Karen's Blogs
Blogs are brief, to-the-point, conversational, and packed with information, strategies, and tips to turn troubled eaters into “normal” eaters and to help you enjoy a happier, healthier life. Sign up by clicking "Subscribe" below and they’ll arrive in your inbox.
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Karen's Blogs
Easy Exercises for Practicing Normal Eating
- To improve at identifying fullness and satisfaction, set a practice of taking three bites of food, then stopping and putting down whatever you’re eating and noting your hunger and satisfaction levels in numbers (0-10) or words (not hungry, a bit hungry, fairly hungry, very hungry). Do this exercise at least once a day.
- To get better at not finishing all the food on your plate, leave a tiny bit of it every time you eat—a slice, some crumbs, a spoonful, a bite. Do this exercise at least once a day.
- To assess how fast you eat, when dining with others, notice how quickly or slowly they eat and pace yourself with the slowest eater. Do this exercise twice a week.
- To get comfortable throwing away food, do just that—toss into the garbage perfectly good food that’s edible. Try doing it with food you don’t care much about and work your way up to doing it with food you really love. Do this exercise at least once a day.
- To identify your emotions, ask yourself what you’re feeling: whenever you’re stopped at a red light while driving (or riding a bicycle), on the checkout line in the grocery store, while you’re brushing your teeth, during TV commercials, while waiting on hold during phone calls, waiting for your phone to boot up. Do this exercise at least twice a day.
- To get used to identifying emotions, listen to the conversations other people have and imagine how you would feel as the speaker and the person spoken to. You can practice at home, at work, with family or a group of friends, or in a crowd. Do this exercise once a day.
- To build emotional muscle in taking better care of yourself, when you have a craving for food and are not hungry, identify what you’re feeling. Do this exercise as needed.
- To increase your ability to be around foods you crave but overeat, put a bit of it in front of you and allow yourself to look at it until you no longer crave it. Use positive self-talk, visualize yourself not eating it, think of how proud you’ll be after you put it away uneaten, recognize that you’re practicing delaying gratification, or pretend you’re playing a game. Do this exercise once a day.
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This website is owned and operated by Karen R. Koenig, M.Ed., LCSW. It contains material intended for informational and educational purposes only, and reasonable effort is made to keep its contents updated. Any material contained herein is not to be construed as the practice of clinical social work or of psychotherapy, although adherence to applicable Florida States, Rules, and Code of Ethics is observed. Material on this website is not intended as a substitute for medical or psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment for mental health issues or eating disorder problems, which should be done only through individualized therapeutic consultation. Karen R. Koenig, LCSW disclaims any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of any information contained on this website. This website contains links to other sites. The inclusion of such links does not necessarily constitute endorsement by Karen R. Koenig, LCSW who disclaims any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of any information contained in this website. Further, Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, does not and cannot guarantee the accuracy or current usefulness of the material contained in the linked sites. Users of any website must be aware of the limitation to confidentiality and privacy, and website usage does not carry any guarantee or privacy of any information contained therein.
