Kindred Table by Emily Weeks

Author:Emily Weeks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fremont Press
Published: 2021-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Keep your kitchen stocked with a variety of snacks—both healthy and fun. Stock up on mini ice cream cups, pretzels, chocolate-covered almonds, yogurt raisins, brownie mix, or break ’n’ bake cookies—whatever you and your family enjoy. You may be nervous keeping all of these snacks on hand at first because you worry that you will eat them all at once. However, when you know that you can go in the kitchen and have any of these items at any time, you’ll find that the amount of time you spend thinking about them is significantly reduced, whereas not having them on hand can increase your cravings. When you allow yourself to have treats, you’re less likely to think about them obsessively. For example, I’ve had a box of fudge brownie mix in my pantry for a whole month, and I haven’t touched it. I know it’s there, though, when I feel the need to have brownies.

Problem Foods No More

The next time you find yourself overeating a really delicious food and feel like you can’t stop, take a second to think. How often do you allow yourself to have this food? Is it one of your “problem” foods? When you’re full, do you find it hard to stop eating, so you tell yourself that you’re going to make yourself never eat that food again? Do you deny yourself of your “problem food” so often that you try to satisfy your craving for it by overeating foods that are less satisfying?

When you eat intuitively, you can listen to your body and know which foods make you feel great and which ones make you feel not so great. A big bowl of ice cream will taste delicious, but maybe it makes you feel sleepy and a little bloated. Or a bag of spicy chips taste great, but eating the whole bag will give you reflux. Learn from these experiences and use them to determine what to eat and how much to eat in the future. Remove the “good” and “bad” labels from food. Foods should not make you feel guilty or shameful. Food is food. Eat what sounds good and makes your body feel good. You do not need to “earn” treats through restriction or exercise!

Keep fun foods in the house that you know everyone enjoys. Serve them with meals and snacks when you can. These fun foods will start to seem like ordinary foods when you remove the restriction. Offer fun foods alongside nutritious options—for example, a fun-size candy bar with some apple slices as a snack. Or potato chips with turkey sandwiches. Don’t tell your children they can have fun foods only after they’ve finished their meals of more nourishing foods. Fun foods should not be a reward for a child who’s finished their broccoli. When your family does eat fun food, try to keep all comments and judgments to yourself.

To help your family get reacquainted with fun foods, choose one previously restricted food each week and reintroduce it into your house. Work it into well-balanced meals.

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