 5. I’ll just balance it out by not having dessert after dinner. I don’t stress about foods I can or can’t have, and I neither always indulge or always refrain.

4. To make it really simplistic, I know that if I never stuff myself and never go hungry, I will stay the same weight. My body will make up for it’s “mistakes.” Some days I don’t eat everything on my plate, and some days I get seconds.

5. I don’t really agree with the last one. Either you naturally eat this way or you don’t. If it comes naturally, you don’t think much about it, and if it doesn’t, you obviously do. I mean I did pay attention in health class, and I know that olive oil is better for you than butter, and baking is better than frying. But they aren’t conscious, ongoing food decisions.

I can’t help but think that this way of eating is born into all of us, but lost by many people as their lifestyle, environment, and culture change what is intuitive, practical, or desirable in terms of eating. Whatever way you eat for a significant period of time is what becomes intuitive to you I guess.

after reading so many food blogs and books and hearing different opinions, i have decided there is no such thing as normal. just what is normal to ME! and to you, and him, and her.. all different.

Goodness! I think we need to have another post about this just to talk about one point of normal eating at a time…here is the thing that really gets to me, though
“Either way, I really can’t trust my “body” – whoever and whatever that is – to make up for my “mistakes.”

I think you have to LEARN how to trust yourself…and it is a deficit of trust that you can’t stop when satiated or can’t eat when starving….and relying on external “shoulds” without pausing and not being afraid of HUNGER….

GREAT POST! Want to do a answer and question on my website?

Also, thanks for following my Share Yourself Giveaway!

I really enjoyed reading this. I’m still trying to figure out what normal eating is… It definitely varies from person to person, so that makes it harder to figure out!

I think I would have commented on those statements the same way as you did a few months ago, but after stopping counting calories and eating a little more intuitively, I am truly starting to “trust my body” and because I truly love healthy food, that’s what I chose most of the time. On that note, I have also been indulging in more sweets than I normally would have allowed myself in the past, and have been maintaining a higher weight but somehow I’m happier. This is quite strange to me (I still can’t believe it’s happening!) but I think it’s about establishing “some rules” but otherwise give yourself more slack and just live. I think “normal eating” is still a weird term though.