“Normal eating means being hungry when we sit down at the table and eating until we are full. It means being able to choose the food that we like and satisfying our appetite instead of simply stopping our food intake because we think that we should.

Normal eating means being able to think about our selection of food to ensure proper nutrition, without however imposing restrictions that prevent us from enjoying food that we like.

Normal eating means to give ourselves permission to eat, sometimes because we’re happy, sometimes because we’re sad or annoyed, or simply because it feels good!

Normal eating means eating three times per day, or four or five, or it can mean snacking throughout the day. It means leaving a few cookies on the plate because we know that we can eat more tomorrow, or eating more today because they’re delicious.

Normal eating requires time and attention, but it should concern only one important sphere of life. In summary, normal eating means being able to show flexibility. It varies according to hunger, time, proximity of food and emotions.”

(From Winning the war within, by Ellyn Satter 1998)