Feeding for the Future

In anticipation of the new year approaching, the past few weeks I’ve spent more time reflecting on 2019 and thinking about what I want in 2020.

Today I want to share with you two things that are at the forefront of my thoughts.

First… Thank YOU! I am so grateful you are here on this journey with me.

2019 has been a year of growth and shifting for me personally. At the end of 2018 I felt compelled to do more in my business related to family feeding. It’s something I’ve done for years in my local office, but I really wanted to connect with more people and work to change the culture in which we are raising our children.

I continue to be amazed by the growing community we have in our Facebook Group, Joyful Eating for Your Family, and I’m honored to witness the progress and change that so many families experience, both during our one-on-one consultations and through social media.

This work is challenging in a world that often promotes the opposite of food neutrality and trust. So thank you for being here and continuing to do this work with me. YOU are the reason I’m here.❤️

At the school I attend with my kiddos, one of my all-time favorite teachers says, we’re parenting for the future. She often reminds us that we have to use the same parenting philosophy that will still work when they’re fifteen, not use a tactic just because it works when they’re two.

And similarly, I like to say,

We’re feeding for the future.

It’s not about the two bites of broccoli or the multiple cookies they eat today. It’s about laying the foundation for a lifetime of eating.

With the abundance of dessert type food around this time of year, I’ve been even more lax with sweets than normal. I don’t want my children to feel restricted and react from that space.

A few nights back all my kids ate for dinner was chocolate cake. They simply weren’t interested in the rest of the meal. The next night I put out “unlimited” leftover cookies WITH dinner and my two oldest had about 1.5 each and my daughter put two on her plate and took one bite of each.

This balance tends to occur when we allow our children to self-regulate and trust them to eat what they want in the amounts they need (from the food we provide.)

Think of looking at their intake over the course of a week, not at each individual meal.

I know it can be hard to bite your tongue and trust them. However, it does get easier when you stick with it, because you start to see the balance unfold and feel more comfortable in trusting the process.

Our children have a lifetime ahead of them to eat. They will experience far more of their lives eating without us than with us. We are feeding for that, for those years, for the future.

It’s not about the bites of broccoli they eat today or the multiple cookies. Our job is to lay the foundation of trust, to expose them to new foods, to help them enjoy and not fear food and eating.

You might be thinking, but they also need to be healthy.

Yes, I understand that nutrition does impact us. Barring food allergies or other serious but rare medical conditions, nutrition is rarely an urgent issue. And there are generally things we can adjust to help with any issues, without forcing them to eat or restricting their intake.

They need this foundation to support “healthy” eating in the future. AND there is so much more that impacts our health, not just nutrition. Stress, genetics, environment, social interaction all play a role.

A child who is pressured, forced, or restricted will likely carry negative feelings and beliefs about food and eating into adulthood, a set up for food struggles.

As we enter the new year, I encourage you to adopt this philosophy and truly focus on feeding for the future. Set them up to trust themselves to eat and their bodies to take care of the food. They have a lifetime ahead of them.

Thank you for joining me and letting me be a part of your journey in creating joyful eating for your family. I look forward to connecting with you soon!