Sunday, January 30, 2011

Why teaching a child healthy eating habits may not be such a great idea after all.

Since my own healthy living awakening occurred during her infancy, I have been trying to teach my daughter how to live a healthy lifestyle. One concept that has really sunk in with her is the idea of "fun foods" or "sometimes treats." I don't believe I've ever seen her finish an entire small order of fries, and she has turned down numerous cookies from grown-ups because she "already had a treat today."

This sounds great, until I'm having one of those days where popcorn or french fries end up being the main part of lunch, but she won't finish because she doesn't want to be unhealthy. I have to listen to complaints of hunger through the rest of our errands because I didn't think ahead to pack organic apples or whole grain, natural peanut butter, no high-fructose corn syrup jelly sandwiches.

Additionally, now when I fall off the wagon and just want to eat cake, or pie, or cookies, or some combination of the three, I have a little external, spectacled conscience telling me that those aren't good choices for me and I should just go get a piece of fruit to eat.

So, if I want to indulge anyway, I have to find a way to grocery shop without my nearly 24/7 companion, hide the contraband in places she can't reach even with a chair, and then manage to consume it while she is sleeping or completely distracted. It's almost not worth it. Almost.

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