Re: Speaking of stress eating...

[Guest guest]

That is a good point....on Thanksgiving, when we all sat in the dining room, my 3 yr old behaved pretty well as long as we didn't make an issue of him eating his veggies. I guess he sensed the difference in atmosphere. I was able to sit there for a good 15-20 minutes and focus on eating and enjoying my family...which was great! I will give it another try. Thanks for the suggestion!

Hi and Kim,

I am new to this board and am just now starting to learn about IE. I have noticed its basically impossible to practice during dinners at home with my 7 year old bouncing off the walls, my 3 year old crawling all over the table, and our lab puppy (whose face reaches the height of the table) trying to snatch my food off of my plate. I guess I just got so used to the chaos of dinner with babies and toddlers, it didn’t occur to me until my IE counselor suggested it to have everyone sit down in our actual dining room which is cordoned off from the dog. The kids are finally old enough to be contained and its working out really well. I finally know what that room is for!

Best,

Ellis

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of jsscarneyaolSent: Sunday, December 07, 2008 6:21 PMTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Subject: Re: Speaking of stress eating...

Thanks so much Kim. That is good advice and I know it has helped me in the past. I have purchased some Kid-friendly foods and will try this strategy this week. Thanks again!

In a message dated 12/3/2008 10:54:27 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, kimhill38 writes:

Hi ,

My kids are older now, but I totally remember what you are describing. Here's what I used to do...

Once or twice a week, I would not eat with them. I would make them "fun" dinner ie: chicken nuggets, hot dogs, grilled cheese, etc (easy food). They ate. Later in the evening, my husband and I would eat alone. Sometimes we ordered out, sometimes we cooked a nice meal. It gave me a break from the stress of dinner hour.

Another thing I used to do (and still do occasionally) - I declare a "Mom time". What that is is a half hour of me getting to be left alone. I wait til my husband gets home, then retreat. Sometimes its for a bath, to read, take a walk, play a computer game, etc.

Hope these ideas help!!

Kim

IE since Aug 08

From: jsscarneyaol <jsscarneyaol>Subject: Speaking of stress eating...To: IntuitiveEating_Support Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 12:13 AM

I recently realized that I am not a great intuitive eater when trying to eat a meal with my son (age 3).

First of all, dinner is stressful because he is tired and cranky by 5:30 PM, plus I am trying to teach him table manners. He asks a lot of questions (which I know is normal and great) but all of the commotion at dinner really distracts me from my food and I can easily eat 4 bites without really tasting them and savoring them.

What has worked for me is to sneak away to the living room with my food and claim I will "be right back". I sit there and savor each bite, closing my eyes sometimes so I can really feel when the food is starting to taste less good. Then I return to the table and my husband is a little confused...

So this solution is not ideal...but the period from 4:30-7:30 is really stressing me out and I could use some suggestions. I would hate to think I can never enjoy food around my kids again ; )

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