Tag: children

Trusting their guts when I don’t trust my own

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For as tiny and petite as Maya is (still only in 25th percentile for height and weight–as she has been all her life), she has always been a good eater: very in tune with her body, hunger levels, and even thirst.  I’ve often been impressed by how intuitively she eats — telling me she isn’t hungry “yet” for snack at snack-time  …  or asking for more at dinner because she isn’t satiated.  She constantly refills her own water glass and will often choose fruit before any other option.

She amazes me, day in and day out and I pray she’s always this good an eater.

I, on the other hand, have absolutely never, ever, ever been an intuitive eater.  Never.

Oh, sure, I’ve tried … many times. And have consistently failed. Continue reading “Trusting their guts when I don’t trust my own” →

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Outside influences on body image

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Body image issues can begin anywhere.

Maybe it was your well-meaning dad who suggested you back off from seconds at Thanksgiving one year — and you never forgot it.

Maybe it was your thin older sister who was constantly dieting, making you feel uncomfortable for every bite you took.

Maybe it was seeing your mom pinching her hips in the mirror every morning or stepping on the scale multiple times a day. Continue reading “Outside influences on body image” →

Sad Stat of the Day: Only 10% of American Kids Have PE In School

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This was the take-away I got from an interview between First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Oz today:

While plugging her Let’s Move Active Schools initiative, Mrs. Obama shared a pathetic stat that a mere ten percent of American kids [in public school] have PE in school.

My jaw dropped. Only TEN PERCENT?! No wonder American kids are so obese; our kids are chained to desks all day, play video games by night, and we can’t even build physical fitness into the school day?! Insane. Continue reading “Sad Stat of the Day: Only 10% of American Kids Have PE In School” →

I Blog So She Remembers

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Did you know the average child doesn’t begin developing memories until age two?

This means that for the first two years of a child’s life, they really have no recollection of the early moments: being born, sleeping on their mama/papa’s chests, nursing.

They have no recollection of their early milestones: tracking, giggling, first words, waving hi or bye, rolling over, crawling.

They have no recollection of their early fine motor skills: bringing a bottle or fork to their mouth, putting a block into a bucket, coloring. They just do them. Repetition is their form of learning. Continue reading “I Blog So She Remembers” →

Sick to my stomach after reading this headline

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“Vogue writer puts 7-year-old on a diet.”

Please read the BabyCenter.com article in its entirety … it warrants a complete reading and I can’t analyze it piece-by-piece but couldn’t NOT address it.

One of my biggest fears about having a daughter, in particular, is transferring my [past] food issues onto her. While I’m past the years of overexercising and disordered eating, I’ve shared that sentiment before, and now that Maya is eating pretty much everything, I’m very aware that how I eat/what I eat is resonating with her. No, she can’t rationalize food choices yet –but she whimpers “uh uh” for whatever we are eating.

She loves to eat, and she seems to be growing just perfectly within the same curve as she did in the womb — “on the small side of normal.” Continue reading “Sick to my stomach after reading this headline” →

Talking Chub

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Maya was not a preemie, she was just a baby on the smallish side — proportionally small. (See her first bath pic on the right)

Yet often when we’re out and about and people ask how old she is, they’re surprised to find out she’s five weeks and always, always, always comment on what a “peanut” she is and/or ask how much she weighed at birth.

I know they don’t mean anything by it … and it doesn’t particularly bother my husband. But it often makes me feel a bit uncomfortable as the mother, the milk provider, if you will — as though she’s still too tiny for her age.

So we’ve been doing weekly weigh-ins and in the past two weeks, Maya went from 6 lbs 7.5 oz to 7 lbs 2 oz … to 7 lbs 11 oz today (yes, many babies weigh more than that at birth, I know! Meh.)

Anyway, woo hoo: she’s growing! Continue reading “Talking Chub” →

The Past as Prologue? Not Necessarily…

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I’ve mentioned a few times that Kate, a grad student at Columbia has been interviewing me for her thesis on disordered eating recovery and pregnancy.

One of the things we spoke about (during one of our many wonderful conversations this summer) was if there was any fear I’d pass along my disordered past to my daughter.

I’ll be honest; this is something that weighed on me long before I ever got a positive on a pee stick … or found out we were having a girl.

And while I can’t make any certain statements about the future, what I do know is this: though I realize I might always have some food issues — I still sometimes emotionally eat; sometimes mindlessly munch; sometimes have to stop myself from using exercise to “undo” a heavy eating weekend; sometimes have to remind myself that it’s OK to eat formerly “off-limits” foods without guilt — I am going to do my damndest not to actively pass on my insecurities to her.

So here’s the million dollar question … HOW?
Continue reading “The Past as Prologue? Not Necessarily…” →

Kids and “Bad” Food Anxiety?!

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26food_1-6501I found this recent New York Times article that piqued my interest, called, “What’s Eating Our Kids? Fears About ‘Bad’ Foods.”

I want my kids someday (when I have them) to have a healthy relationship with food. I want them to know fruits and veggies and whole grains and low-fat dairy are yummy, but I also don’t want them to freak out if someone offers them an ice cream cone. I want them to be able to enjoy the special treat without another kid (or mother) commenting.

I’m not a mom yet, but I still have an opinion on this: it’s one thing to encourage healthy eating habits (recently Michelle Obama’s been talking a lot about how her family find that balance between health and pleasure with respect to food), but it’s another thing to ban foods altogether — which can lead to binge eating behavior later in life or an unhealthy relationship with food (like I’ve experienced). Continue reading “Kids and “Bad” Food Anxiety?!” →