Hunger and fullness: June 2008 Archives
What exactly is normal eating, anyway? Is it a new plan? Where are the instructions?
Whether we call it normal eating or intuitive eating or non-dieting doesn't matter. The reason we're all here is because diets didn't work for us.
Normal eating, then, is first and foremost a surrender. To borrow from substance abuse meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous: "We admitted we were powerless over diets--that our lives had become unmanageable."
To start simply, a normal eater ditches all the diet food, replacing it with real food, and learns to eat when hungry and stop when full.
And now I present to you some objections your own mind could be conjuring up right now:
1. But I don't trust myself. I'll binge all day and all night.
2. But I need a plan to follow.
3. But I'm too afraid I'll gain more weight.
4. But I won't know how to act around relatives. They'll think I've lost my discipline.
5. But when I'm eating, I know no end. I won't know when to stop.
6. But food meets many of my needs. I won't be able to cope emotionally.
7. But food is my best friend. Now you're telling me to lose my best friend.
8. But I'll feel guilty if I eat delicious food.
These objections, and many more, fall into the category of faulty beliefs. These are the beliefs that drive what we actually do in spite of what we say we're going to do.
And therein lies the rest of the work--in addressing the faulty beliefs. In fact, to become a normal eater, you'll follow two paths at once.
Path One:
Learning what it means to sense your hunger and sense your fullness.
Learning what a reasonable portion size is for you.
Learning to approximate a reasonable portion size using your own intuition.
Learning to enjoy food again.
Path Two:
This path is about addressing all those objections. Your internal objections, your beliefs about weight diet and body image, and your worries and fears are actually faulty beliefs.
But don't worry. You're not alone. Every human being is hampered by some kind of faulty beliefs. Yours are about food and diets.
As you follow this journey with help from maybe a book or two, and perhaps a good message board to share with fellow journeyers, you can address each of these faulty beliefs as they come into your conscious mind.
You will learn to examine each one, look for any basis in reality, then adjust your belief to something closer to reality. For example, the fact that you don't trust yourself is understandable, but does this mean you'll never be able to trust yourself? When you realize you don't know the answer to this, new possibilities open up, don't they?
See if you can put your objections on hold for just a little while, and bask in this new idea that diets don't work for you and therefore probably never will. Get used to the idea that you are no longer a dieter, but rather, a person surrendering the whole notion of dieting. Then ponder what's around the corner. It's good stuff.
Click on the book cover for more information
Normal Eating solutions: (You'll see after clicking how to subscribe to them)
Diet Survivors meditations
Diet Survivors message board
Food and Feelings message board
Find out more about Linda Moran's book, How to Survive Your Diet.
Visit the home of the book, The Rules of Normal Eating
Learn more about normal eating at Eat Normal Now
