What is Normal Eating??

Well, this has been a crappy week (besides my fun family night for Ryan's birthday of course). I won't bore you with the details. The good (GREAT) thing is that right smack dab in the middle of the crappiness, I got a delivery on my door step. I have heard about the Sweet & Sara vegan marshmallows and treats, and ordered some to try. As seen in the first picture, I got a pack of vanilla marshmallows, a rice crispy treat, and a big honkin' s'more. The second picture is the s'more up close. This was my favorite. So....this week I decided to eat every darn emotion I had, and I don't think I have to say that Sweet & Sara made me a much happier camper. The treats are pretty expensive with shipping, and I wasn't thrilled with the rice crispy treat, but the marshmallows and s'mores are FAB!

For those of you who don't know why marshmallows aren't vegan - they are made with geletin, which is made up of lots of gross animal bones and skin and stuff. I love marshmallows, but that's just gross!

If you are interested in these yummy treats, you can go to the website www.sweetandsara.com

Since I mentioned emotional eating, I wanted to include my favorite quote about eating from the dietitian who literally wrote the book on how to feed your kids.

"Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue to eat
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, bored, or just because it feels
good.
Normal eating is three meals a day, most of the time, but 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 trusts your body to make up for your mistakes in
eating.
Normal eating takes up some of our time and attention, but it 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."
Source: "HOW TO GET YOUR KID TO EAT" by Ellen Satter, R.D., MS

I think that if we all lived this way, we would have a lot healthier and happier country. It makes me so sad to see this hate-relationship that so many people (especially women) have with food. Chocolate is not sinful, nor should we feel guilt in eating it. And everything that tastes good isn't bad for us. I hope we can all take time to think about how we are filling our bodies, and learn to appreciate food more.

I don't feel guilty eating some sweets during this craptastic week, because I know that I also have eaten foods that are really good for my body, and because I am learning to trust my body to make up for my mistakes in eating, just as the quote says.