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Fundamentals of Healthy Eating
Restrictive dieting and secluded meals are not the solution, but mindfulness and conscious eating are more effective in managing obesity. It is important to have children discover the subtleties of their senses and appetites to avoid the road to overindulgence, dieting, eating disorders and obesity.
There are useful approaches to teach babies, toddlers, children, and teenagers in order not to waste a lifetime struggling with weight, but rather become healthy adults totally in control and aware of their bodies and needs.
The first and most important approach is eating meals with family members gathered around the dining-room table, away from the television set, computer, or other diversions. The atmosphere should be congenial and conversation free from arguments or reprimands (leave chiding for later). Meals should not consist of mainly rice, French fries, spaghetti, but rather made of a variety of the food pyramid: a colorful salad; appetizing vegetables with onions and herbs or mixed with pasta to become more palatable; a lean protein (meat, fish, chicken, legumes, or eggs); and whole grains for carbohydrates. Keep fast food and sandwiches away from the table; they tend to get gobbled down before they reach the table. Food should be served in the sequence mentioned above.
Before you serve food, ask your children. Even better, allow them to serve themselves according to their appetite, but do not let them take oversized helpings, especially from one dish, and ignoring the others. This method allows them to keep in touch with their senses. Another way is to start with a rich mixed salad or a soup (both are filling), followed by vegetables, and then protein and starches, to make sure their nutrition is varied.
Take a short pause between the salad or soup and other dishes; give the first course a chance to settle in their stomachs to appease their hunger. This procedure worked for my children, even now as adults, they usually respect this sequence.
Let your children take turns in serving each other and even you. This teaches them to be patient, well-behaved, less self-centered, and become connected with one another. If you notice that they are having multiple servings, serve individual plates in the kitchen and have them take their served plates to the table. Make additional helpings difficult to have or estimate the amount of food according to the person. Leftovers encourage overeating.
Discuss recipes with your children and cook healthy food that is appealing to them. Add spices, herbs, and condiments to vegetables and vinegar or lemon, mustard, and oil to salads. Tasty food is generally satisfying to hunger, whereas bland dishes lend to overeating whatever is at reach (bread, pasta, rice, fries) in search for flavorsome food to relieve hunger and appeal to taste buds. Teach them to chew properly, savor each bite, and enjoy it, rather than swallowing and devouring food.
Monitoring every bite they eat restricts their choices; confuses their judgment; suppresses their instinctive responses; and finally makes them react negatively to advice. Let them decide and become in touch with their hunger, thirst, and satiation senses for guidance. Teach them to respect their inner cues and become sensitive to their body messages. With thirst, they should drink; with hunger, eat; with satiation, stop eating; with fatigue, rest; and with sleepiness, sleep. When these signals are ignored, they become blunted. Your obsession with dieting and weight watching only pushes them to hide and eat. This eventually translates into eating disorders, obsessions, and obesity. Bond emotionally with your children and keep in touch with their feelings and thoughts to know what goes inside them in order to help them.
With understanding, consideration, and patience, you will teach them to become more conscious of their bodies and more in touch with their emotions. Self-awareness will make them feel good in their own skins. Then, you will be able to guide them towards mindful eating and health awareness.
Obesity-Promoting Factors:
* Late sleeping increases hunger and appetite and triggers hormonal changes
* Late dinners and sleep after heavy meals
* Environmental toxins and food additives disturb hormones that regulate fat metabolism
* Prescription drugs (antidepressants, diabetic medicines, antihistamines, contraceptives) lead to weight gain
* Weight gain in ancestors gets imbedded in genes that pass on to next generations
* Comfortable temperatures (air-conditioning, heating) do not encourage calorie-burning
* Availability of junk food, sugar-laden drinks, and snacks
By Mariam Alireza (Holistic Science Specialist)
Fundamentals of Healthy Eating
Restrictive dieting and secluded meals are not the solution, but mindfulness and conscious eating are more effective in managing obesity. It is important to have children discover the subtleties of their senses and appetites to avoid the road to overindulgence, dieting, eating disorders and obesity.
There are useful approaches to teach babies, toddlers, children, and teenagers in order not to waste a lifetime struggling with weight, but rather become healthy adults totally in control and aware of their bodies and needs.
The first and most important approach is eating meals with family members gathered around the dining-room table, away from the television set, computer, or other diversions. The atmosphere should be congenial and conversation free from arguments or reprimands (leave chiding for later). Meals should not consist of mainly rice, French fries, spaghetti, but rather made of a variety of the food pyramid: a colorful salad; appetizing vegetables with onions and herbs or mixed with pasta to become more palatable; a lean protein (meat, fish, chicken, legumes, or eggs); and whole grains for carbohydrates. Keep fast food and sandwiches away from the table; they tend to get gobbled down before they reach the table. Food should be served in the sequence mentioned above.
Before you serve food, ask your children. Even better, allow them to serve themselves according to their appetite, but do not let them take oversized helpings, especially from one dish, and ignoring the others. This method allows them to keep in touch with their senses. Another way is to start with a rich mixed salad or a soup (both are filling), followed by vegetables, and then protein and starches, to make sure their nutrition is varied.
Take a short pause between the salad or soup and other dishes; give the first course a chance to settle in their stomachs to appease their hunger. This procedure worked for my children, even now as adults, they usually respect this sequence.
Let your children take turns in serving each other and even you. This teaches them to be patient, well-behaved, less self-centered, and become connected with one another. If you notice that they are having multiple servings, serve individual plates in the kitchen and have them take their served plates to the table. Make additional helpings difficult to have or estimate the amount of food according to the person. Leftovers encourage overeating.
Discuss recipes with your children and cook healthy food that is appealing to them. Add spices, herbs, and condiments to vegetables and vinegar or lemon, mustard, and oil to salads. Tasty food is generally satisfying to hunger, whereas bland dishes lend to overeating whatever is at reach (bread, pasta, rice, fries) in search for flavorsome food to relieve hunger and appeal to taste buds. Teach them to chew properly, savor each bite, and enjoy it, rather than swallowing and devouring food.
Monitoring every bite they eat restricts their choices; confuses their judgment; suppresses their instinctive responses; and finally makes them react negatively to advice. Let them decide and become in touch with their hunger, thirst, and satiation senses for guidance. Teach them to respect their inner cues and become sensitive to their body messages. With thirst, they should drink; with hunger, eat; with satiation, stop eating; with fatigue, rest; and with sleepiness, sleep. When these signals are ignored, they become blunted. Your obsession with dieting and weight watching only pushes them to hide and eat. This eventually translates into eating disorders, obsessions, and obesity. Bond emotionally with your children and keep in touch with their feelings and thoughts to know what goes inside them in order to help them.
With understanding, consideration, and patience, you will teach them to become more conscious of their bodies and more in touch with their emotions. Self-awareness will make them feel good in their own skins. Then, you will be able to guide them towards mindful eating and health awareness.
Obesity-Promoting Factors:
* Late sleeping increases hunger and appetite and triggers hormonal changes
* Late dinners and sleep after heavy meals
* Environmental toxins and food additives disturb hormones that regulate fat metabolism
* Prescription drugs (antidepressants, diabetic medicines, antihistamines, contraceptives) lead to weight gain
* Weight gain in ancestors gets imbedded in genes that pass on to next generations
* Comfortable temperatures (air-conditioning, heating) do not encourage calorie-burning
* Availability of junk food, sugar-laden drinks, and snacks
By Mariam Alireza (Holistic Science Specialist)
