Normal eating. Is it important to you?

I want to be a normal eater. It's a thought I've had for more than twenty years. For most of those years, I didn't think normal eating was possible for me.

What is normal eating? I talk about normal eating, but I haven't defined normal eating. Rather than a definition, I have a vision of normal eating: I picture my friend Jessica who can keep an open bag of cookies on her desk weeks. Or Tania who frequently tells me "it's just food." I picture my friend Kristin choosing to eat a plum for a snack, not because it's a healthy choice, but because that's what she wants to eat.

It's not that I want to eat the foods the same foods that Jessica,Tania and Kristin, I want to have a similar attitude and thoughts when it comes to food.

Therefore, if I'm eating like a normal person I will:

• eat reasonable amounts, most of the time;
• eat a variety of foods;
• choose to eat healthy foods because I want to not because I have to;
• not count calories, points or servings;
• ignore a bag of cookies on the counter and ice cream in the freezer (but eat a cookie and/or a bowl of ice cream if I really want to);
• not think about food all the time;
• not struggle with junk food;
• not be afraid of feeling hungry;
• understand that food isn't going to taste great all the time;
• decide to eat food (or not);
• not feel guilty if I eat too much food, or not enough variety or not eat enough healthy foods;
• not gain weight just because I'm not longer on a diet.

That is how I see/define normal eating. As it stands, becoming that normal eater seems like a reasonable, achievable goal now. But all things are not important to all people. Is normal eating important to you? Do you have an ideal vision of the eater you want to be?

This post, like so many posts of my posts was inspired by Munchberry's comment on a recent post, What EDNOS means to me.

I wonder who decides what is normal. I know few normal people and am pretty sure it is overrated. I know few thin people who have food in proper perspective. Proper being that it does not rule some aspect of your life or mind. Even my hubby - who I consider the most healthy in relation to food gets a belly occasionally. His pants get tight, he stops overeating. He lacks my creative self delusion.

Still I would prefer not to be so tangled in my relationship with food. That is what I am looking for. I hate the drama. Since I have been home the drama is back. Very dismaying since I was doing so well before and during my trip. But here I am. Not at square one, but if say - I was on square 20 before I am now on square 7. Sigh. I will be glad when summer is over and temptation to eat out of control is diminished.

Munch, I think you decide your own definition of normal eating. From your comment, I think you have formed your own thoughts on what normal eating is for you, which may or may not be an important goal in your journey. From reading about Mr. Munchberry, I think he fits into my definition of a normal eater.

And I'm with you, in the end, I too want to be less tangled in my relationship with food. After all, it's just food right?

Also:
Karen @kclanderson.com writes about normal eating, including a post called Practicing "Normal" Eating. If you haven't read it, I recommend that you do.

Please bear with me

Well, I started a post last week; an update on little bear's birthday weekend, but now, almost two weeks later, it's a bit stale and to be honest, I don't really feel like reworking the post.
To sum things up, I'm happy with how I handled a weekend chocked full of social occassions (birthday party and mother's day). I felt like a normal eater. I ate reasonable amounts of food and did not overdo it on appetizers and desserts. I also managed to increase the whole grain intake, so much so that I could have sworn that the quinoa I was eating was stuffing.

But as I said, that was almost two weeks ago. What has happened since? Two things: my job and my little bear.

Last fall, the company I work for was sold by our parent company. The merger was finalized this spring. As the merger was finalized, we were restructured (don't worry I have a job) and my marketing position was eliminated. I moved into a different position, which doesn't allow for creative time management opportunities. In addition, I'm in a new building (closer to the train- yay!), but, the new internet policy is restrictive, meaning that I can't even read a blog, let alone access my blogger account (boo).

At the same time, little bear has hit some developmental milestone that is disturbing his evening bedtime routine. Three weeks ago, little bear required about thirty minutes of stories and cuddling before we put him to bed. Now, thirty minutes has stretched into an hour and half marathon attempting to manage toddler curiosity and separation anxiety (or so the parenting book says).

This mean that the bear bedtime routine ends as late as 9 pm. This doesn't leave much time for mother bear to have a shower, get ready for work, unwind, and crawl in bed by 10:30 PM. Even though I'm confident that this is just a phase, this extended bedtime routine may continue for a while, so I'm going to have to figure out when to write blog postings.

In any case, please bear (ha) with me as I figure out my new work environment and schedule.

I hope you are doing well and I look forward to catching up on your journey!