March 2000 March 2000
The Secrets of Eating Well
Vera Massey Nichols, nicholsv@missouri.eduYou are bombarded with advice about eating every day. The advice comes from nutrition experts and those that claim they’re nutrition experts. It seems the official attitude about eating is "don’t." Don’t eat too much fat, too much salt, too much sugar, and too much food. Sound familiar? It’s gotten to the point where we spend more time worrying about what foods we should avoid than we do about eating well.
We can’t continue eating what we think we should eat and feeling bad when we eat what we like. Eating "the right way" comes loaded with overtones of dread, fear and control. Let’s face it, these are not good motivators for eating well.
The secret to eating well is about pleasure, optimism and self-trust. Eating well means providing yourself with enjoyable food and trusting yourself to eat as much as you need—trying to find the middle ground between eating too much and eating too little. If you have a positive attitude about eating and appreciate many different foods you can and will develop a healthful eating style.
It’s important that you recognize there are no "good" or "bad" foods or "right" and "wrong" ways of eating. There’s no place for guilt when it comes to eating either—there’s plenty of that going around already! By adopting positive eating attitudes, you will find it easier to move toward the goal of encouraging and empowering yourself to eat well. You will have to discover what works best for you—there’s no step-by-step guaranteed method for eating well. However, by following these guidelines, you will be on the road to building a strong foundation for eating well:
Be dependable about feeding yourself. If you want to manage your eating in a positive fashion, you’ve got to provide yourself with good-tasting food at predictable times. This means planning for meals at regular times, planning snacks so you can make it to the next mealtime without being famished, and then forget about eating between times.
Tune into body signals. You need to get in touch with how you feel inside. What does it feel like to be hungry (not famished)? What does it feel like to be comfortably full? What does it feel like when your appetite is satisfied—when the food doesn’t taste as good and you’ve had enough?
Have food you enjoy. If you find yourself breaking "rules" to eat what you like and enjoy, you are being too restrictive. If you restrict, you will eventually eat out of control in order to get what you want and deserve.
Eat a variety of foods. This means seeking foods to enjoy rather than avoiding foods. Variety is the cornerstone of a nutritionally adequate eating pattern. Eating a variety of foods is also one of the best ways you can hedge your bets against many diseases.
Give yourself permission to eat. Being more relaxed and realistic about what and how much to eat doesn’t mean eating out of control. However, it becomes very important for you to tune into your body’s regulating signals of hunger and appetite.
It’s time to celebrate eating. It’s time to sit down to eat satisfying meals, paying attention to your body’s hunger and fullness signals, and enjoying a variety of foods. These are the secrets to eating well.
When you’re taking care of yourself by eating well and living an active life, your body will respond with a healthy weight that is right for you.
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