Rules for normal eating

Eat when you are hungry or have a craving for a specific food

• Identify hunger
• Allow yourself to feel your hunger
• Accept hunger as natural and beneficial
• Differentiate hunger from thirst, tiredness and other body sensations (bored, depressed, pissed off)
• Postpone eating until you are moderately hungry
• Give yourself permission to eat if you're hungry
• Identify cravings
• Differentiate between craving and emotional eating
• Give yourself permission to eat what your body craves
• Say yes to food appropriately
• Say no to food appropriately
• Tolerate the anxiety you feel when you don't succumb to emotional eating
• Refrain from negative judgments

Choose foods that you believe will satisfy you.

•  Eliminate beliefs about food being inherently good or bad
• Clear your mind of any should, must, need to, shouldn't and can't ideas about food.
• Feel comfortable saying yes to desires and cravings with food
• Feel comfortable saying no to foods you don't want or like
• Refrain from calorie counting or weighing food
• Refrain from evaluating food strictly from a nutritional standpoint
• Stay in the moment
• Listen to your body
• Be patient selecting the appropriate food 
• Eat without fear, guilt, shame or anxiety
• Enjoy the food you eat
• Say no to food if you want to
• Make food choices without seeking the approval of others

Stay connected to your body and eat with awareness

• Remain present when eating
• Don't feel guilty or ashamed about what you are eating
• Relax when you eat
• Taste every bite
• Eat slowly, take small bites, pause frequently
• Ask yourself if you are enjoying what you're eating
• Ask yourself frequently if you are still hungry
• Look at your food often and see what's left on your plate

Stop eating when you are full or satisfied

• Stay connected to your body and eat with awareness
• Identify what fullness feels like
• Identify what satisfied feels like
• Eat without feeling guilt or shame
• Eat slower
• Be OK saying no more
• Feel comfortable leaving food on your plate
• Feel comfortable throwing out or giving away food
• Feel comfortable eating more if you are still hungry
• Turn off food thoughts when full
• Know what enough feels like