So let’s just put it out there. Three year olds are tough. When Connor was two he was my buddy. He was pretty easy going and he could communicate quite well. Things felt, dare I say, kind of easy! Then came this little threenager…
With all of the crazy threenager tantrums he’s been having, I’ve started paying even more attention to how his diet and sleep patterns effect his behavior and overall mood. While being more observant I realized how interesting it is to pay attention to the way kids view food in such a different light than most of us adults.
I briefly mentioned awhile ago about how when toddlers are hungry and/or overtired they make crappy decisions. Oh wait…it’s not just toddlers who do that, is it?
I’m sure you’ve noticed that when you feel stressed out, let yourself get too hungry or skimp on sleep, you tend to make rushed decisions about everything, including what you eat. Just think about the last time you had a busy day at work and ‘forgot’ to eat. I bet it wasn’t pretty when you finally got home! That behavior starts early…
So what nutrition lessons can we learn from my crazy toddler?
Lesson One. Dieting sucks.
When you don’t eat enough, your body {and in turn, your mind} is not happy. I recently wrote about some things you may want to do when eating less isn’t working, but watch a toddler who hasn’t eaten enough if you want to make it even more clear that we’re not meant to ‘diet’ or restrict food when we’re hungry. When Connor needs to eat he starts acting seriously banana-pants. Sometimes he gets moody and throws tantrums. Sometimes he acts hyper-active. Sometimes he even gets past the point where he feels hungry so he won’t eat even though it’s clear to me that food is the exact solution to the problem.
I’ve also noticed, especially by observing how a toddler eats, that it’s normal to have days you are more hungry and days you are less hungry. That is okay.
This next part is easier said than done since almost everyone has dieted, over-exercised, under-exercised, over-ate, etc. We’ve messed ourselves up. Start really listening to your body and eating until you are about 80% full, not stuffed and not starving, as some of my fellow Precision Nutrition friends say. That may not be the exact same number of calories every day. You’ll be okay. It’s just food. Which brings me to lesson two…
Lesson Two. It’s just food.
Relax, and have fun 10-20% of the time. Follow the “rules” the rest of the time.
If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re not hungry. It really should be that simple, right? Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re {80%} full. However, it really isn’t that simple most of the time. Things like job and relationship stress, lack of sleep and life get in the way and mess with our hunger signals. Then we throw dieting and exercise {both more stress} on top of that and wonder what else we’re doing wrong and should be changing to lose more weight.
With all of the different dieting tactics out there, wouldn’t it be refreshing if you could just listen to what your body wants/needs and and then relax the rules sometimes to simply enjoy your food?
Sometimes you want to eat something just for the fun of it or as part of an experience. Maybe you’re traveling and you want to try some of the local food. Maybe you’re at your favorite restaurant and you want their amazing pasta dish or some creme brûlée. That’s okay. If you eat mostly healthy, you love cake and you’re celebrating something special with great people and great cake …eat the damn cake. My toddler would.
Lesson Three. The scale doesn’t have to be scary.
Connor loves to weigh himself at the gym. How refreshing it would be if everyone could hop on the scale, jump off and ask “what number does it say?” with as much joy as he does.
{OMG..I just found this picture in my scale post. My BABY.}
Next time you weigh yourself, remember you can’t change what that number is right now…you can only change what it will be later. Move on with your day no matter what the number says. Your weight is just a number.
There are so many feel-good posts about ditching the scale so I am not gonna go there. While there’s no need to obsess over the number on the scale if you’re honestly taking care of yourself, I think it’s also an important life lesson to learn to accept the number on the scale.
The scale can be useful and it sure does give you an idea of how you are doing, at least relative to how you were doing 6 months ago, 6 years ago, etc. That doesn’t mean it’s the only thing that tells you how you are doing health-wise and it certainly should not control how you are doing happiness-wise!
If the scale really scares you, at some point it’s gotta be time to figure out how you can face the number. It’s just a number. Again, as much as I don’t think you need to obsess about the number, I do think you need to be comfortable enough to know where you are at. Avoiding the scale for years at a time is no good either.
So there you have it, three nutrition lessons from my toddler. When I really pay attention it’s almost shocking how much my three year old can teach me. It goes beyond the obvious lessons toddlers teach, like how to practice patience and unconditional love.
Unfortunately, we can’t learn everything nutrition-wise from toddlers. Sometimes it just comes down to eating like an adult, not a toddler. Learn to like vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats. Plan ahead so it’s easy to make healthy choices. Feed your toddlers the same things you eat…you can all follow the rules most of the time and relax the rest of the time.
Eat when you’re hungry. Stop when you’re {80%} full. Enjoy cake.
Man…food as a toddler is simple.
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