Trust Your Gut
The large number of health and nutrition messages floating around these days can be overwhelming, and almost disheartening. When should I eat? And how much?
Do not give up and throw in the broccoli. By listening to your body and using your plate as a guide, you will learn to sense the adequate portions of food for you and your family. Think about it – we trust our intuition in many situations. How many times have you said, “It just didn’t feel right.” Many of you have probably not taken a job offer or not gone on a date with someone because our intuition told us that something was not right. But for some reason, when it comes to food and portions, we often let the restaurant or food packaging company determine how much we will eat, rather than listening to our body and the signals it sends us.
When and how much?
The ideal is to eat little and often. Eating every 3 to 4 hours, 4-6 times a day, provides the body with a consistent source of fuel. Figuring out what a “serving” of each food is, and then counting how many servings of whole grains or fruits and vegetables you have taken in or provided for your children in a given day or week can be stressful. Don’t worry about meeting exact requirements or recommendations. Try to listen to your body, and let your children do the same. Take a minute to slow down from a busy day of work, carpool, and after school activities, and listen to the messages that the amazing machine, your body, is sending you.
As babies and young children, we don’t know any better, and we tend to eat when we are hungry and stop when we are full. Messages of “cleaning your plate” or needing to eat when the bell rings to get back to class begin to cloud our instincts.
Let appetite be your guide. If the kids don’t clean their plate, save the leftovers. They may be hungry again in one hour – and you will have a great snack waiting for them.
What?
The key is that whole foods, such as lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, make the body work harder to break them down and take longer to digest than refined, processed foods. Thus, as long as you eat and provide your children with whole foods, your body will guide you through its sensations of hunger and fullness. Have good foods readily available so that you can grab a snack when you are hungry and on the go. As you listen to these signals, you will naturally eat small meals more often, as that is what the body is engineered to do.
Eating Out
If a restaurant serves you a large meal, particularly a plate full of pasta or rice, you do not have to eat it all. Ideally, your plate should be filled with ¼ starch, ¼ protein, and ½ fruits and vegetables. Try to transform a restaurant meal to fit this guide: eat a small portion of the rice, along with an equally-sized portion of a protein source, and eat two times as many vegetables. If the dish does not come with enough vegetables, ask about adding a salad or another side dish. Then take the extra meat or grains home for another meal.
Be your own guide. Sometimes just reminding yourself that it is OK for you to leave food on your plate is enough to let you put your fork down and enjoy the quality time with family and friends. Save leftovers for later. If you are anything like me, you will be hungry again soon.
