Removing limits from food
gilliangoddard
Today was quite a hilarious day. My children and I have been gradually introducing more
types of food into our home and today they reminded me of the book 'The Hungry
Caterpillar' by Eric Carle.
My 3 yr old daughter and I went to the supermarket and almost everything that she put in
the cart remained there. ( I am still not all the way but getting there). Within 2 hours of
getting home she had eaten:
3 lollipops with bubblegum inside.
1 Yogurt smoothie
Some of my baby Spinach/Mushroom salad
1/2 pack of Goldfish
A small box of strawberry soy milk
Some pieces of Chocolate
1/2 of a Palmier (a kind of pastry)
1 slice of Monterey Jack cheese
6 slices of Veggie Ham
A few bites of a strawberry lollie
Stuffed olives.
And that's what I saw - there may be more. She was certainly getting into trying the
different things, putting them half-eaten into the fridge, switching to something else,
going back to the original food, and more. It was quite interesting to watch.
My 8 year old son, on the other hand, is going to take some time to remove the internal
voice of restriction. I can see that he is holding himself back and trying to limit his
enjoyment of the 'junky' items. He even said that he doesn't like me buying all of this stuff
and that he prefers if it is not around. I am not necessarily seeing this as a sign of his
'clarity' around food. I think that he probably had to rationalize all the restrictions and
now can't let himself go. It was a bit sad to see how he was struggling (it showed on his
face and in his taking something and putting it back and then taking it again). I said
nothing and I'm just going to continue to let this thing unfold. I trust that it will get
figured out.
For me, the main challenge remains that in a small community where when I go to the
grocery store I see 20 people that I know - and there are others who know me from
healthy eating TV shows - I continue to feel a bit self-conscious. In a small place you are
much more visible and I am sometimes 'relied' on to show the direction around food.
Anyhow, I'm sure I'll get accustomed.
Gillian
Gillian
types of food into our home and today they reminded me of the book 'The Hungry
Caterpillar' by Eric Carle.
My 3 yr old daughter and I went to the supermarket and almost everything that she put in
the cart remained there. ( I am still not all the way but getting there). Within 2 hours of
getting home she had eaten:
3 lollipops with bubblegum inside.
1 Yogurt smoothie
Some of my baby Spinach/Mushroom salad
1/2 pack of Goldfish
A small box of strawberry soy milk
Some pieces of Chocolate
1/2 of a Palmier (a kind of pastry)
1 slice of Monterey Jack cheese
6 slices of Veggie Ham
A few bites of a strawberry lollie
Stuffed olives.
And that's what I saw - there may be more. She was certainly getting into trying the
different things, putting them half-eaten into the fridge, switching to something else,
going back to the original food, and more. It was quite interesting to watch.
My 8 year old son, on the other hand, is going to take some time to remove the internal
voice of restriction. I can see that he is holding himself back and trying to limit his
enjoyment of the 'junky' items. He even said that he doesn't like me buying all of this stuff
and that he prefers if it is not around. I am not necessarily seeing this as a sign of his
'clarity' around food. I think that he probably had to rationalize all the restrictions and
now can't let himself go. It was a bit sad to see how he was struggling (it showed on his
face and in his taking something and putting it back and then taking it again). I said
nothing and I'm just going to continue to let this thing unfold. I trust that it will get
figured out.
For me, the main challenge remains that in a small community where when I go to the
grocery store I see 20 people that I know - and there are others who know me from
healthy eating TV shows - I continue to feel a bit self-conscious. In a small place you are
much more visible and I am sometimes 'relied' on to show the direction around food.
Anyhow, I'm sure I'll get accustomed.
Gillian
Gillian