Parent Affirmation Monday- Healthy Eating 7/23/2012
Written by, Kate Oliver, MSW, LCSW-C
Fresh vegetables are important components of a healthy diet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It’s the middle of the summer. Schedules are out of whack and ever-changing. We have vacations and might be spending more meals on the go or out at restaurants. Summer can be brutal to a healthy diet, especially if we take the old approach of telling ourselves what not to eat, instead of focusing on what to eat. It might not seem like a big difference, but focusing on what to eat over what not to eat can make a big difference. Think of it as looking for abundance rather than deprivation. Which sounds better to you? Try this affirmation for the week to see about getting your health back on track or keeping it healthy.
I nourish myself by joyfully eating healthy foods and sharing them with my family.
What does this have to do with parenting? Two major things happen as a result of joyfully eating healthy foods. The first is, of course, setting a good example for your children. Then, when you talk to them about the importance of healthy eating, they are more likely to listen. I have picture up in my office that says:
Children often fail to do as we say but seldom fail to do as we do.
It is so true. Second, eating healthy foods is an important, and often overlooked part of regulating emotions. Have you ever noticed that you were in a foul mood because you were hungry or ate junk all day? Later this week, I will be posting about what to do when your child is acting just plain nasty and take a closer look at some of the ways food can play into foul moods.
One sticking point I know some parents will have with this affirmation is the feeling they have about children who refuse to try healthy food. I have one of these in my home. I am not asking you to pretend this is not a struggle. I am asking you to reframe this issue. Rather than focusing on what your child is not doing, I would encourage you to model what you are doing, eating healthy, feeling good, looking at healthy foods with excitement and savoring the way they taste. By doing this, you greatly increase the chances of your child following suit. If you do not feel excited about the healthy foods you are eating, perhaps you are eating the wrong healthy foods for you. While I am not a dietician, I do try to be aware to these things and I can tell you a simple rule I have learned: if it has been processed and comes in a package, it is not as healthy as something that was picked and sent right to your grocery store, roadside stand, or, best of all, came from your vegetable garden. One resource I have come to trust is the website Everyday Health. If you are looking for more information about making healthy food choices, I would suggest you check them out or go to your family physician for resources or referrals.
What healthy foods do you enjoy with your children? Please share any ways that you have been creative in finding healthy food choices for you and your family.
Related Posts:
- Parent Affirmation Monday- Boundaries- 7/16/2012
- Parenting with Affirmations (help4yourfamily.com)
- Parental Reframes When Things Don’t Look So Good (help4yourfamily.com)
19 Comments »
What are your thoughts?
About me
Kate Oliver, LCSW-C (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) has been a clinician working with traumatized and attachment-disturbed children for almost two decades. She is co-owner of A Healing Place, a private practice in Columbia, Maryland, since 2007.
At the beginning of her career, Kate found that while some children responded to traditional child therapy practices, there were a significant number of children who showed little or no improvement in their overall emotional well-being. This led her to seek out specialized training to learn more about attachment, the bond between parents and children, and found that by using attachment-based strategies in addition to treating trauma, even the most challenging children and their parents, saw major, life-changing shifts, not only for the children she was working with, but the parents as well.
Early in her career, Kate was privileged to work as the clinical director for Tamar’s Children, a program that took pregnant, incarcerated women from prison to a treatment facility that worked on teaching the women to bond with and attach to their babies, while also helping the women to heal their own broken attachments, and history of trauma and addiction. This program was internationally recognized for having a successful, evidence-based practice using an attachment-based model. From working with some of the most severely disenfranchised parents, Kate received important information about how to help all parents maintain a happy, healthy relationship with their children.
In 2007, Kate co-founded A Healing Place, a mental health private group practice in Columbia, Maryland, where she focuses on working with families with children who have a history of trauma and/or attachment disturbances. A board certified supervisor, Kate has been an invited presenter to teach continuing education courses for other social workers and psychologists. In her courses, Kate teaches attachment-building techniques and presents about her sub-specialty, working with families headed by gay and lesbian parents. Kate has also worked as a trainer for Building Families for Children, a therapeutic foster care agency.
Kate is a former board member for the organization COLAGE, a non-profit group that works toward community building for people with gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender parents. She is currently a member of Attachment Disorders Maryland, a group that works to educate parents and professionals about working with children with attachment related issues. She is a Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner and Educator.
Kate lives in Columbia, Maryland is the mother of two amazing daughters, the partner to a fantastic husband, and the daughter of one mother and two gay dads. She loves to read any book that crosses her path, write (of course), and she recently started dancing again, a passion she has had since her youth.
Kate can be reached by email: helpforyourfamily@gmail.com for questions or you can find her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/Help4yourfamily.
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Reblogged this on Licensed Mental Health Counselor and commented:
I know all too well the importance of healthy eating on children’s behaviors. So many of the “problem” behaviors I work with could be diminished by healthier eating habits and proper nutrition. Excellent post and great reminder for all of us.
Okay so for my sociology class our task is to be an atacovde for change in a social behavior or attitude. I noticed that children have bad diets because they are always eating junk food and the parents bring home fast food often and/or go out to eat. The thing i am trying to prove is that we can change these habits by promoting healthy eating at a younger age. HOWWWW???????PLEASE BE SPECIFIC.
This is not my area of expertise however, some rules I know: Avoid sugar- especially refined sugar. Promote water over juice and soda. Protien serving (chicken, meat, beans, nuts) should be the size of your fist and fruits and veggies can take up the rest of the plate. When you are full, stop eating:). I hope this helps. Check out the Everyday Health website for more ideas.
I know, it is so simple that it is easy to overlook. Thank you for re-blogging. I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
I need help in eating hhtaley. I grew up in a family that cooked greasy fatty foods so i wouldnt even know where to begin to eating hhtaley. I go to the gym but I just cant eat hhtaley foods without it being nasty or starving myself. Any ideas on breakfast, lunch and dinner hhtaley meals that are actually good?
Thank you for asking. I know some of the healthier foods may taste bland to you if you are accustomed to processed, salty and sweet foods. Try giving yourself a week to eat the foods you think of as boring. Your body has probably become accustomed to high fat, processed foods. Think of this like an addiction to cigarettes. Once you break your body free from the habit of eating only high fat foods, the other foods start to taste better. Seriously! It would be a great idea to go to a nutritionist for a good, individualized start. If weight is an issue, you could try weight watchers and go to the groups where you will get good information about a healthy diet that is not boring.
Thanks for commenting, and please let us know how it goes 🙂
Love this post! I’m happy to report that my son has a great relationship with lots of healthy foods and is an adventurous eater, but it’s a difficult road and something that has to be modeled and reinforced consistently. We went through lots of “no’s” to get to “yes”!
Wonderful 🙂 Thanks for commenting and sharing.
Your focus on what you want to accomplish rather than what you want to aviod translates beautifully to food. A great approach to overall more healthy, happy children.
With all the additives and GMO foods we are offered today it seems even more important to make deliberate food choices for ourselves and our children. I have had to modify my diet to eat a gluten-free diet due to a gluten intolerance and I understand that this is also a suggested treatment for many childhood syndromes such as ADD, Apraxia of Speech, and even Autism. Perhaps I will research this further and share on my blog.
I would love to read a blog post from you on that. I have found that a change in diet can help with a multitude of issues for the children that I work with- adults too :).
I’m always struggling to incorporate healthy foods into my kids’ diets. We’ve come so far though – just a few years ago, they weren’t even eating fruits and vegetables, now there are several they’re willing to eat.
It is so important to look back sometimes on how far you have come rather than always focusing on how far you have to go. Good job, you have something to be proud of 🙂
I’m trying to eat hhtaley. What have you done to eat hhtaley? I could make a chart of what I eat. Should I watch Calories, Carbs etc. I am 13. I don’t want to loss weight or anything! I’m not anorexic! But, I would just like to watch what I eat and not over eat. But of course I don’t want to under eat or anything. Should I reward my self if I eat hhtaley? Like I could say I can’t go to the mall or movies or whatever until I have ate with out extra food for a week or something? You know? I just don’t know where to begin!! What would you suggest? Thanks, CailinYeah I’ve been doing very little fast food anyways. But could I eat there like once a month? or less acually because we only eat at fast food places on trips
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Grill and bake your fish and chicken.Eat vegleabets.Eat fruit.Eat whole grain breads.Drink plenty of liquids.Rule of thinmb. If it grazes and does not grow out of the ground do not eat it.When you eat eat in small portions three meals a day with snacks in between. Not: you should be eating every three hours.You will be surprised at what it makes your metabolism do!
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