The Touchy Subject of Handling Your Child's Weight

IDEAS OF ACCEPTABLE WEIGHT FORM EARLY (UPI Health News Article)

This article is only one of many illustrating the research being done on the prevention of obesity. And to me, these articles represent a double edged sword.

As a dietitian working with pediatrics and eating disorders, parts of me cringe at how well-meaning parents may interpret this information and impart fearful and damaging messages to their very young children. And also as a dietitian with 2 advanced certifications and many years of experience working with individuals to realize their weight management goals, I feel proud of how far the research has come emphasizing proper nutrition and physical activity for health and well-being.

So often I work with wonderful and intelligent adults, who received messages from their parents/role models at fragile ages telling them that they were too fat or were put on a diet. The literature has spoken on several occasions noting 3 year olds, 6 year olds, 8 year olds, complaining they were too fat and can't eat certain foods because of that. I can't imagine my little girl, who is 3, telling me she thinks she's fat!

Any adult who has children in their lives on some level (nieces, god-children, working in the church nursery, neighbors) are automatically a role-model for those kids. In this role, we hold a responsibility to model appropriate boundaries in regards to how we treat each other and ourselves regarding health, food, body image, manners, etc.

Here are my Top 10 Ways to Role Model Healthy Behaviors to the Kids in Our Lives:

1.      Set daily meal and snack times for yourself, not just your family

2.      Eat with your kid, not just feed them

3.      Acknowledge your own food preferences and attitudes and how that influences your family’s meals

4.      Stop talking about how much was or was not eaten at meals-including your own

5.      Do not comment about weight (yours, theirs, or anyone else, even if joking or you think your kids aren’t listening)

6.      Reward yourself with NON-FOOD rewards like “you time” or a spa treatment instead of food

7.      Share what passions you do have about cooking and healthful eating with your family

8.      When no longer hungry, stop eating. (This is a shift in focus. We are used to asking ourselves if we are full versus asking ourselves if we are no longer hungry. This will lead to a big difference in calorie intake at the end of the day.)

9.      Set boundaries at the table: what you prepared is the meal, do not make special food or become a short order cook when food is refused.

10.     Forgive yourself for not being perfect and be okay with trying again and again. Practice makes perfect!

Holiday Challenges- Opportunities to Address Emotional Eating

This is a great time of the year to revisit developing strength over emotional eating (EE).

Food is personal. It is what we are given in infancy when we cry, what many are bribed with to “be good” as children, and what many turn to for comfort as teenagers and adults. The holidays are especially a time where turning to food for comfort is a primary source of coping for many.

Developing a healthy relationship with food beyond EE is something many of us hope for. And in all our hope, we seem to still rely on our old "friend" of food in times of need-over and over again.  You CAN get to a place where you do not go to food. It is hard work and it is well worth it if you are looking to overcome EE.

The most powerful places to develop change in EE are actually our heated moments when we usually turn to food in search of comfort. In our heated moments, when rational thoughts are overtaken by ritual and vulnerability, we hold the most power. Power to alter our behavior, change our thoughts, and have different outcomes.  The biggest challenge is letting ourselves truly experience these heated moments and working to change ourselves before, after, between, and during.

To get started, begin a log of your EE. Write down the what, when, where, and why’s in your log to help you gain more insight into your personal food and emotion relationship. (Even if you think you already know!)

Example:

• What Happened   
• When Did I EE   
•  Where Was I    
• Why (What did I tell myself)

For your next steps to conquer emotional eating, follow our blog posts:

• Plan Your Different Outcome
• Reminder Systems and Alternative Coping Strategies

• The Only Way Around is Through

Handling the Eggnog & the In-Laws

Happy Holidays Everyone! Tis the season for parties, family get-togethers, gift giving and all the food and emotions that tag along. Here are a few pointers for keeping yourself sane this month.

1. Remember the PLATE MODEL: this tool will keep you focused no matter where on earth you are enjoying that meal. Plate Model Handout 

  

2. Check In With Yourself EACH day: Feeling more intense emotions is common around this time of year.  Ask yourself these questions periodically to keep yourself in balance: How am I feeling? What do I need? Am I eating because I'm emotionally hungry or because my body needs fuel right now?

3. Give Yourself a Pep Talk: Negative self talk that includes lots of should statements or comparing yourself with others can damage your confidence and self esteem. Consider a quote, scripture verse, or your own mantra that you can tell yourself when you notice that you are putting yourself down and trying hard to be "perfect."

4. Plan for the Unexpected: When doing your meal planning for the week, consider adding in 1 or 2 emergency meal and snack ideas to keep in the freezer and cupboard for those nights that you won't feel up for cooking or in case your holiday shopping takes longer than expected.

5.   Move Your Body in Healthy & Supportive Ways: Feeling more stress during this time will take a toll on on anybody. De-stress by adding gentle stretches and deep breaths into your day either when you wake up or right before bed. Honor your body by acknowledging when it calls you to move more and when it tells you to slow down. If over-exercising is a concern, ask your medical team for guidelines and support to find the right balance.

80/20: Holidays, Food, Perspective

As we celebrate with family and friends this Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for our lives, our loved ones, and everything we have been given.

In having just kicked off the holiday season with Thanksgiving, we want to share something called the 80/20 rule to help you keep perspective especially during the holiday season. Eighty stands for 80% of the time that we eat balanced (plate model) and strive to optimally nourish ourselves. Twenty stands for 20% of the time that we nourish ourselves in other ways and let our relationship with food relax a little. We might eat a little more this 20% of the time, or shift our balance at the plate to bring in some more of one type of food we really enjoy for example.

Does the 20% mean cheating? One could call it that, but why? Is it really? We don't think so. Eating perfect is not the goal of Creating Peace with Food. Eating in balance, being mindful during meals, and truly enjoying the meal experience (food and our surroundings) is what Peace with Food is all about.

At the end of the day, the 20% is not going to make you gain weight, it is not going to throw off your goals, and it is certainly not going to hurt anyone. Instead, the concept of 80/20 explains how Creating Peace with Food includes nourishing ourselves well while at the same time letting ourselves be human and enjoy the process.

As we give thanks this season, let us utilize the 80/20 rule to nourish ourselves, enjoy our food, enjoy our surroundings, and focus on what is really important like the loved ones we are with. 

Food Desert Week 3

For the past few weeks we have been talking about Food Deserts- areas (primarily low income neighborhoods) where it is difficult to access nutritious and healthful food items. An innovative approach to solving the Food Desert issue in the Seattle area is Stockbox. Their concept uses reclaimed shipping containers as grocery store fronts for food access in Desert areas.

We were hoping to visit the first Stockbox location set up in Delridge, South Seattle.  We found though, that this was an 8 week pilot program for Stockbox and it just ended. Fortunately, the concept was very successful and Stockbox is looking forward to opening a permanent Stockbox grocery location in the Seattle area in spring of 2012.

As the program came to an end, the Delridge Stockbox was working to sell their remaining inventory. Although we were not able to visit the location, this advertised sale gave us a peak into some of their impressive offerings: 7th Generation, Method, Newman’s Own, Campbell’s, Hunts, Annie’s, and Western Family.  Stock up on beans, tomato sauce, soup, cereal, spices, baking supplies, condiments, and other staples.

We are looking forward  visiting the future permanent Stockbox location. We will post a blog update when this does happen and keep you posted on other innovative efforts seeking to solve the issue of Food Deserts.