Timberline was focused on treating the whole person, so we had classes that addressed physical, emotional, spiritual, and relational aspects of life.  While we were in residence the dieticians helped us figure out what was a balanced diet we could follow.  Because some were there for eating disorders this was important to their recovery.  When we went to PHP (the step-down program) we were on our own as far as what we ate, but we had nutrition classes to help us learn important concepts, such as portion size, how to listen to your body’s signals, etc.

One of the topics we talked through
was Eating Styles. The instructor
wanted us to consider WHY we ate –
what foods we chose, when we ate,
and so on.  This list is adapted from
Intuitive Eating by E. Tribole and
E. Resch, 1995.

A Summary of Eating Styles

1. Unconscious Eating
   1. Eating while doing something else at the same time.
   2. Often characterized by a view that sitting down and eating is a waste of time; it’s more productive to multi-task, but the person is unaware of what they are eating..
2. Chaotic Eating
   1. Usually someone with an overscheduled life.
   2. This is the “gulp and go” mentality of eating when food is available; often associated with stress and tension.
3. Refuse-Not Eating
   1. Eating whenever food is present whether hungry of not.
   2. This style is encouraged by candy jars on desks, buffets at social gatherings, or food left sitting on the kitchen counter.
4. Waste-Not Eating
   1. Eating is promoted by all you can eat buffets and cheap food.
   2. This style is often influenced by monetary value or cost of food.
5. Emotional Eating
   1. Eating is in response to emotion instead of hunger.
   2. This style is characterized by eating alone with triggered by stress or uncomfortable emotions.
6. Careful Eating
   1. Eating seems to be driven by health and fitness concerns.
   2. It may seem perfect to others, but there is anguishing over each food morsel.
7. Professional Dieting
   1. Eating is characterized by often trying the latest commercial diet or diet book.
   2. It’s most often due to a perpetual feeling of being fat.
8. Intuitive Eating
   1. This style is based on biological hunger.
   2. It includes making food choices without dilemma or guilt and honoring hunger, respecting fullness, and enjoying the pleasure of eating.

Once a week we went to a supermarket buffet and bought lunch to take back to the PHP building.  Our instructors checked to see that we chose from all food groups in the proper portion sizes.  Otherwise they didn’t restrict what we took.  Another day of the week we went to a restaurant for lunch.  We were not supervised as to what we ate during this outing.  This was more for those that struggled with eating disorders and alcoholism.  It’s part of desensitizing.  Could the participants go and not under- or overeat?  They were able to go with a group, feel safe in the environment, and make the next time easier.  One restaurant we went to had empty alcohol bottles on shelves around the restaurant.  This was to expose those with alcoholism to be in a safe group environment.  The instructors wanted them to feel that they could be outside the program building, taking part in a normal activity and resist their cravings.

I’m going to end here with a paragraph from How to Get Your Kids to Eat…But Not Too Much, by Ellyn Satter.

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 truly get enough of it – not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to incorporate balance, variety, and moderation, while not being restrictive and missing 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 three meals a day with snacks, 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 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 the normal variations of eating. Normal eating takes up some of you 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.

Our watch words became Balance,
Variety, and Moderation.  As long as
those three are followed there should
be no reason to deny any foods.  I’ve
posted a List of 10 Principles of Intuitive
Eating taken from the same resource.

I’m still trying to decide how
I feel about this approach as
it’s not intuitive to me yet!