What is NORMAL eating?

It was Wellness Week here at Stanford, and Nikki and I went to one of their activities together. It was 90% for the free t-shirt, 9% for the free food, and 1% to learn about joyful eating. I was expecting her to review the food pyramid and tell us the saintly qualities of broccoli and spinach, but her approach to nutrition was more like freshman roomate number three. It was more of a stay in tune with your body kind of thing rather than being strict with all kinds of rules.
The first thing she said that kind of shocked me was about getting rid of society's rules about good and bad food. Cookies are not bad, and carrots are not good. We need to keep good nutrition principles in mind, but eat what we feel like eating, and the amount we feel like eating. She gave an example of someone who took that advice to an extreme and asked herself everyday what she wanted to eat. She ended up eating raw cookie dough for two weeks...and then never ate it ever again.
Please forgive another post about food/nutrition. But I really liked her message about being in tune with what your body needs. Here's some highlights from the handout she gave us.

Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food. Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. And it can be undereating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your times and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.
Instead of thinking about nutrition as "What I shouldn't eat," ask yourself the question, "Am I getting enough?" For instance am I getting enough calcium? Iron? Vitamin C?

Variety & Balance: Just by including a wide variety of foods & food groups in your diet, you will get a lot of the nutrients you need without even thinking about it.
Individuality: No one diet is right for everyone. We have different nutritional needs based on factors such as: gender, age, activity level, and medical history.
Body awareness: Am I hungry? What do I want to eat? Am I full? We need to learn to tune into our hunger and satiety signals, and most importantly, to trust our bodies.

10 Ways to Feel Good in My Body
-I pledge to...
-Not read magazines that make me feel bad about my body.
-Appreciate all of the things my body can do.
-Watch my language! Would I talk to someone else the way I talk to myself?
-Not use exercise to justify what I eat.
-Be flexible and adventurous in the foods that I eat.
-Do nice things for my body, such as go for a walk or take a long bath.
-Be a critical viewer of negative images and messages that tell me I am supposed to look a certain way.
-Not compare myself to other people.
-Show respect for all body types.
-See my body as part of what makes me unique.

She wasn't a fan of diets because they tend to get people into a deprivation-binge cycle. Nikki and I were snickering during most of her speech thinking about our husbands and their calorie and weight charts and graphs. Anyway, I actually felt better and more confident about myself after her nutrition speech. Being pregnant I definitely have felt my body's nutritional needs change, and have been paying more attention to it especially when I don't feel good. "I feel sick, I feel sick...eat...NOW! But eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich not that other sandwich your husband packed." That's what my body says to me. It's so demanding nowadays!