“A healthy food for a wealthy mood.”

We want our family to make healthier choices, and they need to understand that to eat more fruits and vegetables.  But how do you go about making life changes for you and your family?

So here we go focus on the psychology of eating healthier. When you understand how to change your mindset, you can change your habits and your family's by thinking differently about food.  How to redefine the way you think about foods.

EAT WITH YOUR BRAIN;  

Eating with your brain requires that you redefine some of the ways that you think about food; eating this way helps you eat moderately without overeating. 

  • Full is satisfied, not stuffed: If I expect to be stuffed, I will always overeat. Full is the feeling I get when I have eaten just enough; I am satisfied.
  •  Hunger is not an emergency: Many people, especially children, treat hunger as an emergency.  They think that if they don’t eat right away they will die so you can keep healthy snacks nearby too so that you don’t face a food emergency. 
  • Good food is nutritious food: Good food is food that nourishes; not food that tastes good but is nutritionally empty.  Make sure that kids hear that nutritious food is good, not that snack foods, fast foods, or sugar-laden foods are good.There is no such thing as bad food.  Labelling foods “bad” usually means that I try to avoid them while at the same time being strongly attracted to them.  Tell me I can’t have a candy bar and I want it even more.  There are no inherently “bad” foods; all foods are fine in moderation.  Some foods are less nutritious than others, and I eat those in smaller quantities than nutritionally rewarding foods.  Some foods are more “calorie worthy" than others.
  • When you start to redefine some of the ways that you think and talk about food, hunger, and satiety, you and your kids will be eating with your brains too. 
  • Mindful Eating; Mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment. We usually do not pay deliberate attention, even when eating our favourite foods.
    “Mindless Eating,” paying only slight attention to hunger, fullness, and food cues leads to unplanned eating, overeating, and weight gain.
    Mindful eating is eating with all your 5 senses- site of the food, smell of the food, listening to sounds of chewing, the taste of the food and touch n feel of the food and be in the present moment and enjoy every bit of the food you put in your mouth. It is a conscious choice to eat nutritious foods, in moderation, paying attention to feelings of hunger and satisfaction, this encourages children to eat less and to stop eating when they are satisfied, not stuffed.  
    Mindful eating can begin with a gratitude or prayer that acknowledges the gift of the food, the earth that provided it and the people who prepared it. This can set the slow pace required for a mindful meal.
    Engage children in food preparation and presentation site of the food; paying attention to these details increases their investment in the meal.Turn off the television and other electronic devices that can distract from the dining experience.  
    Mindful eating takes place when people engage only in eating and conversation at mealtime. Put down utensils between bites, chew thoroughly listen to it, and swallow deliberately.  Make sure that children resist the urge to add more food to their mouths before swallowing.  Overloading leads to overeating.   As you are eating, identify and discuss food flavours (herbs, spices, other flavours), and teach children to pay attention to the aromas and textures of the food, smell, taste and touch.  If children ask for seconds, make sure they take a moment to consider if they are really experiencing stomach hunger.Mindful eating can reduce the tendency to overeat.  When people eat slowly they allow time for the hormones that signal fullness to arrive from the stomach to the brain.  Receiving the hormone signal helps people stop eating before they are stuffed.  Parents can help children eat mindfully when they reduce mealtime distractions, encourage a slower eating pace.

Portion Of The Meal Or Meal Size;    

Most people do not understand portion sizes.  If this is true of adults, it is certainly true of children. 

Parents frequently fill their children’s plates with adult-sized portions and then demand that children finish all of their food. This behaviour teaches children to override their natural satiety sensors and to expect that being full means being stuffed.   Many times children are working hard to finish large portions of food because they want to earn a “treat” at the end of their meal.  How often have you said, “You can’t have dessert unless you finish all your food?”  , Parents are worried that children will be malnourished, so they bribe them with dessert to eat more than is needed.Parents need not worry about children becoming malnourished, children exposed to a variety of fresh, whole foods, will eat a balanced diet.  If they eat a bit less on one day, they will make it up the next. Parents can help their children develop their natural tendency to eat well by offering appropriately sized portions of a wide variety of foods.

Meal Time Is Family Time;     

The benefits of eating together as a family.  Studies have shown that children who have regular family meals seem to choose healthier foods when they are older.   There are many other benefits as well! Children who eat dinner with their families are less likely to be overweight, chose unhealthy foods, and demonstrate disordered eating.  They are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables.

The family meal is an important family ritual that imparts meaning on many levels through thought, emotion, and behaviour.  It conveys and provides care, concern, and long-term protection.  It is more than just a meal.

Yes To Deserts;   

It is dangerous to deem any food inherently “bad,” or off limits.  Forbidding a food or group of foods such as sweets or sugar can set it up as mysterious and desirable.

Do not make sugar the enemy, but make peace with the fact that some sweets can be okay.  Talk about the fact that desserts are entertaining but do not provide nutrition that the body needs, therefore they are eaten with limits.  Be sure that the limits you set are clear and enforced.   Enjoy fruit after dinner each evening – even on “dessert nights” - so that children learn to crave natural sweets, they can get used to finishing their meal with fruit:  whole fruit or fruit salad.  In this way, instead of craving something sweet like chocolate after every meal, their meals will feel complete when ended with fruit. 

“A diet is the penalty we pay for exceeding the feed limit.”

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” – La Rochefoucauld