Normal Eating.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want my life to look like. Along with this process, I've thought a lot about my relationship with food, and about the fact that I can't seem to lose weight without being obsessed about it. I wish I could...but I still need to figure out a way. Someone told me recently that it's about balance and awareness and listening to the cues we receive from our bodies.

My dream is to not let food control my life -- I don't want to think about every single bite that goes into my mouth, but I want to be healthy and have healthy choices come naturally to me. I want to be able to stop eating before I'm full and be satisfied with the food on my plate.

I also want to be able to enjoy food -- because frankly, I love food. I love trying new things and experiencing new tastes. Heck, I even tried foie gras once. While I don't do it much, I do enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. Food is a central part of our social culture -- When I spend time with friends it is almost always over food.

The question is, how to do I get to this place? I blog I like to read, Well, recently took me to an article on PsychCentral that defines "normal eating" as:

“Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it—not just stop eating because you think you should. 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. 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 mostly three meals a day, or four or five, or it can be choosing to munch along the way. 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 overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. And it can be undereating at times and wishing you had more. 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.

In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your hunger, your schedule, your proximity to food and your feelings.”*

To me, this means there is no such thing as "Normal Eating" for our society, only normal eating for each person. What is your normal? Does it work for you? What would you like to have become a new normal for you?

Weighting around

“Life doesn’t begin when you lose 20 pounds.” That’s what I told my co-worker yesterday. I need to remind myself of that everyday.

Isn’t amazing how we put things off with arbitrary weight loss goals. Shopping for new clothes – even when the old ones are out of style and ill-fitting anyway – was always something I put off. Then I had a boss tell me my wardrobe needed to be shaped up. So, I don’t wait for the next 20 pounds. And I don’t buy things, generally, that will look great in five pounds. (And, I only buy things that look really freakin’ fabulous on me – that’s why I don’t look like I weigh as much as do.)

But this idea extends beyond shopping. There is something in my life I have long loved and have not done in ages, until recently. I went out and did it – and I’m having a blast. Meeting new people and learning more about myself. And I’m not going to stop. If I had waited until I lost another 20 pounds, I can’t even bear to think about the fun people and things I would have missed out on.

So, that is it. Life doesn’t begin when you lose the next five, 10 or 20 pounds. It starts now. Don’t put off doing something because you’ve got weight to lose, you’ll never know what you lost by waiting. I’m glad I didn’t!