Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it, and truly get enough of it – not just stopping because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint in 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, most of the time, but it can also 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 they taste so wonderful when they 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 is to trust your body to make up for the mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some time and attention but keeps its place as only one of many important areas in your life.
In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food.
Restrictive Eating Mind
Restricting calories/foods
Calorie counting
Purging calories
Over-exercising
Undoing & compensatory compulsions
Impulsive Eating Mind
Over Indulgence
Bingeing: eating large quantities of food in a short amount of time
Frequently eating when upset
Stress eating/drinking
Eating large quantities of unhealthy foods
Flexible Eating Mind
Flexible eating is moderate
A balance of restrictive/and impulsive eating habits that flow with life and the environment in the moment
Wise Mind Breathing Exercise
Attending to your breath coming in and out, letting your attention settle into your center
Breath in as completely as you can, notice and follow the sensations of your breath coming in.
At the bottom of your breath, let your attention settle into your center, around your solar plexus
Now at the top of the breath, gently let your attention settle in the center of your forehead, at the third eye
Keep your attention at your center, exhale gently the breath in normally
Settle into a more wise mind state of mind