The Rules of "Normal" Eating

I'm reading The Rules of "Normal" Eating by Karen Koenig. Of course "Normal" is in quotes because as she explains in the introduction there is no "normal" way of eating. But I liked the title because how many times have I looked at another person who I perceived as someone who didn't have food issues and thought "Oh, I just wish I could just eat normal like them!"? This is a book for what they call Disordered Eaters so it covers overeaters, undereaters, emotional eaters and everyone in between. I am only a few chapters in, but I'm really enjoying it and a lot of bells and whistles are going off in my head. I was wondering if anyone else had read it, or heard of it.

Replies

  • sa11yjane
    sa11yjane Posts: 491 Member
    No but I'm just about to order it off Amazon now so thanks for the recommendation!
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
    Ok so what are the rules?? :smile:
  • sarah3333
    sarah3333 Posts: 222 Member
    Well it’s not a diet book. The rules are simple. We all know what we WANT to do. We want to be able to eat when we are hungry, enjoy the food we are eating, stop when we are full etc. But for my whole life these simple ideas has seemed more or less impossible! Either I can’t stop eating, or I wait to eat and save calories, or I don’t eat in front of other people, or I wonder what other people are thinking about what I’m eating, or when I finally am eating I want the food to be perfect or I’m disappointed, and my list of food issues goes on… lol but I’m starting to feel like it IS actually possible to change the way I think and feel about food and manage my compulsions. Like I could really do this!
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
    I'll check it out. I need rules for those things too :/
  • crzyone
    crzyone Posts: 872 Member
    When I was doing The Weigh Down Workshop plan, it stressed rules like that. (I'm not endorsing this program just saying that I did it once.)

    1. Eat when you are hungry.
    2. Eat slowly
    3. Eat till you are full, then stop.

    This is how the "skinny" person eats, according to this plan.

    It seems so simple, and yet I find it hard to do. I eat because it is breakfast, lunch, supper and snack time. That plan tells you to wait until you feel hunger.

    Don't gobble it down. Slow down and enjoy the taste, since that is WHY so many fat people eat...the taste, not the health value or to fuel the body....so eat slowly.

    Stop when you are full. Seems simple, and yet I find I need to "clean the plate" or have second because I ALWAYS have seconds or eat until I'm miserable afterwards.

    The rules are simple, and I know them, but I can't seem to be able to do all of them.
  • midsummer174627
    midsummer174627 Posts: 386 Member
    I got the workbook and I think I am going to get the "Normal" Eating book too. Let's keep this thread going!