Everyone’s eating habits are a little different from each other’s. Personally I make efforts to follow a well rounded or balanced diet and am very conscious about my eating habits. Now this is probably partly due to the fact that I am a dietitian and have chosen nutrition as my career, but it’s always because I am very passionate about nutrition and want to feed my body with optimal fuel every day! I was discussing “normal” eating habits with a patient recently and I came across some defitinitions by one of the experts in the field, dietitian Ellyn Satter. I wanted to share this with you as it really gives some food for thought as we examine our eating habits.
What is Normal Eating?
- Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied.
- 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.
- 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.
- Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating.
- Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life
You can explore the article at:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/what-is-normal-eating/
Or visit Ellyn’s site at : http://www.ellynsatter.com
As you work to improve your diet think about these concepts and work at incorporating them into your eating habits and thought process! Mindful eating is an excellent concept and promotes life long healthy eating habits.
-Kelsey