Re: Watching kids eat...interesting

[Guest guest]

My kids are my eating inspriation...well 2 of them! I have a 10 & 12 year old and they are great IE'ers! For instant last night I fixed BBQ chicken, baked potato, salad, and fruit. My 12yo ate his salad and baked potato and was done. I asked if he was going to eat any chicken and he said "no" he was full. They are so intune w/ their stomachs...it's good to know I haven't "destroyed" their IE nature! Now my youngest is 8 and he could live on junk food and I still cant get past letting him do it! I do let him have junk but good foods have to come into play as well!

To: IntuitiveEating_Support Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 1:53 PMSubject: Watching kids eat...interesting

Last Sunday I was helping out with the first grade Sunday School at church. One of the things they did was a little game involving marshmallows. By the end of the game, each child had received one or two large marshmallows, and three small ones. I was playing along with them, so I also received marshmallows.The kids were all very excited to get the marshmallows, and I pretty much figured they would gobble them all up right away. Boy, was I wrong! I'm pretty sure all of them ate maybe one of the big ones and one of the small ones right away, and then left the rest sitting in front of them. Some of them nibbled on them a little bit slowly throughout the lesson, and some didn't even eat the ones they had left. One little boy only got one large marshmallow and three small ones instead of two large ones, so I offered him my large one. He said, "No, thanks." He had been one whose eyes had really lit up when the marshmallows were brought out, but

after one or two, he just wasn't interested anymore.I, on the other hand, ate all of mine right away (even though I didn't really want them) -- only saving the large one to give to the little boy after the lesson. When he said he didn't want it, I didn't want to throw it away, so I ate it!From this I learned that first graders have more sense when it comes to eating than I do. Ah, well, I am learning to be more child-like (but hopefully not childish) every day!

[Guest guest]

There's probably no one good answer to the that question. I think how and what

we eat, like, and don't like and the importance we place on food has as much to

do with our environment as it does with our DNA.

I'm always struck by the different ways children are raised in different

countries and the messages we send them with regard to food. I recall reading

an article once by an American writer living in France who was fascinated by the

difference between the young French children and their counterparts in the

states. She recounted how she was visiting with a French family and when it was

mealtime, the children sat down quietly at the table with the adults and ate

Cassoulet (a french casserole with duck, sausage, and beans, among other

ingredients) along with everyone else. It was the same at every meal. There

were no chicken nuggets or PB & J sandwiches, or whatever. The children ate what

the adults ate, or they didn't eat. And they were perfectly fine with it.

I think that in catering so closely to what we *think* children will like with

the easy foods like chicken nuggets and cheese pizza, we train them to crave

those sweet fatty salty flavors and empty calories that slide down so easily and

barely register on the satisfaction scale. At the same time, we learn to

dislike simple foods like fresh veggies and grains and also complex flavors of

many foreign foods like curries or stir fries or the like, that might be more

satisfying from a nourishment standpoint or even a flavor standpoint. I fully

understand why it happens and in fairness, I've come across a lot of parents

that were raised the same way, so they don't like those foods either and are

feeding kids what they eat. But I think it's a little sad. I'm all for

convenience, but it just seems that we've lost so much in our food culture in

such a short period of time. But then again, I also don't have children, so

it's easy to talk about stuff that I don't have to deal with myself! I

absolutely can't imagine having to feed a hungry household after a long hard day

at work. I can barely feed myself! I know that if I was in the same situation,

I'd TOTALLY have the pizza place on speed dial.

Personally, the other thing that comes to mind is that it doesnt' matter why the

restriction happens, the result will be the same. I have a coworker that

adopted a child from a foreign country at the age of two. Though he was well

cared for, his orphanage didn't have enough food so none of the children ever

got to eat to satisfaction. In the first year they had him, they said he would

just gorge himself because food was so plentiful. He's better now, but they

said they still have to be careful to watch for his instinct to just eat and eat

and eat whatever is in front of him without stopping.

In my case, my family didn't have a lot of money growing up. While we never

went hungry, the sugary fatty processed foods were something we didn't have

often just because they were so much more expensive. And when we did have them,

they had to be shared amongst everyone, so you never had as much as you wanted.

Sugary cereals, fast foods, cakes, ice cream, etc. Those things were SO special

because they didn't happen often. I TOTALLY would have been one of those kids

wolfing down my cupcake. Then I would have asked the kid next to me who only

took a couple of bites if they were going to eat the rest of theirs and if not,

if I could finish it. And if the teacher offered to send some extra home with

me, I would have been thrilled! LOL!

So, when I got my own money and was able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I

wanted and as much of it as I wanted was a HUGE deal for me. Still is really.

On more occasions than I care to remember, I've had jaw dropping bills at Whole

Foods because I'll just toss anything into my cart without even looking at the

price, because I can. I have to constantly remind myself that the food's not

going anywhere and that I can have it *if* I really want it, but most of the

time, I don't actually want it as much as I think I do.

So my early restrictions weren't diet related, but they had the same effect.

Then pile on all the other stuff (media impact, typical girl self-esteem issues,

etc.) and now I feel bad about myself and what am I going to console myself with

but that stuff that's SO special? And now I'm gaining weight and it becomes a

vicious cycle.

Complex stuff this food business.

Josie

>

> Why do eating addictions get started? I would give anything to be free of it,

and the intuitive eating does seem to be helping, but it takes a lot of working

on it.

[Guest guest]

There's probably no one good answer to the that question. I think how and what

we eat, like, and don't like and the importance we place on food has as much to

do with our environment as it does with our DNA.

I'm always struck by the different ways children are raised in different

countries and the messages we send them with regard to food. I recall reading

an article once by an American writer living in France who was fascinated by the

difference between the young French children and their counterparts in the

states. She recounted how she was visiting with a French family and when it was

mealtime, the children sat down quietly at the table with the adults and ate

Cassoulet (a french casserole with duck, sausage, and beans, among other

ingredients) along with everyone else. It was the same at every meal. There

were no chicken nuggets or PB & J sandwiches, or whatever. The children ate what

the adults ate, or they didn't eat. And they were perfectly fine with it.

I think that in catering so closely to what we *think* children will like with

the easy foods like chicken nuggets and cheese pizza, we train them to crave

those sweet fatty salty flavors and empty calories that slide down so easily and

barely register on the satisfaction scale. At the same time, we learn to

dislike simple foods like fresh veggies and grains and also complex flavors of

many foreign foods like curries or stir fries or the like, that might be more

satisfying from a nourishment standpoint or even a flavor standpoint. I fully

understand why it happens and in fairness, I've come across a lot of parents

that were raised the same way, so they don't like those foods either and are

feeding kids what they eat. But I think it's a little sad. I'm all for

convenience, but it just seems that we've lost so much in our food culture in

such a short period of time. But then again, I also don't have children, so

it's easy to talk about stuff that I don't have to deal with myself! I

absolutely can't imagine having to feed a hungry household after a long hard day

at work. I can barely feed myself! I know that if I was in the same situation,

I'd TOTALLY have the pizza place on speed dial.

Personally, the other thing that comes to mind is that it doesnt' matter why the

restriction happens, the result will be the same. I have a coworker that

adopted a child from a foreign country at the age of two. Though he was well

cared for, his orphanage didn't have enough food so none of the children ever

got to eat to satisfaction. In the first year they had him, they said he would

just gorge himself because food was so plentiful. He's better now, but they

said they still have to be careful to watch for his instinct to just eat and eat

and eat whatever is in front of him without stopping.

In my case, my family didn't have a lot of money growing up. While we never

went hungry, the sugary fatty processed foods were something we didn't have

often just because they were so much more expensive. And when we did have them,

they had to be shared amongst everyone, so you never had as much as you wanted.

Sugary cereals, fast foods, cakes, ice cream, etc. Those things were SO special

because they didn't happen often. I TOTALLY would have been one of those kids

wolfing down my cupcake. Then I would have asked the kid next to me who only

took a couple of bites if they were going to eat the rest of theirs and if not,

if I could finish it. And if the teacher offered to send some extra home with

me, I would have been thrilled! LOL!

So, when I got my own money and was able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I

wanted and as much of it as I wanted was a HUGE deal for me. Still is really.

On more occasions than I care to remember, I've had jaw dropping bills at Whole

Foods because I'll just toss anything into my cart without even looking at the

price, because I can. I have to constantly remind myself that the food's not

going anywhere and that I can have it *if* I really want it, but most of the

time, I don't actually want it as much as I think I do.

So my early restrictions weren't diet related, but they had the same effect.

Then pile on all the other stuff (media impact, typical girl self-esteem issues,

etc.) and now I feel bad about myself and what am I going to console myself with

but that stuff that's SO special? And now I'm gaining weight and it becomes a

vicious cycle.

Complex stuff this food business.

Josie

>

> Why do eating addictions get started? I would give anything to be free of it,

and the intuitive eating does seem to be helping, but it takes a lot of working

on it.

[Guest guest]

There's probably no one good answer to the that question. I think how and what

we eat, like, and don't like and the importance we place on food has as much to

do with our environment as it does with our DNA.

I'm always struck by the different ways children are raised in different

countries and the messages we send them with regard to food. I recall reading

an article once by an American writer living in France who was fascinated by the

difference between the young French children and their counterparts in the

states. She recounted how she was visiting with a French family and when it was

mealtime, the children sat down quietly at the table with the adults and ate

Cassoulet (a french casserole with duck, sausage, and beans, among other

ingredients) along with everyone else. It was the same at every meal. There

were no chicken nuggets or PB & J sandwiches, or whatever. The children ate what

the adults ate, or they didn't eat. And they were perfectly fine with it.

I think that in catering so closely to what we *think* children will like with

the easy foods like chicken nuggets and cheese pizza, we train them to crave

those sweet fatty salty flavors and empty calories that slide down so easily and

barely register on the satisfaction scale. At the same time, we learn to

dislike simple foods like fresh veggies and grains and also complex flavors of

many foreign foods like curries or stir fries or the like, that might be more

satisfying from a nourishment standpoint or even a flavor standpoint. I fully

understand why it happens and in fairness, I've come across a lot of parents

that were raised the same way, so they don't like those foods either and are

feeding kids what they eat. But I think it's a little sad. I'm all for

convenience, but it just seems that we've lost so much in our food culture in

such a short period of time. But then again, I also don't have children, so

it's easy to talk about stuff that I don't have to deal with myself! I

absolutely can't imagine having to feed a hungry household after a long hard day

at work. I can barely feed myself! I know that if I was in the same situation,

I'd TOTALLY have the pizza place on speed dial.

Personally, the other thing that comes to mind is that it doesnt' matter why the

restriction happens, the result will be the same. I have a coworker that

adopted a child from a foreign country at the age of two. Though he was well

cared for, his orphanage didn't have enough food so none of the children ever

got to eat to satisfaction. In the first year they had him, they said he would

just gorge himself because food was so plentiful. He's better now, but they

said they still have to be careful to watch for his instinct to just eat and eat

and eat whatever is in front of him without stopping.

In my case, my family didn't have a lot of money growing up. While we never

went hungry, the sugary fatty processed foods were something we didn't have

often just because they were so much more expensive. And when we did have them,

they had to be shared amongst everyone, so you never had as much as you wanted.

Sugary cereals, fast foods, cakes, ice cream, etc. Those things were SO special

because they didn't happen often. I TOTALLY would have been one of those kids

wolfing down my cupcake. Then I would have asked the kid next to me who only

took a couple of bites if they were going to eat the rest of theirs and if not,

if I could finish it. And if the teacher offered to send some extra home with

me, I would have been thrilled! LOL!

So, when I got my own money and was able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I

wanted and as much of it as I wanted was a HUGE deal for me. Still is really.

On more occasions than I care to remember, I've had jaw dropping bills at Whole

Foods because I'll just toss anything into my cart without even looking at the

price, because I can. I have to constantly remind myself that the food's not

going anywhere and that I can have it *if* I really want it, but most of the

time, I don't actually want it as much as I think I do.

So my early restrictions weren't diet related, but they had the same effect.

Then pile on all the other stuff (media impact, typical girl self-esteem issues,

etc.) and now I feel bad about myself and what am I going to console myself with

but that stuff that's SO special? And now I'm gaining weight and it becomes a

vicious cycle.

Complex stuff this food business.

Josie

>

> Why do eating addictions get started? I would give anything to be free of it,

and the intuitive eating does seem to be helping, but it takes a lot of working

on it.

[Guest guest]

Do your older kids eat less junk food than your youngest? Is there anything you

can point to that would account for the difference?

>

> My kids are my eating inspriation...well 2 of them! I have a 10 & 12 year old

and they are great IE'ers!  For instant last night I fixed BBQ chicken, baked

potato, salad, and fruit. My 12yo ate his salad and baked potato and was done. I

asked if he was going to eat any chicken and he said " no " he was full. They are

so intune w/ their stomachs...it's good to know I haven't " destroyed " their IE

nature! Now my youngest is 8 and he could live on junk food and I still cant get

past letting him do it! I do let him have junk but good foods have to come into

play as well!

>

>

>

> To: IntuitiveEating_Support

> Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 1:53 PM

> Subject: Watching kids eat...interesting

>

>

>  

> Last Sunday I was helping out with the first grade Sunday School at church.

One of the things they did was a little game involving marshmallows. By the end

of the game, each child had received one or two large marshmallows, and three

small ones. I was playing along with them, so I also received marshmallows.

>

> The kids were all very excited to get the marshmallows, and I pretty much

figured they would gobble them all up right away. Boy, was I wrong! I'm pretty

sure all of them ate maybe one of the big ones and one of the small ones right

away, and then left the rest sitting in front of them. Some of them nibbled on

them a little bit slowly throughout the lesson, and some didn't even eat the

ones they had left. One little boy only got one large marshmallow and three

small ones instead of two large ones, so I offered him my large one. He said,

" No, thanks. " He had been one whose eyes had really lit up when the marshmallows

were brought out, but after one or two, he just wasn't interested anymore.

>

> I, on the other hand, ate all of mine right away (even though I didn't really

want them) -- only saving the large one to give to the little boy after the

lesson. When he said he didn't want it, I didn't want to throw it away, so I ate

it!

>

> From this I learned that first graders have more sense when it comes to eating

than I do. Ah, well, I am learning to be more child-like (but hopefully not

childish) every day!

>