So what is "normal" eating anyway?

This is my absolute favorite quote about nutrition...

"Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it-not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint in your food selection to get the right food, but not being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good. Normal eating is [at least] three meals a day, most of the time, but it can also be choosing to munch along. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful when they are fresh. Normal eating is overeating at times: feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. It is also under eating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.
In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food."

Ellyn Satter, RD, ACSW
Author of - Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense
How to Get Your Kid to Eat, but not too Much

By eating normally, you can reach a healthy weight for yourself. Now, you may not be able to handle that state when you are first starting out, but with practice and patience you will get there. Everyone has their own state of normal, what a body builder thinks is normal eating is plain crazy to me. Additionally, sometimes it's ok to go outside of this normal eating realm if you have a specific goal in mind. Just keep in mind this is where you will want to come back to.

A healthy weight:

Many use BMI - I like to use IBW, (Ideal Body Weight) which is defined as...

100 pounds for the first 5 feet and 5 pounds for every inch after that if you are a woman

OR

106 pounds for the first 5 feet and 6 pounds for every inch after that if you are a man

Then, plus or minus 10% depending on your frame size.

Wrap your hand around your opposite wrist if your middle finger and thumb...

overlap, you are a small frame (minus 10%)

just touch, you are a medium frame (right in the middle)

don't touch, you are a large frame (plus 10%)

Examples:

If you are a woman who is medium framed and 5'6'' your IBW is 130 pounds

If you are a woman who is large framed and 5'9'' your IBW is 159 pounds

If you are a man who is small framed and 6'5'' your IBW is 188 pounds

What do you think?