Eat Like A Kid

As a mother of two, I've read ALOT of parenting books, articles, magazines, etc. And all the time there will be info that says kids have an internal "full" mechanism that causes them to automatically know when they've eaten enough and stop, unless this is overridden when a child is young (meaning sorry but an overweight or obese toddler can only have the parents to blame, unless there is an underlying illness). I find this so fascinating, since I was overweight as a child and can look back on habits that have affecting my eating up to now. My children are both very petite, my 6yo son is borderline underweight and my daughter is in the 15th percentile for her weight. I try to get them to eat often, but those fullness cues must take over. Don't worry their doctor says they are healthy despite being so small. SOOOO, guess I should get to my point, I thought I'd take awhile to observe my children as they eat and pick up some pointers on rekindling those fullness cues.

TAKE SMALL BITES-they have small hands, small mouths, small tummys so this just kind of makes sense. But that doesn't mean that as adults we can't nibble a little. Rather than tossing a handful of Cheez-its in your mouth at once, slowly nibble from the edges on in. You'll be surprised how long 23 crackers (a serving) will last and how full you feel when you're done.

SAVOR TREATS- My one year old wasn't allowed any refined sugars until her first birthday. After her bday cake it's all been downhill. LOL. But I watch the way she eats these sweets. For example she had half a pop tart at breakfast, it took her almost 30 min to eat. She turned the pop tart over and licked off all of the icing, then nibbled her way through the top crust, then licked the filling from the middle and threw the bottom crust on the floor. Just think if we took that long to eat our treat (be it a cupcake, poptart, ice cream, or candy bar) how much more satisfying might it seem.

EAT SMALL, EAT OFTEN- my kids easily eat 5-6 small meals a day. Cereal and fruit at breakfast (regular serving portions only), then some fruit or whole grain crackers or toast as snack, then lunch is usually meat and some fruit or veggie, snack again chips and fruit, crackers and cheese, juice and cookies, etc. Then comes dinner time, which is usually my BIG meal, and they have a sandwich, small protein and fruits/veggies, will usually only eat half of a roll or other starch I serve. Dessert they are as happy with applesauce as they are with ice cream. Or work a little sweetness into dinner, a dab of honey on half a roll, and they're set.

GET MOVING-it is nearly impossible to get the kids to sit at the table once they're done. They immediately are up and running around the living room, crawling under the table, whatever. As adults we feel like we need to "let our food settle" and I'm no expert I've heard that moving around while eating or too soon after could cause indigestion, heartburn, other ills. But it seems to me that if you get up and go for a light walk, or even just leave the room, you're less likely to continue to eat past that full feeling. Immediately put leftovers away before sitting down to eat, and save the dishes for later when the kids are in bed. Enjoy some quality time after the meal and hopefully save some cals doing it.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I just thought it was an interesting little morsel I'd picked up and wanted to share with all of you. Hope it makes you smile :happy: