The Parenting Effect

Alright, most of the hot-button fad diets have been discussed. I think I have made it clear that for general and healthy weight loss, the DASH diet or the Mediterranean diet are the ones to follow. Most other diets have something missing, whether it be vitamins and minerals, or lack of carbohydrates and/or fats (I have always found it interesting that there has never really been a low-protein fad diet). All of these nutrients are needed for proper nutrition and full function of the body. The time-tested nutrition program for everybody can be narrowed down to one word: balance. Nutrients are the reason our body can do anything. Dessert is the reason we feel like doing anything. Therefore, a balance between these two is essential. As I have said many times before, I eat some form of dessert (usually chocolate) every day. Sometimes it is chocolate whole wheat banana bread, sometimes it is Nutella spread on toast, and sometimes it is a pint of ice cream. Today it was graham crackers with a bit of frosting. And a chicken finger. But at the end of the day, balance is what leads to health. Balance is what leads to sustained and prolonged weight loss, if that is your desire. It may not be the fastest way to lose weight, but it is the most effective.

Because of this, I decided that it was time to stop discussing fad diets. The main reason? Every single time I studied a diet I wanted to throw my computer across the room from frustration. Diets make me sad.

The diet industry in the United States is worth more than $65 billion, and this number is only climbing. A diet is supposed to bring joy to someone's life, not put millions of dollars into someone else's pocket. A diet is supposed to add health, not subtract joy and satisfaction. I have sat at my computer every day for weeks trying to figure out what I should discuss. What knowledge I felt like I should share. I wanted to end the discussion of fad diets with something powerful, something inspirational. And after many many weeks, it came to me.

A couple of weeks ago, I submitted a fact sheet for publication to my university. And I felt like this fact sheet had some valuable information that needs to be shared. And it fits perfectly with the topic of fad diets. 

If you know me or my nutrition philosophy at all, I bet you know what my fact sheet was about....body-image. I will seriously take this passion to my grave (along with my passion for reading books, in case you were wondering). But I decided to take a different spin on it. I recently wrote a paper on the rate of negative body-image in children (which I am also in the process of submitting for publication). The results of this study were astounding. By age 5, almost half of young girls show dissatisfaction with their bodies. By age 9, the majority of girls have tried dieting to lose weight. The rates of body dissatisfaction are similar among young boys, but theirs tends to start around age 7, which is a couple of years later than girls. Perhaps even more surprising is that bias against overweight people starts as young as age 3. Little preschool age boys and girls call larger people "lazy," "gross," "unpopular," "icky," etc. And that only grows as the kids get older. 

I remember once when I was in first grade I was playing a game on the playground with most of my classmates. There were two round tractor tires on the playground, and the goal of the game was to push members of the opposite team into one of the tires. I was an overweight first grader, but that was something I wasn't aware of at the time. But then something happened that changed my opinion of myself. As a boy from my class was pushing me towards one of the tires, he yelled "get in there, you big fat lady" right into my face as he attempted to push me backwards into the tire. That was the first day I realized that everyone looked at me differently because of my size. And years later, as I slowly developed a stricter and stricter diet plan, and eventually dipped into the realm of anorexia, this memory often came back to me. As a motivator. To prove to myself that I was no longer that fat first grader. I'm sure that boy meant no ill will, and I am certain he doesn't remember saying that, as later in junior high and high school he never alluded to what happened. And yet, I never forgot. 

As I read study after study about this emerging issue, and even contemplated this memory from my childhood, I suddenly realized something: if children are entering preschool and kindergarten with body dissatisfaction and weight biases, then there is really only one place that they learned these things--their own homes. Parents, siblings, friends, neighbors, etc all influence the development of a healthy and positive body-image in a child. So I decided to make this the subject of my fact sheet. 

To be clear, I am not saying that people are purposefully telling their child that fat people are bad, or that they need to lose weight. But simple comments about weight, dieting, and appearances are soaked up and taken as doctrine by young children. If mom or dad are dieting, and they explain to their child that they are doing so to lose weight and look better, then the child could feel like they need to lose weight to look better. If a child consistently hears men and women compliment each other after losing weight, such as "you look fantastic! How much weight have you lost?", a child may feel that to receive praise from others they need to lose weight. 

But sadly, it's not just words that children receive messages from. The old saying that "actions speak louder than words" applies in this scenario. A child will typically not eat what their parents don't eat. If they see that their parents exercise to lose weight, they will assume that when they ask them to go out and play that they need to lose weight. If a parent restricts the amount of food a young child is eating, even if they are still hungry, the child will eventually believe that their parents thinks they are too fat. And so on and so forth. Study after study shows that the majority of children's negative body-image is correlated with how parents feel about themselves and how they let this affect their children. 

So the issue really isn’t how to help children feel better about themselves. The issue is how help you feel better about yourself. Whether you have children or not, you have an influence on both the children and adults you interact with. Through my studying, I have come up with a couple of tips to start with:

1.    Be kind to yourself. Do not shame your size, your weight, your diet, or anything. This will only make the guilt and shame worse.

2.    Focus on hunger and fullness cues. When you begin to feel ‘empty’, have a little something to eat. When you feel ‘satisfied’, then stop. Satisfaction typically occurs before the body tells you that you are full. Before your stomach starts to complain.

3.    Treat yo’self. Do not deny yourself the occasional treat or splurge. And by occasional, I mean every day. Have something everyday that you look forward to. Remember to have all things in balance and moderation. Perhaps eating an entire package of Oreos isn’t the greatest idea, but having a couple a day is not ‘unhealthy.’ 

4.    Do not label foods as ‘good’ or ‘healthy’ food and ‘bad’ or ‘junk’ food. I have a coworker who will always make sure to tell me when I am eating junk food. In fact, when he sees me eat one single French fry he immediately says “Oh Megan, I see you decided to ‘junk out’ today.” And even though I personally choose not to label food in my life, I still find myself throwing away whatever I was eating because our natural tendency is to label ourselves as ‘junk’ when we think we are eating ‘junk.’

5.    Get moving. If you hate calling it ‘exercise,’ then stop calling it exercise. Do whatever movement makes you happy. I love hiking and exploring the canyon near my house. I also enjoy riding my bike to work during the summer. Do whatever provides joy!

There are many more suggestions on how to instill a positive body-image in yourself—this list is definitely not an exhaustive one. As you do so, you will feel more satisfaction in your own life, and those around you will feel happier knowing that you will never make them feel bad about their appearance. Remember that it is always important to be kind to others, but it is equally as important to be kind to yourself.

Have a wonderful week!

Megan's 'College Kid' Burritos

A couple of weeks ago I went to a restaurant called Sweeto Burrito with my family. I had the privilege of trying a burrito stuffed with chicken fingers and tater tots and the restaurant's signature sauce (even thinking about it makes my mouth water). Since I am poor, and also try to be healthy, I came up with my own recipe that's equally as delicious and definitely more nutritious.

-1 package of sun-dried tomato tortilla wraps (the giant ones you think you will never finish in one sitting, but end up doing so anyways)

-1 package frozen chicken fingers or tenders

-2 cups cooked brown rice

-1 can corn, drained and rinsed

-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

-lettuce

-salsa of your choice (I prefer sweet salsas with this recipe)

-hot sauce (optional)

1. Bake chicken according to package directions.

2. While chicken is in the oven, combine the brown rice, corn, and beans. Then heat the tortilla wraps in the microwave for 30 seconds.

3. When chicken is done, let sit on the stove to cool slightly while you assemble the wraps. 

4. On the bottom of your tortilla, layer the rice/bean/corn mixture with your desired amount of lettuce. Once chicken is cooled slightly, cut into 1/2 inch strips and layer on top of the lettuce. Spoon some of the salsa onto the chicken.

5. Wrap the tortilla burrito-style and add the hot sauce, if desired. I like to add hot sauce to my burrito after my first bite (it creates a hot sauce train all through the burrito), but you can also add it right after the salsa if you prefer to. Enjoy!