A Different Guide to Healthy Eating

How do we define “healthy eating”? With the amazing variety in the bodies of human beings—size, shape, composition, metabolism rate, cardiovascular health, and so forth—what does “healthy” mean? A guide to healthy eating is different for everyone if you want to describe eating in terms of calories or food group servings or carbohydrates or some other category. What an overwhelming task! We can define healthy eating more easily from a mental standpoint: It must be based on freedom and flexibility.

Healthy Eating Means Freedom From Black and White Thinking

Artificial boundaries create problems if you have an eating disorder. You want to know what’s “right” and what’s “wrong.” If you could know how many bites of pasta you could have before you step into “unhealthy” territory, you would be relieved. There are many diets, drugs, supplements, and exercise plans that try to tell you where the line is. Good and bad. Okay and not okay. They tell you that you can be in control. But hearing so many different messages every day just fuels more stress. Sadly, stress leads to more disordered eating down the road.

Healthy Eating is About Freedom

The real question is whether you feel free to choose what you are going to eat, how much, and when. It’s that simple.

If you know that you have eaten two cookies, and you make a free and conscious choice to eat a third for any reason—how good they taste, how rarely you have them, or whatever—that’s normal. It’s also normal to make a free and conscious choice to stop at two cookies for any reason. Perhaps you choose to save the other cookie for the next day.

Your Body Knows

Your body will tell you what you need to know if you pay attention to it, and it can make up for mistakes on its own by telling you what it wants afterward. It can be difficult to trust what your body is saying, but you and your body can make a fine team.

If you have difficulty trusting your body, consider seeing a good dietitian or counselor. Freedom awaits!