The optimum way for a child to eat is when he is feeling calm and safe in himself. I have heard it been said by a very wise raw food chef in London that a child is better off eating ‘fast food’ if he is feeling calm and safe than a super food smoothie if he is feeling fearful, distressed and triggered by a hostile environment.
Like if Mum is quite distressed in herself which leads her to possibly act out by using a raised voice or carry out corporal punishment as a means of controlling what the child eats.
Maybe by making small realistic changes you could start becoming passionate, interested and mindful about how you put food into your body – for example do you eat quickly and with anxiety or do you taste each mouthful and enjoy your food?
What food do you mainly put into your body and the bodies of your children? How are you in yourself when you are preparing the food? Are you connected with yourself? Are you connecting with your child?
What you eat and how you eat your food could have a positive impact on you all intellectually,
emotionally,
physically
and spiritually.
For a Modern family what might work best is the 70-30% rule. You could be open to eating whole food approximately 70% of the time and allow yourself to indulge in a more processed diet 30% of the time. This allows you and your child to enjoy birthday parties, treats and pre-prepared food whilst visiting friends and family. The 30% also allows you to support yourself if you have a lot of other demands on you on some particular days.
It’s all about balance
If you are demanding of yourself or of your child to eat ‘healthily’ whilst in a frenzied state then as mentioned above the nutritional value of what you have ingested could be diminished hugely by how stressed you are all feeling in your body. This is especially true if you are making choices out of fear and control. You could allow yourself to be a work in progress on Mindful Eating. This could be an exciting challenge for you and your family. Geneen Roth an American writer is passionate about this topic and you can follow her on social media.
Your journey toward eating real food could take many years and it will begin with a first step. Maybe you have already begun. If you make drastic changes you will probably not follow through. When you make little and realistic changes these are the changes that tend to last. Having a good support network of other mums and people who are passionate about wholefood eating could help you to become more confident and comfortable at times on your journey. There are many excellent Facebook groups that you could get concrete support from.
There are many wonderful professional and experienced practitioners from the field of homeopathy, nutrition, kinesiology and psychotherapy etc. in Limerick, Kerry and further afield. You could also learn a lot from particular wholefood social media pages and internet sites which you could follow. The ideal is to explore what is best and what food is best for you and your family.
Your child learns from how you live rather than how you tell him to live.
Louise Hay always says:
‘Each and every one of us are doing the very best we can with our knowledge, awareness and experience’
It is not about pointing the finger back on you or pointing the finger at anyone else.
If you are giving your child a fizzy drink at least you are giving him fluids and you may not even know that in one serving of a cola drink there could potentially be 8 spoons of refined sugar. Too much sugar can compromise his immune system and is now linked with depression and low mood in adults and children.
NB – This is more relevant if he is having sugary drinks quite regularly.
Yes nutrition is very important and how you ingest and how are feeling in yourself when you eat is as important.
It’s about informing yourself as a parent and being compassionate when you aren’t so ‘perfect’.
Firstly before you implement anything for your child I encourage you to look after your own needs FIRST.
Thank you for taking this time
to inform
yourself.
I wish you well on your journey toward Mindful Parenting.
