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By Jeanne Rust, Ph.D.
“I am the poet of the Body,and I am the poet of the Soul
Seeing, hearing, feeling, are miracles, and each part and tag of me is amiracle.
Divine am I, inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch…
The scent of these arm-pits is aroma finer than prayer…
I dote on myself, there is a lot of me and all so luscious.”
– Walt Whitman
How many women do you know today that would speak in such reverent tones of their bodies? Not many!
What is Body Image?
Body image is an identity issue. It’s a picture you have inyour mind of how your body looks to you. It is how you believe other peopleperceive your body. It is how you feel living in your body, carrying your bodyaround, actually being in touch with your body.
Now I’d like to have you do something with me. This is something men and women can do!
Close your eyes for a moment. Get a picture in your mind of what your bodylooks like to you. Review your body in your mind’s eye. Be aware of what wordsyou associate with your body. Try to get in touch with the essence of your bodyimage. Try to be scrupulously honest with yourself.
Now open your eyes. Keep thinking about how you’re feeling in your body.
Now imagine that you’re waking up in the morning, and making your way to the bathroomto shower. Groggy with sleep, you turn on the water and take off yournightgown. As you are about to get in the shower, you see yourself in thefull-length mirror. “Yuck!” you say. “I feel so fat.”
You are not alone! Every moment of every day millions of women (and men) ofvarying sizes and shapes are saying some variation of the phrase – “I feelfat.” This thought might come when you’re getting dressed, or when you catch aglimpse of yourself in a shop window. You might be daydreaming while waitingfor an appointment and find yourself thinking, “My God, my thighs aredisgusting.” You might have just finished a pretty normal meal, and think, “Mystomach feels really huge right now.”
So how do these “bad body” thoughts affect you? Close your eyes a minute andthink about the past 24 hours. Think about getting out of bed in the morning,taking your shower, getting dressed, and heading out the door. Think about anyinteractions you might have had with friends in class or at workout orpractice, or at work. Think about buying, preparing, and eating food and howyou felt after you ate. Pay attention to the feelings in your body as youremember these thoughts.
I’ve had many women say things like,
“I look revolting or disgusting.”
“I’m weak or I’m out of control.”
“I hate to have people see me.”
“Nothing fits me.”
“I feel so fat I want to die.”
What does it mean when a woman says, inone way or another, “I feel fat”? (Many men feel the same way!)
Unfortunately it is a feeling most of us understand. Because we livein a society where fat is looked on as being really disgusting, each time awoman says, “I feel fat, she is saying, “There is something wrong with me.”Each time she feels fat, she is feeling self-hatred and disgust.
An alarming fact was brought to light back in 1984 when Glamour magazineconducted a survey of 33,000 women in which 75% of those between 18 and 35 saidthey were overweight. In actuality, only 25% were overweight according tostandardized height and weight charts. Furthermore, 45% of the underweightwomen thought they were too fat. These same women chose losing 10-15 poundsabove success in work or in love as their most desired goal.
In the November 1987 issue of New Body Magazine, another study reported that95% of all women ranged from disgusted to disappointed with their bodies. 29%said they would rather be bald than fat, and 25% said they would give up theirjob, money, even a man, to lose weight.
The thinness trend did not slow down in the 90’s or in the early part of 2000.In fact, the ideal image portrayed for women is getting even further away fromreality. 25 years ago models weighed 8% less than the average woman in North America. At that time the average woman was fivefeet, three inches tall and weighed 144 pounds. Today’s models are 23% belowthat weight and young girls want to be more like them. One modeling agencyrevealed that in its search for models, of the 40,000 pictures submitted, onlyfour met the agency’s criteria.
Our image of beauty has changed from the more sensuous and curvy Marilyn Monroeto the sticklike Twiggy and Kate Moss. Consider that our Miss Americas, Playboyplaymates, ballerinas, fashion models, and movie stars have steadily beendecreasing in weight since the 60’s and that Americans are spending $33 billiona year to take weight off. In 1961, the Playboy playmate of the year weighed137 pounds and was approximately 5’8” tall. The February 2000 playmate wasfive feet, seven inches tall and weighed 105 pounds.
To understand our obsession with thinness, body shape and weight, we must lookat what might be some of the things that are going on in a person’s mind. Someof these things might be a set of very rigid rules that a person has made forthemselves.
Someone may demand of herself that she never eat more than 600 calories a day.Another girl may use the rule that eating will make you fat, so it must beavoided at all costs. Still another may believe that she is not allowed to eatunless she exercises so she requires this of herself.
Garner and Garfinkel (1981) stated that “body imagedisturbance can be manifested in two ways: as a disturbance in perception” (p. 35-36) where a woman views differentbody parts as being exceptionally large; and “as a disturbance in cognition andaffect” where a woman judges her appearance negatively. Rosen and colleagues (1992) have added athird item to body image disturbance: this is where a woman continually “checksout” her body and avoids situations that can provoke anxiety about her body(such as trying on bathing suits).
The degree of body image disturbance a woman has can predictthe severity of an eating disorder and its treatment outcome (Freeman, Thomas,Solyom, & Koopman, 1985). Many womenwith eating disorders gauge their self-worth and value upon their body size andhow they look.
Distortions of body image that are the basis of anorexia andbulimia are extremely difficult to treat and are usually the last symptoms ofan eating disorder to heal.
It’snot only dieting and restricting that is a problem. Exercise or working out istoo often approached with a nonsensical, oppressive, compulsive, and evendangerous attitude by the young women (and men as well!) who do this.
For females, the fitness craze has much more to do with the pursuit of thinnessthan with the pursuit of fitness. In Compulsive Exercise and Eating Disorders,Alayne Yates discusses this issue and refers to the Glamour magazine study in1984 of 33,000 women readers that revealed that 95% of the respondentsexercised to control their weight, not to improve their health. I wonder whatkind of numbers a comparable study today would show!
One example of goal-oriented thinking and behavior that has been distorted isthe current craze of body composition or body fat testing. For example there isa story I heard about a gym in California that conducts routine body fat testing for all members. It recently awarded afirst place ribbon to a 16 year old girl named Katie, an anorexic patient of atherapist I know. The ribbon was for having the lowest body fat of all femalegym members. Katie had 9% body fat. Katie also had heart problems, she was notmenstruating, and she had recently been discharged from an inpatient eatingdisorder program. Upon discharge from the hospital, Katie signed up at the gym,where no screening procedures take place. She was exercising against the adviceof her doctor and yet she won a fitness award! This is a very sad commentary onour society and a real paradox. Katie poignantly said, “You say I’m not healthy,you say I’m at risk, yet I win the award in my gym for fitness. It’s making mecrazy! Who do I believe?”
Our cultural fixation on the ideal female figure and appearance, especiallythinness, has infiltrated and damaged women’s sports, so that female athletesare often judged by how they look as much as by how they perform. In thisarena, we find the extreme of the “fit or fanatic” spectrum, but we mustn’tforget that the extreme indicates the direction or goal towards which all areencouraged to aspire. Ballerinas, skaters, and gymnasts are the most obviousexamples. Consider the following scenario. If you watched the 1992 Olympics,you saw female gymnasts whose average age was 16, whose average height was fourfeet, nine inches, and whose average weight was 83 pounds. In 1976, the femalegymnasts looked quite different – their average age was 17, they were 6 inchestaller, and 23 pounds heavier than those of today.
In her book, “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes,” Joan Ryan exposes the truth behindthe scenes regarding many (not all) elite female athletes. Ryan quotesgymnastics trainer Jack Rockwell. He said, “I remember a top American officialsaying to Mary Lou Retton a year after the (1984) Olympics, ‘You know, if Icould, I’d take a half a point off just because of that fat hanging off of yourbutt.'”
Strenuous exercise combined with poor eating can have severe and oftenunforeseen consequences. Close to two thirds of female college athletes haveirregular or nonexistent periods, a condition known as amenorrhea. This oftenbegins with disordered eating. Amenorrhea, is also a sign for increased riskfor osteoporosis (brittle bones). The rate of bone loss can be alarming. Anabsence of menstruation means an absence of estrogen, which means bones can’tdevelop properly. This can have a profound effect on a girl’s skeletaldevelopment, since 48-70% of bone mass and 15% of height are achieved duringadolescence.
A 23-year old bulimic client was recently tested for bone density and was toldthat it matched that of a 65-year-old woman. A 21-year-old anorexic runner, whowas not menstruating, tested with a bone density of an 80-year-old woman.
Newsday magazine recently ran an article called Danger and Mystery – the storyof the Female Athlete Triad. The triad is made up of three factors:
1. Disordered eating which can lead to
2. Amenorrhea, or lack of menstruation, which is a sign of increased risk for
3. Osteoporosis or brittle bones.
The presence of any one of these risk factors can put the female athlete (orpeople who exercise compulsively) at risk for the triad and she should bescreened for the other two. Many female athletes suffering from these disordersface a fundamental dilemma: Intense pressure to excel sometimes leads tobehavior that causes health risks, making success more difficult and dangerousto achieve. This balance between health and athletic success can createconflicts for coaches as well. For someone who is not an athlete, excessiveexercise does the very same thing. I talk to so many women on the phone whocan’t imagine not doing aerobic exercise while in treatment. They say, “Well!It’s healthy!”
It usually begins with disordered eating, ranging in severity from anorexia orbulimia to common chronic dieting. Poor or inadequate nutrition, combined withthe intense training done by many female athletes, can cause “energy deficit.”This occurs when the energy expended is greater than the energy taken in.
Energy deficit causes the body to shut down production of several hormonesnecessary to make estrogen. The lack of estrogen, in turn, triggers loss ofmenstruation. This happens, on average, when a woman’s body fat drops below 17to 18 percent. By contrast, experts say, a male’s body fat can fall to 1percent with very little medical consequence. The lack of estrogen in anathlete who is not menstruating, combined with lack of calcium in many women’sdiets, results in loss of bone density. If the bones deteriorate enough, theresult is osteoporosis.
What is the influence of the media on body image?
What is the media?
The media is an important aspect of our culture. 95% of people own a TV set andwatch for an average of 3-4 hours a day. Radio reaches 99% of the population ona weekly basis. Over 60% of men and 50% of women read a newspaper daily andnearly half of all girls, from the age of 7, read a girls’ magazine each week.The media wants to inform us, persuade us, entertain us, while at the sametime, they are actually changing us! Institutions from government tocorporations use the media to influence our behavior.
In today’s world we are constantly being bombarded with commercials portrayingbeauty as being thin and flawless. Advertisements come at us from all angles,television, magazines, and billboards. The ads seem endless telling us what towear, what to eat, and how to look! Many of us want very much to be accepted insociety so we think that if we look like the people in the advertisements,we’ll be happier and more successful. We’ll then have perfect lives. And ofcourse this all begins with being thin!
Actors and actresses in commercials and on popular shows that have primarily ateenage audience are extremely thin, certainly well below healthy body weights.Magazines are no better than TV. Photos are altered technically and even CindyCrawford, one of the world’s most beautiful women, has her thighs air brushedto make them appear smaller.
The media on one hand has begun to acknowledge eating disorders as seriousproblems. They have told the world of the deaths of well-known performers andathletes who have died of the disorders. Yet the media is quite hypocritical onthe other hand. We can read a story about someone suffering or dying fromanorexia on one page, and on the very next page is an advertisement with aclearly underweight model.
It is popular today to accuse the media of glorifying the culture of thinness,of causing an epidemic of eating disorders, especially among young women. Themedia denies responsibility or at least responsibility for doing anything aboutit! In fact I believe that the media, while promoting a low-weight sculpturedideal body, contributes to a toxic environment in which eating disorders may bemore likely to occur.
At the same time that the media is promoting a low-weight ideal body, the environmentis providing us with an increasing array of foods high in fat and calories withequal compelling pressures to consume these products. People are becomingheavier and heavier eating these high fat foods. The answer, they think, is togo on a diet to reduce their body weight. They have forgotten that dietingcauses rebound binge eating and attempts to deal with this, by going on furtherdiets which will lead many people into disordered eating – of all kinds.
The media can have many influences in relation to food and eating including:
1. It confers hidden meanings on food, such as nostalgia, sexiness, being agood housewife and mother, rewarding oneself, having uninhibited fun, etc., andcreates unnatural drives for food.
2. The media can persuade us that wrong eating habits are right and natural.(Such as the case of a MacDonald’s ad in which a young boy persuades both hisparents to take him for a burger and chips rather than a healthy outing at thezoo.)
3. The media can create anxieties about being deprived if we don’t have what”everyone else” is having.
The link between the media and eating disorders is still somewhat tenuous.Women and girls feel pressure from many sides to control their weight, from themedia but also from their peers, from boyfriends, from parents and from thefashion shops that carry clothes in ranges and sizes that only fit the verysmallest among them.
Yes, the media does have some influence on us, particularly those of us withlow self-esteem. However, eating disorders do not develop unless the person hasa range of other pre-disposing factors that can precipitate the disorder, suchas low self-esteem, traumatic childhood experiences, a family history ofsubstance abuse, eating disorders, anxiety and/or depression, core personalityissues, timing of puberty, family functioning, emotional or verbal abuse,emotional resilience, fear of growing up, sexuality problems, grief and loss, ahistory of dieting, bullying – all of which may have an influence on a persons’relationship with food (and there are many more p[redisposing factors – this isone of the reasons eating disorders can be so complex to treat.) No one personwho develops an eating disorder has all of these characteristics but there canbe a certain set of precipitators that can trigger an eating disorder. Theeffects of the media may be one of these precipitators.
Howto Combat the Media’s Body Image Message
The next big question becomes, “What can we do to begin to combat the messageswe get from the media including magazines and television? How can we make adifference in the world and begin to teach people to respect who we are as aperson on the inside rather than what we look like on the outside?” When am Igoing to say, “This is enough! I’m going to refuse to pay attention to whatother people think when they judge how I look. I’m going to refuse to give awaymy power to a society that worships a handful of super models who useairbrushed photos!” PBS website has a marvelous article called PerfectIllusions. The beginning paragraph states, “One of the ways we can protect ourself-esteem and body image from the often narrow definitions of beauty andacceptability is to become a critical viewer of the messages we are bombardedwith each day. Media messages about body shape affect the way we feel about ourbodies and ourselves only if we let them! When we recognize and analyze themedia messages that influence us, we remember that the definitions of beautyand success do not have to define our self-image or potential.”
We must use our “creative minds to view all media with a discriminating eye.All media images and messages are things that are made up. They are notreflections of reality.
Advertisements are created to do one thing: convince you to buy or support aspecific product or service. We see what advertisers want us to see to convinceus to buy a specific product or service.
Advertisers often will ‘make up’ an emotional experience that looks likereality. Just because they think their approach will work with you, it doesn’tmean it has to work with you!
As individuals we decide how we want to experience media messages. We canchoose whether we want to think or believe the message. We can use a filterthat protects our self-esteem and body image. (I like to put on my bubble!)
1. When you see an ad or hear a message that makes you feel bad about yourself,your body, or others by promoting only thin, formulaic body ideals, talk backto the TV and advertiser by writing a letter.
2. Make a list of companies who consistently send negative body image messagesand make a conscious effort to avoid buying their products.
3. Write them a letter explaining why you are using your ‘buying power’ toprotest their messages.
4. Get your friends and/or students at your school or work to join you. Thereis power in a grass-roots movement.
5. You can tear out the ads you find offensive and send them to the advertiserwith the message: ‘I don’t want them.'”
6. Consumers have much more influence with corporations than we realize.Corporations are so competitive with each other in today’s world as they fightto get our attention. They have to be flexible and responsive so just a fewpeople raising their voices can make a huge difference. We can look upon thisas “seed planting.” Our seeds will sprout and grow – it might take some timebut we can make a beginning in changing our culture!
We can begin not only with helping corporations change their advertisingformats, but we can also begin with ourselves.
1. We can learn to be realistic about our own bodies, appreciating the factthat we have “women’s bodies.”
2. We can realize that variety is a wonderful thing. It would be terriblyboring if we all looked alike.
3. We can learn to pamper our bodies. We can take care of ourselves by eatingin a healthy way and exercising moderately.
4. We can surround ourselves with supportive people – being only with peoplewho accept us just as we are.
5. We can throw away the scale. (No more, “Good Morning, Mr. Scale. What kindof day am I going to have today?”
6. We can learn to enjoy mealtime with our friends and families.
7. We can learn to be good role models for our children and friends.
8. We can teach them to view the media critically. (www.raderprograms.com, 2006).
Body Mass Index (BMI) and theDifferences between Binge Eating Disorder and Compulsive Overeating
BMI as an indicator provides amore accurate measure of total body fat and possible health risks than simplyweight alone. BMI has an advantage over “percent above ideal weight”(based on Metropolitan life Insurance Tables). Ideal body weight tables such asthe Metropolitan Life Insurance tables were developed primarily from white,higher socioeconomic status populations and have not been documented toaccurately reflect body fat content in the public at large. In addition,separate tables are required for men and women. The weight tables are based onmortality outcomes and do not necessarily predict morbidity.
BMI is recommended as a practical approach for the clinical setting, fortherapists and dietitians. BMI provides an acceptable approximation forassessment of total body fat for the majority of patients. And its limitationsmust be recognized – it overestimates body fat in persons who are very muscularand can underestimate body fat in persons who have lost muscle mass (theelderly). 5 to 10% of people measured by BMI could be mistakenly classified asoverweight or obese. And some people with low BMI’s, such as the elderly, canhave more body fat than they should.
BMI is calculated as weight divided by height squared, usually in kilograms andmeters. To estimate BMI using pounds and inches: measure your height in inchesand multiply this number by itself. Weigh yourself (in pounds) and divide byyour height squared (which you just calculated). Now multiply the result by703. Find that number in one of the ranges in the right-most column below. BMIat 40 or over is considered to be morbidly obese. A much easier way ofcalculating your BMI is to go to this website, http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/.
ObesityClassification – BMI (kg/m2)
Underweight – < 18.5
Normal – 18.5 -24.9
Overweight – 25.0 – 29.9
Obesity I – 30 – 34.9
Obesity II – 35.0 – 39.9
Extreme Obesity III – > 40
Source: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic of Obesity. Report of theWorld Health Organization of Obesity, WHO, Geneva , June, 1997.
Compulsive Overeating andBinge Eating Disorder
Compulsive overeating and binge eating disorder are twodistinct, separate conditions with a great deal in common. Compulsiveovereaters generally exhibit compulsive behaviors around food, eating, and bodyimage. Their eating behaviors can actually interfere with daily functioning.Compulsive overeaters eat for relief, comfort, and as a way of nurturingthemselves. They eat because they are stressed, bored, afraid, and/or lonely.Frequently they will plan the next meal while they are eating this one. Theyfeel they are out of control with food.
They will engage in binge eating where they eat an excessive amount within atwo-hour period. They will graze where they have no planned meals but ratherwill eat a large amount of food throughout the day. Compulsive overeaters feela tremendous amount of guilt and fear about not being able to stop eating andthey frequently eat until they are feeling uncomfortably full. It has beenknown for compulsive overeaters to eat until they literally pass out. They feelas if they are not “good enough,” and generally have very lowself-esteem.
Compulsive overeaters will eat privately and surreptitiously. They feel shameabout their excessive eating and about being fat or obese and will use food andeating as a way of coping with these feelings. They have sought help manydifferent places in an attempt to lose weight or control their weight. Theyhave engaged in strict dieting or fasting programs and community weight lossprograms. Out of desperation, they have tried diet pills, prescription weightloss medications, laxatives, and diuretics. They’ll have frequent weightfluctuations often exceeding 10 pounds. Most people who are compulsiveovereaters or binge eaters are overweight.
A person may be a compulsive overeater without having binge eating disorder.Binge eating disorder is characterized by episodes of binge eating. The”textbook” definition of binge eating disorder is as follows (howeverkeep in mind that there are as many variations as there are differences amongpeople!).
An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following:
1. Eating within any 2-hour period an amount of food that is definitely largerthan most people would eat in a similar period of time under similarcircumstances;
2. A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feelingthat one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).
The binge eating episodes are associated with at least threeof the following:
• Eating much more rapidly than normal
• Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
• Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry
• Eating alone because of being embarrassed by how much one is eating
• Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or feeling very guilty afterovereating
• Marked distress regarding binge eating
• The binge eating occurs, on average, at least 2 days a week for 6 months
• The binge eating is not associated with the regular use of inappropriatecompensatory behaviors (e.g., purging, fasting, excessive exercise) and doesnot occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
Whether a person has binge eating disorder or is a compulsive overeater,emotional pain associated with these conditions is no different. Nor are themedical complications. Both groups are at risk for:
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol levels
• Gallbladder disease
• Heart disease or CVD (cardio-vascular disease)
• Certain types of cancer
• Liver damage
Note: if you experience a significant number of the indicators above, callMirasol at 1-888-520-1700 to see how we can help.
The health consequences are great with both compulsive overeating and bingeeating disorder. However this does not mean that all people need to beultra-thin! A new definition of fitness has emerged from all of the discussionabout weight and health. I am now embracing the concept of:
Fitnessand Metabolic Health
Metabolic Health makes more sense than almost anything has in a very long time.We have previously considered someone who is “in shape” as someone who worksout 5-6 days a week, runs 5 miles a day, bicycles 10 miles 5 times a week, etc.Measures of cardiorespiratory capacity and endurance have dominated our ideasof fitness. However, fitness is not integrally related to weight! A person maybe overweight according to their BMI, yet be very healthy metabolically.
A person’s focus on blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol levelsis in response to a different concept of fitness. The above parameters (bloodpressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels) are the basics of a newdefinition of fitness which some call “metabolic fitness.” Healthybodies come in many shapes and sizes and we need to begin to view exercise anddiet as more than just a means to an end (weight loss). People can bephysically active, eat healthy foods, and not obsess about the numbers on thescale. Yea, Yea!
There are many people who will never be thin, but they can be quite healthy!They may come from a large family genetically. They can have big bones andlarge frames and they could diet until they’re blue in the face and never bethin-thin.
The problems arise when obese or overweight people have high blood pressure,high cholesterol, and problems with blood sugar. Oftentimes even a weight lossof only 10% can make the difference in a person’s level of “metabolic fitness.”The book, Big Fat Lies by Glenn Gaesser, is a terrific book that talks aboutthe lies that the medical establishment and the diet industry have promoted inregards to overweight. This is a must read!!
One of the biggest changes that needs to happen is a cultural one.
How can we learn to love people of all sizes and shapes?
How can we learn to accept people just as they are?
How can we begin to stop discriminating against people because of their size,making incorrect assumptions about “who” they are?
Normal Eating
Many Americans have spent so many years of their liveseither stuffing or starving themselves that they forgot what Normal Eating was.People beginning recovery need to explore and learn for themselves what NormalEating was. They find that it centered mostly on learning to feel when theywere hungry and feel when they were full. That’s it. Very simple. But oh, socomplex! You’ll notice that I’m capitalizing Normal Eating. I’m doing this tostress the importance of this vital skill. It is one of the goals for recoveryfrom an eating disorder: to become a Normal Eater.
There are some great definitions for Normal Eating.
1. It is easy to summarize normal eating in words:
When you’re hungry, eat
Eat what you want
Try to make healthy choices most of the time, but allow cravings
When you’ve stopped being hungry, stop eating.
2. Normal eating is……….
A. Not eating the exact same way everyday, but rather balancing eating habitsout over several days.
B. Feeling hungry and then eating until satisfied.
C. Trusting your body’s hunger and satiety cues and responding to them.
D. Realizing you owe your body daily fuel and nutrients to keep healthy, butwithout keeping a running “food calculator” going in your brain orbeing too restrictive.
E. Eating, or not eating, because you want to, not because you”should”. You control normal eating; it does not control you.
3. Regular eating habits distinguish normal eating. For most people thismeans eating three meals a day and including snacks to satisfy hunger. Eatingshould be regulated by internal signals of hunger, appetite and fullness. Thegoal is to eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied.
4. Ellyn Satler in her book, How to Get Your Kid to Eat … But Not TooMuch defines normal eating as follows.
“Normal Eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continueeating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like andeat it and truly get enough of it – not just stop eating because you think youshould. Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint in yourfood selection to get the right food, but not being so restrictive that youmiss out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission toeat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feelsgood. Normal eating is three meals a day, most of the time, but it can also bechoosing to munch along … Normal eating istrusting your body to make up for mistakes in eating.
“In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to youremotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food.”
Normal eating is not about rules. It’s about developing reasonable habits thatallow us to put eating in a comfortable groove and move on with life. It’sdifferent for each individual. It’s exploring what works, trusting your bodyand making it a habit.
5. Normal eating is…
Positive and flexible eating that depends on internal cues to regulate it.Being able to eat when you are hungry and continue eating until you aresatisfied.
Being able to use moderate constraint in your food selection to get the rightfood, but not being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods.Giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad, orbored, or just because it feels good.
Three meals a day, most of the time, but it can also be choosing a snack.Leaving some food on the plate if you know you are not hungry for it.
Overeating at times – feeling stuffed and uncomfortable.
Undereating at times – and wishing you had more.
Trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating.
Knowing it takes time and attention, but keeps its place as only one importantarea of your life.
Flexible, and varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger,and your proximity to food.
Reference: Adapted from Satler, Ellen How to Get Your Kid to Eat…But NotToo Much, Bull Publishing
6. “…a healthy relationship with food means eating in response tophysical hunger most of the time. However, normal eating can also includeexperiences such as eating occasionally because something looks good, eatingpast fullness at a special meal, eating in response to an emotion once in awhile or choosing foods based on nutritional content because this feels caretaking. Attuned eating means that eating for satisfaction is predominant, andexperiencing deprivation is virtually non-existent. Attuned eating is a naturalskill. It can be relearned by people who have lost touch with their hunger andcan be reinforced and nurtured in children so that they maintain this healthyrelationship with food throughout their lives.”
7. The four basic rules that “normal” eaters follow instinctively:
A. Eating when you’re hungry
B. Choosing foods that satisfy you
C. Eating with awareness and enjoyment
D. Stopping when you’re full or satisfied
Author: Karen R. Koenig, LICSW, M.Ed. from The Rules of “Normal Eating”(2005)
8. Normal eating nurtures wellness. What is normal eating?
A. Normal eating is usually eating at regular times, typically three meals andone or two snacks to satisfy hunger. It is regulated mostly by internal signalsof hunger, appetite, satiety. We eat when hungry and stop when satisfied.
B. Normal eating promotes and enhances our feelings of well-being. We eat forhealth and energy, also for pleasure and social reasons, and afterward, we feelgood.
C. Normal eating means that food choices more likely provide variety,moderation, and balanced nutrition.
D. Normal eating promotes clear thinking and mood stability. It fosters healthyrelationships in family, work, school, and community. Thoughts of food, hunger,weight occupy only a small part of day (perhaps 10 to 15 percent).
E. Normal eating nurtures good health, vibrant energy, and the healthy growthand development of children. It promotes stable weights, within a wide range,expressing both genetic and environmental factors.
As you can see there are many definitions of Normal Eating, all of which saypretty much the same thing. I get so many requests from moms about normaleating and their children that I want to also give you this bit of information.
Howparents can encourage normal eating:
1. Offer a variety of nutritious food at regular intervals with planned mealsand snacks.
2. Help the child identify hunger and fullness.
3. Be a good example of normal, healthy eating and lifestyle.
4. Follow Ellyn Satler’s Golden Rule for Parenting with Food:
a. Parents are responsible for what is presented to eat and the manner in whichit is presented.
b. Children are responsible for how much and even whether they eat.
Reprinted from Children and Teens Afraid to Eat: Helping Youth in Today’sWeight-Obsessed World, by Frances M. Berg, page 224.
Normal eating is sometimes called non-dieting. Its premise is that the humanbody is naturally wired to take proper care of itself, including seeking aright weight, without forcing upon it any regimens or food restrictions.
Proponents of normal eating believe that when dieters struggle, it’s notbecause of lack of will power but rather, it’s because they are trying to eatunnaturally.
When people are eating unnaturally, they are literally disconnected from theirbodies. This is certainly true of people with eating disorders and it’s true ofthe 1/3 of all women who are restrained eaters. When someone is a restrainedeater, she doesn’t eat when she’s hungry and stop when she’s full, but she eatsaccording to a self-prescribed caloric plan that will help her maintain herweight. A restrained eater is someone who gets up every morning and says,”Hello, Mr. Scale! What kind of day am I going to have today?”
When a person learns to eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full,they literally reconnect with their bodies. The body stops being a foreignpresence and becomes an integral part of the whole person.
So,how can my clients learn to eat whenthey’re hungry and stop when they’re full?
It sounds easy but when people are disconnected from their bodies, theyoftentimes have no idea how they’re “feeling” on the inside. They have lostwhat’s called interoceptive or proprioceptive awareness.
You can ask people to do a little exercise with you. Take a sheet of paper anda pencil. In the left hand margin of the paper, draw a little circle. In theright hand margin, draw a stick figure without a head. This is a picture ofsomeone completely disconnected from their bodies, perhaps someone with aneating disorder or certainly dysfunctional eating. Ask your client if sheidentifies with this…
The hunger and fullness method is the foundation upon which normal eating isbuilt. When an individual learns to discover his own hunger signals, he canlearn to put off eating until those signals make themselves apparent. Likewise,when the individual is nearing fullness, his body will send signals telling himto slow down, push his food around more, and then taper off entirely fromchewing.
It may be hard for your clients to believe if they’ve been dieting a long timeor if they have an eating disorder, but they can learn this method of eating.
At our treatment center at each meal we teach people how to regain awareness oftheir hunger and satiety cues. We ask each person at the beginning of the mealhow hungry they are with 1 being starved and 10 being full. The person givestheir hunger number. If they have no idea, we ask that they make something up –if it’s been 2 hours since their last snack, how hungry do they think someone mightbe? We ask each person for a hunger/full number during the middle of the mealand again at the end. This way a person practices and before too long, she’sable to identify her hunger cues. Practice, practice. Our bodies know much morethan our brains ever do about how much food we need.
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