"Normal" Eating by Karen R. Koenig

Truth Versus Our Stories

One major hurdle for disregulated eaters who’ve struggled with food for a long time is believing in recovery. Perhaps you believe there’s a truth that says you won’t or can’t have a positive relationship with food and eat “normally.” What you don’t realize is that this so-called truth is only a story that you tell yourself over and over.

Write Your Own Treatment Plan

I’ve been writing treatment plans for clients at different worksites since the late 1980s, and now do them for telephone/Skype clients when I do an initial consultation. It recently dawned on me that disregulated eaters would benefit from developing their own treatment plans. It’s a pretty straightforward endeavor. Here’s how.

Change Creates Change

At lunch with a friend who’s always immersed in fascinating and challenging activities, we got to talking about trying new endeavors and doing things we already know how to do differently. In the spirit of our discussion, I switched my turkey wrap from my right hand to my left and continued munching. An enlightening experience, to be sure.

Being Different

I was talking with a client about her discomfort eating differently than other people which led to discussing why divergence and nonconformity produce fear and shame in her. Many of you may encounter these feelings. To move into emotional health and eat "normally," it’s vital to enjoy, value and feel at ease with your authentic self.

If I'm Not Dead, I Will...

As Geneen Roth says, “It’s easy to want to change, but it’s hard to actually change.” Disregulated eaters often have difficulty sticking to self-care commitments, so here’s an excuse-proof way to stop wiggling out of them: An “If I’m not dead, I will…” edict which means just what it says. Sound a bit extreme? Perhaps, but it works.

When Is It Going to Click?

When is it all going to click? I hear this question a lot. Clients and message board members want to know when they’re going to consistently and automatically engage in “normal” eating behaviors—stop eating when satisfied, prevent a binge, feel full but not purge, keep going to the gym even when they’re busy, or not regain weight they struggled hard to lose. The answer to this question may not be what you want to hear.

Maslow's Self-actualizing Attributes

A friend and colleague, psychotherapist/life coach Dr. Karma Kitaj, sent me psychologist Abraham Maslow's list of self-actualizing qualities. They speak to the life skills and attitudes that troubled eaters need to acquire in their quest to become “normal” eaters. As you read them over, think, “Which ones do I have? Which ones do I need to learn?”

Two Science-based Keys to Eating Success

In terms of proving why it’s important to eat mindfully and without distractions, this blog may be the most important one you’ll ever read. For years, experts have been telling you to eat with focused attention, which means, at least while you’re learning to become a “normal” eater, not doing anything else while you’re eating. Now we know why failing to do so hinders behavioral change and why following that advice generates success.

Solutions

An avid reader, I was struck when a character in a mystery I was enjoying proclaimed, “I won’t stop until I figure it out. There’s always a solution.” I wished right then and there that I could magically transfer this must-have, winning perspective into all the troubled eaters I know so they could focus on finding solutions rather dwelling on their problems.

Biggest Eating Disorder Recovery Mistakes

After 30-plus years treating under- and overeaters, I can tell you exactly what people do wrong to impede their recovery and what they must do right to make it happen. No matter whether you’re struggling with binge-eating disorder, anorexia, bulimia, chronic restrictive dieting, or any combination thereof, here are the biggest eating disorder recovery mistakes you can make—and how to correct them.