Eating Habits and Growing Up


I had a great conversation the other day about our habits, and frankly about our unhealthy relationships with things. The person I was speaking to was referring to her eating  habits like that of a toddler. She ended by decided she was more preteen. They throw tantrum and have a little more knowledge about choices. we talked about credit card debt, and where you end up when you have an unhealthy relationship with money. Need to have it right now, so you just pull out a credit card. The card always goes through, and you don’t have to worry about the money until the bill comes. Even then, you don’t need to have the money, just the minimum payment. A toddler eats mainly tan food, and can be very picky. Those of us with toddlers can really help to shape their thoughts towards food, and continue to develop their taste buds by offering more variety. Just last night, I gave the little two a quesadilla with black beans. Grace loved black beans and cottage cheese when she was younger. She took one look at the food last night and said she didn’t like it. I left the food on the table, and when I brought up brushing our teeth, she remembered she was hungry. We sat back down at the table, and I told her to try the dinner. While face timing my husband, she told him, “I don’t like beans but I am still trying more”. He reminded her that she used to eat them all the time, and before I knew it, she ate everything.

In the aforementioned conversation, we talked about wanting food now and not worrying about consequences. That is a very childlike way to look at food. We can look around at many people and see the consequences of the food choices they make. Sometimes we see people who can eat whatever they want without changing size. We don’t know their inner struggle though. Are they pre-diabetic on blood pressure medication, or do they work out for hours at a time to maintain their size. As I have ventured more into the autoimmune protocol, I am seeing more and more how my food choices affect not only my bloated belly size, but also my pain level. I am able to reaffirm that this is a lifestyle for me and not a diet.

I think one of the biggest struggles is when people stay in the diet mentality. You can’t eat cookies, but you bake them for your children. If it isn’t good enough for you, why is ok for your children? You are showing your kids that they can eat whatever they want, whenever they want. You are also showing your children that losing weight is important in life. To some extent, you need to make more changes to lose weight than to just get healthy. However, making healthier food choices will cause weight loss as well. When you are “dieting”, you are always worried about what you are missing out on, what people are saying when you turn down seconds or dessert. When you are making healthy food choices, then it is more long term than missing some cake at a party.

As we grow older, we go through different seasons where we need to “Grow up” in areas of our life. It can be waking up early, for work or for self improvement. Making sure you are dressed appropriately for work, or even for some people they find the need to dress themselves before running errands. It can be not procrastinating, or waiting to be told what and when to do tasks. Being financially responsible is another reason to grow up in our ways. Besides food, what areas in life have you had to “Grow up” in your thinking and actions?