You know that little black dress you’ve been eyeing off for weeks? You will probably buy it. You will prance around the house giving the kids and the hubby a fashion parade. You will wear it every time you leave the house for the next month, but then… the novelty will wear off. You will put it in the cupboard with all of your other dresses, and sure you’ll wear it occasionally, just like all of your other dresses but it won’t always be the first dress you grab when picking an outfit.
It has lost its initial appeal!
And so will the ‘treats’.
If we look at intuitive eating just like we look at that little black dress, we can start to understand why our kids are so obsessed with eating sugar and lollies and packets of chips all of the time. It’s actually because we keep them off limits!
When we offer these foods with the foods we know are good for their tummies, the ones we give them everyday, they will stop seeing these snacks as a prize or something exciting to look forward to and start seeing them just as regular foods that they can have at any time.
It’s like that phrase: ‘we always want what we can’t have’.
And it’s totally true with food too! Let your child decide what feels good for their bodies, what makes their tummies feel good, what makes them full, what tastes yummy. Believe me, it won’t always be a mars bar.
And when you run into those cranky, diet culture pushing, influencer wannabe mums who are horrified when you put a chocolate biscuit on your child’s dinner plate, try this phrase on them:
‘All foods are available to my children, nothing is off limits, they aren’t going anywhere and they can have them tomorrow if they want.’
Let me know what they say!
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