Coping With Picky Eating

This post is adapted from the American Dietetic Association: www.eatright.org
 
Every parent of a young child has been through the pain of a picky eating phase: the time your child refused to eat anything except peanut butter for weeks, then announced “no more peanut butter!” Or the month when your child wouldn’t eat anything white and got hysterical if foods touched each other on the plate.

Toddlers Are Naturally Picky Eaters

All kids go through stages of being picky about food. Between the ages of 1 and 3, they are expressing independence about everything, including food. These frustrating behaviors are actually perfectly normal:

•    After rapid growth during their first year, toddlers start growing more slowly. They need less food and are less interested in eating.
•    Kids are hesitant or even afraid to try new items. They want to see, touch and think about it several times before eating it.
•    Toddlers are busy. They have a whole world to explore and it’s hard to sit for a meal. They are also very busy telling everyone “I can do it myself!”

Dividing Up the Responsibility

How can you ensure toddlers get the nutrition they need without going crazy? Take a deep breath and relax. Adults want kids to try new foods for all the right reasons; unfortunately, we often go about it the wrong way. Forcing or bribing children to eat foods rarely gets the desired result.
An adult’s job in feeding kids includes buying and preparing a variety of tasty, healthful foods; offering regular meals and snacks; and making the eating environment as pleasant as possible. The rest up to your children. Whether they eat, how much they eat and what they eat is their responsibility.
Children are often more open to new foods when everyone surrounding them is relaxed about eating. Although they may not eat perfectly every day, they tend to eat well enough over the course of several days or a week.
Making Meals and Foods Toddler-Friendly
There’s no need to become a short-order cook or beg your child to eat green things. However, you can make eating more toddler-friendly.
•    Toddler-Size Their Eating Environment. Most young children are more comfortable in a booster seat so their legs don’t dangle. They also like cups, plates, utensils and food servings that are the right size for small hands and mouths.
•    Turn Down the Noise. Toddlers are easily distracted by almost anything, including television, music, phone calls and loud conversations. Help your toddler focus on food by keeping things calm.
•    Think Bright Colors and Fun Shapes. Like adults, toddlers eat with their eyes first. Use cookie cutters to make almost anything into an appealing shape.
•    Keep Young Chefs Busy in the Kitchen. Helping prepare meals is one of the best ways to get kids to try new foods and to eat what’s good for them.

Zen Recipe Corner:

Summer Fruit and Cream

1 lb ripe nectarines: diced
1/2 lb ripe peaches: diced
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup whipping cream (can also use regular milk, whipped cream, or yogurt)

In a large bowl, mix the fruit together. Pour over the milk then sprinkle the fruit with cinnamon. Enjoy!

Mindful Eating

The 5th Key in Creating Peace with Food  

The last of the 5 Keys to Creating Peace with Food is Mindful Eating. I’m sure you’ve heard of it during the health segments on your local news station or read about it in one of the many popular books (such as Brian Wansink’s Mindless Eating (http://www.mindlesseating.org/).

 To me, Mindful Eating can be defined as:

Honor meal times :
Set meal times for yourself every 3 hours. Plan to eat at those times by making the necessary adjustments in your schedule. Eating isn’t an option-we have to eat to survive. So make it a priority.

Acknowledge hunger levels and taking action on what your body is telling you:
Rate how hungry you are on a scale of 1-10. (See scale below.) If you are feeling physical hunger, eat-no matter where you are, who you are with, what you are doing. Stop and eat something. When you are no longer feeling hungry, stop eating and wait 20 minutes before deciding if you would like more.

Seek joy in your food:
Ellyn Satter says, “When the joy goes out of eating, nutrition suffers.” And I couldn’t agree more! To illustrate the point imagine this: you are at a local farmer’s market and it is the first week for fresh peaches. A vendor hands you a slice. The smell of the fruit fills your nose as the juices run down your hand. The soft ripe flesh is giving under your pinch as you place the slice on your tongue. It is cool and sweet in your mouth and evokes memories of your childhood.  This is seeking joy in your food.

Make providing nourishing food to yourself a priority:
All things eat to survive. For such an important survival tool, we take it for granted and often undervalue the art of providing ourselves with life giving food. Don’t fall victim to society’s de-valuation. Take ownership of your right to eat. Plan your meals, have emergency back-ups ready when plans change unexpectedly, and choose your foods wisely. Using the meal planning process can be very helpful in achieving this.

Weekly Challenge: Choose two of the 4 mindful eating strategies above to put into practice this week.

Zen Recipe Corner:
Check out these tasty Fish Tacos from Cookus Interruptus!

Balance Your Plate

4th Key in Keys to Creating Peace with Food

A while back we looked at the plate model when learning about the meal planning process.

The 4th Key speaks directly to this by reminding us to balance our plate at each meal and snack. There is a lot of flexibility within the realm of balancing your plate. Regardless of where we are, what we are doing, who we are with...if it's time to eat, it's time to eat. In order to keep our bodies fueled so that we can function with maximum efficiency, we must provide the proper nourishment. For example, a balanced snack = a carbohydrate source (such as fruit, whole grains, vegetables) with a protein source (such as string cheese, deli meat, soy nuts).  This delicate balance will stabilize our blood sugars, steady our energy levels, and keep us satiated until the next meal.

This Key is just as important when we are in a situation where it may not be realistic to plan very well, like a restaurant or when we're on vacation. It is not uncommon to find ourselves looking down a restaurant menu questioning what would be the best choice for that meal. Using the above plate model as your guide, you will be able to identify menu choices that will help you to feel satisfied and fulfilled without compromising taste and social enjoyment. For example, you may choose a meal that will be higher in carbohydrates and lower in protein. Knowing how you want your plate to look, you ask for 1/2 the carbohydrate choice, add more protein, and order a side salad in place of the mashed potatoes or fries.

This method will help you to feel more in control of whatever food situation comes your way. It will not compromise your goals nor give room for feelings of deprivation. If you want a special food, this is how you fit it into your day. Find a place for it on the plate, balance out the remaining food groups, and move on.

If you are having a hard time with this process, write down the thoughts and emotions that come up for you. Then visit my January blog on emotional eating where I explain how to work through these thoughts. See you next week!

Whole Foods First

Part 3 in the series 5 Keys to Creating Peace with Food

When you think Whole Foods, consider the Quality of the food you are purchasing.  Perhaps the words “organic” or “all-natural” come to mind.  Now take that visual one step further. Move your eyes away from the labeled packages advertising these trendy phrases and picture the real food behind the product.  Is that easy for you to do?

Try this example. Can you visualize all the places where this product came from?

 

Ingredients: Organic Unbleached Flour, Powdered Sugar, Organic Palm Oil, Organic Molasses, Organic Sugar, Sodium Bicarbonate (leavening), Ground Ginger, Soy Lecithin (an emulsifier), Salt, Monocalcium Phosphate (leavening), Nutmeg.

Now visualize all the places where this product came from?

 

Ingredients: dates, almonds, unsweetened apples, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon

Whole Foods First =
* aiming for 80% or more of your diet to come from whole food sources
* dining out < 3 times per week (includes breakfast and snacks
* easy to identify the original source of the food (i.e. chicken breast versus chicken nuggets)
* Choosing honey, sugar, molasses, and brown rice syrup as preferred sweeteners over artificial  
   sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup in the products you buy
* Choose 100% whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, steel-cut oats, non-husked couscous,  
   quinoa, millet, spelt, amaranth)
* Go for whole fruit and dairy products at snack time instead of processed fruit bars or protein bars
* Buy as much organic, all-natural, grass-fed meat and produce that you can afford

Our society has gotten to the point where REAL food, is no longer a priority.  In some cities, this trend is turning around as consumer awareness and education about our food systems become more clear and vocalized.  Cast your vote at the grocery store for making quality, wholesome food choices a priority in your life and your family’s lives.  From the words of Eric Schlosser in the documentary, Food, Inc. “each of us has the ability to vote on this issue every day - at breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

For more information on benefits to you, click here!

Building Your Team

Part 2 of the 5 Keys to Creating Peace with Food

I got a hefty dose of this Key last week. As I dropped my husband off for yet ANOTHER work trip, my heart sunk. Yes, I would miss him, but my emotional bank account was running on empty as I thought about continuing to potty train our toddler on my own. (The training was going fabulous but going back to daycare threw things for a loop and we had to start back at square 1 on Thursday. I didn't want to deal with this week's little presents on my own.)

And as most of us can admit, I too have a really hard time asking for help when I need it. One of my core values is being a positive role model. If I ask my clients to seek out support when they need it, then I must do the same. So I called my family. The nearest relatives we have are about 2700 miles away. So this was a BIG ASK! By the Grace of God, a dear cousin packed her things and hopped on a plane for the first time by herself, leaving her own toddler and family behind to come to my rescue.

Most of you have heard the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child."  In that same vein, it takes a team to help you achieve your health and wellness goals.

Many people have a really hard time asking for help. Myself included. But sometimes, the hardest questions to ask, come with the greatest rewards!

Weekly Challenge: As you write out your personal goals to accomplish this week. Be it in a "to-do" list or otherwise, ask yourself, "in what way, can I ask for support to help me accomplish these things by the end of the week?"

Zen Recipe Corner:
Sauteed Asparagus
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tsp canola or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions:
After rinsing asparagus, break the fibrous ends off with your hands (like breaking a pencil in 2 but without that much force.)
Heat skillet on medium heat for 2 minutes then add oil. Heat oil for another minute. Add in Asparagus. Using tongs, gently toss to mix with the oil. Let cook for a couple of minutes before adding remaining ingredients. Toss occassionally. Asparagus will be done when color turns bright green. Taste test to ensure it is cooked through yet still a little crispy.
Serving suggestion: pair with Grilled Sockeye Salmon and yummy Essential Bakery olive bread. We enjoyed fresh blueberries for dessert with this meal.