During the spring Food Sanity Program, one of the participants asked, “What does normal eating even mean?”.

A valid question, given that up to that point her relationship with food had been determined by her fear of gaining weight and efforts to correct her body.

If your fear of fat, body preoccupation and desire to eat “clean” are informing what and how you eat, it’s likely that you, like the woman in my program, may not have a clear idea of what being a normal eater means.

Here’s a list of what normal eaters do:

  • They don’t weigh themselves after the weekend (or every morning, for that matter).
  • They eat the same way in private or public.
  • They eat when hungry and stop when full and satisfied.
  • For normal eaters, guilt and food are never in the same sentence.
  • The food they eat doesn’t determine whether they had a good or a bad day.

What do you think are other things normal eaters do?

Written by Lina Salazar

Author(s)

  • Lina Salazar

    Anti-Diet Health Coach

    Live Well

    Lina is an Anti-diet Health Coach based in Washington D.C. She helps women make peace with food by breaking free from diet culture, increased emotional agility, and an enhanced attunement to their bodies. Lina’s practice is based on the principles of Health at Every Size® (HAES), intuitive eating, and leading insights and tools from eastern thought on how to actualize emotional, mental, and physical well-being.  She also works with companies and leads mindfulness sessions in organizations of all sizes. Prior to this work, Lina worked for several years in international development, passing through entities such as the OECD in Paris and the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington D.C. Lina holds a dual master's degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Columbia University, and Sciences Po in Paris. She is a political scientist and a lawyer from the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. Lina got her certification at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York. Lina is a board member at FRESHFARM, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable agriculture and improves food access and equity in the Mid-Atlantic region. Lina writes for Thrive Global, and has been interviewed on the podcasts Lunch Agenda, Simple Roots, pineapple radio, Unbreakable You and A-Cup. You can follow Lina on Instagram, LinkedIn and read her blog.