Little Spoon’s Post

The Best Present for Our Children! Teaching our children the importance of choosing natural, fresh foods over processed ones is truly a gift that keeps on giving. From an early age, instilling the value of healthy eating sets the stage for a lifetime of wellness and vitality. As parents, educators, and caregivers, we have a powerful opportunity to shape our children's relationship with food. By guiding them to select whole, nutrient-rich foods, we equip them with the tools they need to thrive both physically and mentally. Let's embark on this journey together, encouraging our little ones to explore the vibrant colors and flavors of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Let's make grocery shopping and meal preparation a fun and educational experience, fostering their curiosity and creativity in the kitchen. The decisions we make as families and communities have a profound impact on our children's well-being. Together, let's prioritize health and nourishment, setting our children up for a future filled with vitality, energy, and endless possibilities. #HealthyEating #NutritionForKids #WellnessJourney #ParentingTips #HealthyHabits #ChildhoodNutrition

"I am tired of getting angry about the food battle." Sound familiar? This heartfelt statement from a parent captures a common challenge: the stress of mealtime with kids. It's not just about what's eaten, but about turning mealtime into a time of harmony and health. As a mentor in family nutrition, I resonate with these struggles. That's why I'm committed to helping families transform their mealtime into a joyful journey. Imagine a table where laughter replaces stress, and nourishment comes not only from the food but from the shared experience. 🍽️ Your Mealtime Mission Tonight: Let's replace frustration with fun. Sit together, share stories, and enjoy a meal without the stress. It's these moments that can reshape your family's eating habits. Ready to change the narrative from food battles to food bliss? I'm here to guide you with practical, family-friendly strategies. 💌 Discover more by joining my email community, "Coffee Chat with Tammie". Find actionable tips and supportive advice to nourish your family's well-being. Check the link in my featured section!

Is your child a picky eater? Are meal times a constant battle? Do you worry about your child not getting enough nutrition? You are not alone. The good news is that the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model of parenting can help you solve those problems. In three steps, you can: 1️⃣ Find out what your child’s problem with food is: "I noticed you have difficulty eating minced meat and potatoes for dinner. Can you tell me about it?" 2️⃣ Share your concerns. Explain why it is important to you that they have a balanced diet: "The thing is…" 3️⃣ Solve the problem together, in a way that addresses both of your concerns: "I wonder if there is a way to address (child’s concerns) while also considering (your concern)." Remember, your solution has to be realistic and mutually satisfactory. And if the solution you came up with doesn’t work… That's not a problem at all. We all know there is always more than one solution to a problem. _______ 👋 Hi, I'm Izabela Doyle, and I help overwhelmed parents improve their child's behaviour and strengthen their relationship without shouting, threats, or punishments, for a calm and happy home. #parenting #fussyeaters #parentcoach #collaborativeparenting #parntingadhdkids #parentingtips #workingparents #workingfamilies

From Food Technology Magazine (IFT.org): Feeding habits of Gen Alpha kids. Millennial parents are introducing their children to varied textures at an early age. Much more than the rest of us were. Highlights: 1. Two-thirds of households with Gen Alpha kids prepare a homemade meal at least four nights a week. 2. Flavour trends for kids aged eight to 12 reflect their desire for excitement, unique flavour combinations, or fun-sounding flavours like dragon fruit. Pastry Chefs: to keep those kids busy at afternoon teas, create a fun looking, healthy scone and dessert while the parents indulge in bubbles. https://lnkd.in/eGJsFe2p

I love talking with parents about appetite traits because it may explain the eating tendencies they see in their child. Such as… The child who asks about food all the time, or gets excited about sweets, and seems motivated by food and eating. Or, alternatively, the child who couldn't care less about eating, fills up fast, or isn’t motivated by food rewards or bribes. While you can see some of these behaviors because of counterproductive food parenting, like being too restrictive with sweets or over-using pressure to get a picky child to eat, IT IS ALSO TRUE that these behaviors can be who your child is around food. Built in, genetically inherited tendencies. When cultivating healthy eating behaviors in your child (a key Pillar of Wellness in my book, Kids Thrive at Every Size), you must understand not only YOUR tendencies around feeding your child, but YOUR CHILD’S tendencies, too. 🎉🎉🎉Kids Thrive at Every Size releases on August 13th! 🎉🎉🎉 Comment “PRE-ORDER” and I’ll send you the link for a bonus book bundle including the first chapter, PDF printables, and admission to a live event with me!

🌟 Continuing the Conversation on Mindful Eating for Children 🌟 In my last post, we touched on how mindful eating can help children connect with their natural hunger and fullness cues. Now, let’s dive deeper into practical strategies that you can incorporate into your daily routine with children to foster this mindful approach to eating. 🍽️ Try This at Meal Times: Engage the Senses Before eating, encourage children to take a moment to observe their food. What colours do they see? What do they smell? This simple practice not only makes mealtime more engaging but also helps them tune into their body's response to food. 🕰️ Flexible Mealtimes Instead of rigid schedules, consider allowing some flexibility in mealtimes. This helps children eat when they’re truly hungry, not just because it’s “time to eat.” 📚 Story Time: Share a Social Story About Hunger and Fullness Use social stories to explain how our bodies give us signals when we’re hungry or full. This can be a fun and educational way to teach children about their body’s needs. ❓ Reflective Question: How do you notice the difference in a child’s behavior when they are mindful of their eating versus when they are distracted or rushed? 🧠 Insight: Mindful eating isn’t just about food; it’s about creating a peaceful, focused environment that allows children to tune into their own needs. Let’s continue this conversation: What challenges have you faced when trying to implement mindful eating practices with children? How have you overcome them? Share your experiences below! 🌱 #MindfulEating #ChildNutrition #HealthyEatingHabits #ChildDevelopment #EarlyLearning

This ideology is a threat to public health. I am all for body positivity and recognise the significant harm that has come from the diet, fitness and fashion industries on physical and mental health. We should not have to starve ourselves to meet the unrealistic expectations of others. But to say that encouraging people to eat better and exercise more is a form of oppressive racism or classism is too far. To say that children will figure out on their own which food is healthy and unhealthy is woefully irresponsible. Because in fact, there is such a thing as healthy and unhealthy types of food, with the crucial details being both the proportions and the portions. I remember being chastised by one of my supervisors for recommending that a family be aware that their child was well above the 99.6th percentile for weight and weight for height. Recommending that the family look at ways to include more whole foods, less processed foods and more exercise in their routine. I was told that I should be aware of the ‘Healthy at Every Size’ movement and it was not my place to tell this family that they had an opportunity to change habits now for better health outcomes in the future. Apparently because a 4 year old didn’t have hypertension, diabetes or dyslipidaemia, their size (or growth trajectory) should be of no concern to me. But if I, a doctor, cannot guide my patients to better health outcomes, then who can? The danger of this ‘Healthy at Every Size’ movement is that it plays directly into the hands of neoliberal ideology. It gives policymakers and lawmakers an excuse to not ensure we have a resilient food system that delivers affordable and healthy whole foods. It allows the state to completely absolve itself of the responsibility for the obesogenic environment full of takeaways and communities that lack walkability, cycle ways and public transport. It's very easy to fall for this 'fat activism' as it absolves ourselves of any responsibility to look after ourselves or our children. Changing habits to eat better and incorporating more exercise in your routine can be difficult to start off. But things that are worth doing are never easy. We eat more unprocessed foods and live more sedentary lives. We are also suffering from more diabetes, cardiovascular disease, strokes and dementia. How can we have the most advanced diagnostics and therapeutics we've ever had and yet we seem to get sicker and sicker? So no, I don’t really care about the weight or size of your body. But I do care about what you do with it. Two people can have the same size and weight but have vastly different health outcomes based on their exercise, sleep, stress and diet. Genetics will play a small part but it is not enough to explain the obesity pandemic we are in. #health #obesity #medicine #doctor #healthcare #prevention #publichealth #fatactivism #diabetes

Each part of you may have a different relationship with food and they came up with their food strategies to support and protect you. They were trying to help you get what you emotionally needed in a really creative way when you weren't getting your needs met by others in your life as a baby, child, or kid. So, patterns of binge eating or emotional eating are not always coming from your present day self. They're coming from a part of you that senses when you've moved into a dysregulated state and they shove you out of the driver's seat and say, "Move over, I've got this." To show up for your body in a non-food way when these parts take over, you might first need to get clear about what this part of you is looking to feel that they're momentarily getting from food. Do they want to feel free? Connected? Spacious? Where in your body do you notice not feeling this way? Can you sit with that for just one second? Do any non-food bodily impulses arise while you give space to feel how you feel? Your parts and food impulses are not bad or wrong. They're not something to be fixed. You can intimately get to know where your food urges are coming from so that you increase your body awareness about what their presence is communicating to you about your states and unmet needs. If you want to dive deeper into getting to know your parts and their food cravings, come join the Somatic Eating® Program! I have a parts work process I walk you through on how to start to identify who is choosing your food. Go to somaticeating.com to learn more and sign up today! #somaticeating #relationshipwithfood #somatichealing #somatictherapy #somaticpractice #somaticeducation #innerchildhealing #innerteenager #innerchildwork #partswork #selfparenting #thebodyremembers #foodcopingmechanism #foodissues #disorderedeating #disorderedeatingrecovery #bingeeating #bingeeatingrecovery #bingeeatinghelp #bingeeatingsupport #emotionaleatingsupport #emotionalregulation #nervoussystemregulation #childhoodtrauma #familytrauma #traumaresponse #healingtrauma #somaticnutrition #somaticnutritionalcounseling #stephaniemarafox

🌿 Healthy vs. Unhealthy Foods: Why It Matters 🍔 Teaching our kids the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods is essential for building lifelong habits. 🥗✨ By learning to make nutritious choices early, we help them grow stronger, focus better, and lead healthier lives. Let’s empower the next generation with the knowledge to fuel their bodies the right way! 💪🍎 #HealthyEating #FoodEducation #WellnessJourney #HealthyHabits . . #SpecialNeedsSupport #InclusionMatters #AdaptiveLearning #SpecialNeedsEducation #EmpowerAbilities #DisabilityAwareness #InclusiveCommunity #DifferentlyAbled #SupportForAll #SpecialNeedsFamilies #InclusiveEducation #SpecialNeedsTherapy #EveryAbilityCounts #AllAbilities #Neurodiversity #AbilityNotDisability #EmpowerSpecialNeeds

What’s for Dinner? During her coaching call last week a client of mine recently remarked, “I am so tired of menu planning and searching for recipes with ingredients that I can eat. I want my own private chef!”  Although she wanted to comply with an autoimmune friendly menu recommended by her doctor, her busy work and family schedule left little time and energy for meal planning.  Her weight was creeping up and her arthritis pain was increasing.  Three months later she was celebrating a decrease in both weight and arthritis pain allowing her to perform everyday activities with joy and ease.  Words cannot express how delighted and honored I felt to be able to facilitate her transformation from pain and despair to increased freedom of movement and zest for life.  Many women in my practice have experienced the joy of creating a sustainable eating plan that meets their unique health needs. Do you know someone who is having difficulty staying on the eating plan recommended by their doctor due to a chronic health condition? Here are three action steps you might want to explore:  1)  make a permissible food list divided into categories: protein, vegetables, fruit, nuts/seeds, grain, healthy fat    2)  build each meal around these categories and change the type of food for variety (i.e. eggs or  Greek yogurt as breakfast proteins) 3)  keep a food and symptoms log to document how the body reacts to what you eat