Maybe you don't know if you have an eating disorder. Maybe you think you eat normally. What does that mean? To eat a well balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner? Yes. To occasionally eat too much because it tasted so good? Yes. To not feel hungry on occasion and wait to eat until later? Yes. To eat because you are hungry or socializing? Yes. To accept that you might make occasional mistakes such as eating too much or unhealthy food choices without excessive guilt? Yes. To maintain a normal, healthy weight for your body? Yes. Normal eating is not based on one's emotions but rather the need to sustain a healthy lifestyle. It is not normal to skip meals, to be used to feeling hungry, to eat to the point of feeling sick, or to think about eating/weight around the clock. Normal eating is not weighing food, counting calories or eating just enough to function. It is also not eating large quantities of food or eating consistently throughout the day. It is not normal to weigh yourself on a scale before and after eating in hopes that the number will remain the same or drop. It is not normal to avoid eating because of guilt or trying to resist temptation. Normal eating does not require privacy. It is not normal to avoid social gatherings where there is food. Normal eating does not concern one's emotions such as happiness, sadness, guilt, loneliness or anger. Of course, it is not normal behavior to intentionally binge, starve or purge. If some of these abnormal eating habits fit you or someone you know, read over the list of eating disorder symptoms. No matter the severity of an eating disorder, help should be considered so that normal eating can be a life long pleasure.   Copyright © 2006, positivereflections-edt.com. All rights reserved.