Since normal eating eludes so many of us, I though it would be worthwhile to share something a dietician gave us eating disorder patients at Rogers. The reactions, as you might imagine, were quite comical. Here we were, expected to follow a strict regime of a meal plan, and then she hands us this sheet of paper saying that it isn't normal. It wasn't logical. How could overeating at times and underrating at others be good for you? Don't our bodies need a constant, steady flow of healthy nutrition?

Looking at this now, it makes more sense than it did in the hospital. Life doesn't revolve in set intervals, and neither should eating.

"Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat and truly get enough of it- not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint of your food selection to get the right food, but not being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad, or 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 can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because you know you can have some again when you are fresh. Normal eating is overeating at times: feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. It is also under eating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.

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

Source: How to Get Your Kid to Eat... But Not Too Much (pp. 69-70) by Ellyn Satter