The Rules of "Normal" Eating: A Commonsense Approach for Dieters, Overeaters, Undereaters, Emotional Eaters, and Everyone in Between!

I got this book back in the Spring of 2009 and it was my first step in healing. I saw myself in every page with every worry that the Dieter and Disordered Eating patient has. I actually sought help bc of this book! Unfortunately my book is packed away after moving and I cannot find the box it was packed into. I love this book and it's really a fast read! If you are someone who has ever been on the Diet Rollercoaster, Had/has and ED, hates your body, the scale, or has a poor relationship with food including food labeling and policing- this is the book for you!I literally bought about 25 books about IE, Body Accpetance, and Emotional Eating and this is my favorite. When compared to the titled book "Intuitive Eating" this for me, was a much better read. It's straight forward and to the point. Again I don't have my book next to me, but the chapters are neatly organized and each *Principle or "rule"* has it's own chapter- shorter chapters. The book is not hard to understand and you are not lost in the research stats. Now if you want the stats and medical journal quotes/studies, Intuitive Eating would be a better buy. I have to be honest that I made it half way through the book and became bored. Rules of Normal Eating was writen in a style as if she was talking to you directly- not at you! There are no diets or food guidelines to follow only know that there are no "good and bad" foods, only levels of nutrition. Both IE and Health at Every Size (another IE/BA/EmoEating book) start to talk about "how" you should strive to eat towards the end. When you follow a true IE lifestyle, you don't need to have someone telling you what to eat- that to me negates the whole *leaving the diet mentallity behind* kind of deal. Furthermore when you are eating for an IE lifestyle what your body needs as an individual will vary compared to the next person. Some people are more carb sensitive, others don't like a certain food group (vegans or even just those that acutally don't like fruit!). The point- When you truly live an IE lifestyle you don't need to follow someone else's idea of what is healthy, right, correct, or "should be". You eat the foods that make you body feel good, that give you energy. For some that will be a PB & J with chips at lunch, some will have a protein shake, and others will want a huge salad. None of them are wrong as long as it is what you as an individual wants and as long as it doesn't take away from feeling great- That's the idea of this book!Develope a better relationship with yourself, leave the scale behind, deal with the emotions, and you'll start to eat in a way that honors your body, life, and likes without guilt or judgement. This is by far my favorite book on the subject!

I have almost finished this book. I have picked up some helpful tips for taming my food demons. I would recommend this to those who have not been successful with dieting in the past. It's a little tedious at times but there is good information to be had. Written to help those who eat too much and also those who eat too little. You have to be ready to admit that what you are doing doesn't work and willing to make serious changes in your relationship to food. Not easy to do but worth it.

The author, an expert in the field of Disordered Eating, sheds valuable light on what she calls "Normal" eating. Pay close attention to those quotation marks, because she's not talking about the way most people eat. It's not that kind of Normal. Normal that isn't in quotes (i.e., what we see most people doing all around us, and we may have grown up with) would be unhealthy processed or take-out food, consumed in excess, which seems to be how most people eat. She's referring (in my opinion) to SANE eating, mindful eating, intelligent eating, which is the reason for the quotation marks. It's eating in accordance with how the body was designed to take in and metabolize nourishment. What would be normal if we were not surrounded by food we don't need and constantly being urged to eat. Eating sanely, and with awareness of why we're eating and what we need, requires an intelligent way of THINKING about food, and that's what she provides here. She helps the reader assess the questions, "Am I hungry?" "What do I need?" "How much of it do I really need?" "Is this smart?" "What do I really want?", etc. So buy the book and remember that "Normal" means Sane, not the crazy kind of eating we see so much of in people who let the advertising industry tell them what to eat, and feel obligated to "clean their plate," and eat way more than is healthy for them, just to be sociable.I've learned a lot from Karen Koenig about what she calls "Normal" eating and I call Sane Eating. Same thing. Eating to nourish the body and soul (chocolate has its place in our lives), not to abuse them.

This is a wonderful book. It was recommended to me by my nutritionist (shout out to Ginger!) and it has been so enlightening in many ways. It touches on many things I already knew about eating but has much much more that is new for me. Most important for me is it's simple yet in-depth approach and guidelines for looking at and understanding my relationship and irrational good versus bad moral judgments about foods. I initially rejected that I had a moral viewpoint about food until I opened my mind and read, thought about, and reread this book. I particularly like this book as it can be picked up and put down and then returned to. It isn't necessary to read it cover to cover. In fact that was not working for me at all. I needed to read and reflect to be really receptive to all the author was saying and then I could apply it to me and my life. This is one of those books that will always be part of my life's little reference library - a TOP 10. Am I a normal eater? Not yet. However I am moving there and most importantly I believe I can be a normal eater and now I know normal eating when I see it. The author makes no promises that it is easy or that one will become a normal eater or when that will happen. However a lot of help and direction and hope is provided in this easy to read and easy to understand book.

This book along with "diets don't work" in my opinion is an essential read but only if you are willing to be realistic about loosing weight. This is a serious book written by a serious health expert. It's more about changing how you feel about yourself then how to loose the pounds overnight. It's written brilliantly and with a friendly approach. Interestingly no where in the book are there any words on how much you will loose or how quick. It's a serious and realistic approach to changing completely how you think about food and especially dieting. It's not an overnight fix but its woken me up as a serial dieter and i can feel the change within me already.It explains how normal people eat and how they think with regards to eating. The four Golden rules that paul mckenna goes on about (which he actually "borrowed" from other health experts) 1) eat what you want 2) eat consciously/slowly 3)eat what you want 4)when you are full stop eating. But it only mentions these once.If you are serious about loosing weight and if you want to change how you see food and the importance you give it. This is the book for you. Its not an easy read and it really is not an overnight solution. But it is the first step on being honest, tackling your food issues and loosing weight. Once you have read this, i cannot stress enough in fact let me do caps... BUY "DIETS DONT WORK" AFTER YOU HAVE READ THIS and you will start to realise where you have been going wrong if you are a multiple dieter. (I review that too)Be serious with yourself. Please for the sake of your sanity if diets havent worked for you. Invest in theses two books (BOTH this one first then the other). We should really be thankful for this book as serial dieters. It's time to stop the madness and see why we have been going wrong. The serious earthy and realistic version of the Paul Mckenna "diet"I give it four stars because a lot of people will be put off by the ultra realistic approach especially those used to quick fixes. And theres no exercises or notes as such to help you. Once the book is read you have to remember a lot of things. But i still recommend it if you are at your wits end. Get going and get these books.

A good commonsense approach to normalising your approach to eating. Not as easy a read as some authors who spend time telling you how they "did it" but is a sound basis for tackling eating issues. Well worth a place on your bookshelf!

Recommend by a counsellor, still early days to know if it actually works for me, but feel more positive already. Just need to remember all change takes time to get used to!

Great

Heavy going, lots of Americanisms. Got bored part way through. Not my cup of tea