5 Tips to Improve Your or Your Child’s Relationship With Food
Instead of referring to foods as good and bad foods, try referring to foods as more often and less often foods. All foods can fit into a healthy eating lifestyle and this allows us to focus on what foods are more staples and what foods we include less frequently without demonizing any food.
Instead of using food as a reward, use experiential or self care rewards. Food rewards are common in our society. For example, pizza parties for winning a challenge, a special meal for getting good grades or a promotion are prominent in our society. While it is okay to have food in a celebratory situation, focus on rewards being a fun experience or a special self care activity (getting your nails done, taking time to go to your favorite view, watch your favorite movie) so that food is not equated to success and denial of food to failure.
Instead of not participating in social eating environments, try to find your balance while still participating in social eating environments (making foods fit). While social eating environments can sometimes be tricky or filled with less often foods, finding a way to still participate in the social eating is an important part of maintaining a healthy dynamic with food. If you or your child has allergies/sensitivities, try and find a similar replacement item for a common item that may be present (eg birthday cake) and supplement with items you may be able to have at the event.
Instead of forcing the concept of cleaning your plate,“the clean plate club,” or automatically feeling you need to have exactly what you want any time you crave it, try exploring what physical hunger and fullness feel like. For Example: Is my “tummy hungry” or is it “satisfied.” Let me know if you want to explore more ways of identifying what this feels like!
Instead of relying on grab n’ go or “drive by” eating, try sitting down at the table to eat for a dedicated meal time when possible and explore “eating mindfully.” While life sometimes requires eating quickly on the go, if you can make time to sit down and slow down at meal times wherever possible, this will allow you to enjoy your food more and achieve a better understanding of what satiation feels like.
In our society, our relationship with food often becomes skewed from a young age and we carry it in to our adulthood. This can result in disordered eating or eating disorder behaviors from anorexia to binge eating and can impact our ability to find balance between eating what we need to to fuel and healthfully including social/emotional eating into our healthy eating lifestyle.
Let me know if you find these tips helpful or have further questions on improving your relationship with food or setting your child up for success! I am here to help through sessions and/or through creating further topic videos!
-Ricci-Lee Hotz, MS, RDN, LD
A Taste of Health, LLC
“The Dancesport Dietitian”