Good morning ladies!!
So happy to see some posts - especially from people who don't post very often--it's so refreshing to hear what you are going through as I can usually relate in some way so thank you for posting!
I am SOOOOO all or nothing and didn't know it until I went to counseling but I'm sure you've heard me talk about it a lot on here so obviously I can relate to that. I too find that dinner is SUCH a huge thing for me too--I get SOOO frustrated because at least 1 of my 3 kids won't eat the dinner (more often it's 2 or 3 though
and it's especially frustrating when I've taken the time and effort to cook something healthy that I think that they would like--so it's not even something I necessarily want... gosh if I was always just cooking for my tastes, it would be very different--yet my kids won't eat anything anyway.
I just get so frustrated and end up making spaghetti with prego sauce or pizza or some other easy thing that I KNOW that they will eat--but has no veggies or really good nutrition in it.
Although the one thing I make for them that I have snuck veggies in and they still LOVE it is mac and cheese! I bought a vitamix (last year I think?) and make mac and cheese--I make the cheese sauce in my vitamix--with tofu, coleslaw mix and carrots and they EAT IT UP! (Of course there is cheese too!) THEY LOVE IT and they've even seen me put the veggies in and it's the ONE time they don't care!
Oh and we make smoothies for them sometimes and sneak carrots or coleslaw mix (like cabbage, carrots and is it beets all shredded up) in it and they love it--so that helps anyway...
But yah--it's so disheartening and I often end up just giving up even trying but I want them to eat better and not want 'play' food all the time...
So yah-I can so relate--and I think I'm extra sensitive about the food thing just due to my background of all this crap you know so it hits me extra hard--also because I can take it personally sometimes when they don't like something--but I try not to!
I too often have nights where I just DON'T want to deal with it and we order pizza (which I LOVE but we can't afford to do as often as we do/would like to!) Money is an issue here too for sure unfortunately and so yah... anyone have any tips for us?
I have just signed up for a local 'good food box' program so once a month you can sign up for a fruit box and a fruit and veggie box (Or more) and you get an assortment of local produce--a lot of it organic... It will be totally random but I'm hoping that the kids will eat the fruit (they like a lot of fruit so that is good!) and then I'll challenge myself to get all the veggies eaten up--so some of it might be stuff I don't usually buy and that will force me to try new recipes etc.--MAYBE finding something new the kids will eat....
Anyway--hopefully I'll like it enough this month that I'll do it again next month! Oh and it's supposed to be cheaper than buying the fruits and veggies in a grocery store--so yah--saving money too (if we eat it all that is!) Now I just have to remember not to buy more fruit and veggies before then or I'll have to room to put it all! (I need another fridge!!)
Welcome babygrant! CONGRATULATIONS on not binging for 6ish months! That is HUGE so congrats! Okay first of all, I have to say CALL YOUR THERAPIST!!!! You'll be so glad you did I'm sure so just take the time for yourself and do it. Actually I think I should too--haven't been in quite a while.... I'm glad that you have decided to post--thanks for jumping in where you are. We have talked about starting a new thread before but never did--but if you think (and others think) that new people would be more likely to post on a new thread, then I would be happy to start a new one and just link to this one.... can everyone give me their feedback on that? I would like to keep the same original intent in that we aren't discussing diets or weight etc. as that is NOT the focus (although many of us struggle with thoughts of that) - there are lots of other threads that you can discuss those things on but yah--thoughts everyone? I can see how a year's worth of posts would be intimidating to some and I don't want people to feel that way--I want everyone to jump in wherever you are as we can all learn so much from each other and support each other!
Polly it's so nice to hear from you-its been a while! I too can't set rules on my eating without turning into a diet--and I've come TOO far to do that to myself. I am ADDING things to my diet though-like trying to get in at least 2 veggies and a fruit a day (I started with 1 veggie and was able to do that, added 1 fruit and have decided that today I'll had 1 veggie) - so it's not the end of the world if I don't do it--and if I'm eating any kind of normal way, it will be EASY to do that (which was the point--I don't want be all or nothing--so I'm not beating myself up if I don't do it--just trying to do it) - anyway-that helps as it gets me thinking of different options of what I could do with fruits or veggies--as otherwise they can get forgotten... And I often enjoy them--but end up forgetting them on some day... I feel like I'm talking in circles yet again--but my mini-goals are that and trying to get 6 glasses (Or more of course) of water a day and to take my vitamins.... Those are things that are really easy if I just take a moment to do them/think about them and they make a HUGE difference in how I feel that day... so yah--maybe that might help you -- just an idea--to add some healthy things in that are REALLY easy for you to do but that don't trigger any diet mentality (as you're not restricting anything at all)
I still need to constantly work on not letting any foods have power or thinking of food or days as good or bad (as I was recently reminded-thank you!) as that often leads to diet mentality/bad body thinking.... It's hard as it's just so different than how I lived the rest of my life--old habits die hard I guess! So yah--if I trigger anything in anyone or if you catch me doing the opposite of that, PLEASE point it out to me as it's not intentional and it slips out sometimes when I don't want it to! I'm definitely still a work in progress.
I make the focus of my Nia homework to be kind to myself... I think that is KEY in all of this--the better I treat myself, the better I feel, the better mom I am, the more that I listen to my body or myself and what I need--whether it be a certain food, to move my body, to have some "me" time (which I haven't been doing very much of lately I just realized--doh!) to tell someone something or whatever....
WELCOME perl! Glad you are posting--please keep posting too as I'm sure it will prove helpful to you and help with your mindfulness-I know it does for me when I post! Do tell me more of what you have learned from that book as apart from the word diet in it's title, what you have spoken about sounds right on.... Mindfulness is SO hard for me to do--I wish there was an easier way to do it with 3 kids around! I like the idea of 'movement' too--sometimes I just call it 'activity' but yah--it's good--kind of like the 'play food' or 'fun food' rather than 'junk food' -both for us to think of it that way and to use that word with our kids... I'm still working on not using the junk food word with my kids who really do want to eat 'play' food all day long and nothing remotely close to something that will give them any nutrients whatsover!
Oh I just realized the time--I have to get the kids off to school and then I'm getting my hair cut--woohoo!
Have a wonderful mindful day ladies!
Holly
Today I was remembering what it was like last year--the food was all the same but *I* was different and I was obsessing about the food all day--what I *should* eat, what I shouldn't eat, - I know last year was better than the year before in that I was trying to listen to my body--and I took a cookie home with me to have later if I wanted it--but then that cookie led to a binge later where I *had* to go out and get more of those cookies... Yesterday I ate the cookie there as I wanted it and then didn't want anymore of them later...
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