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Sorry, sorry, confused my update windows!
Oct. 23rd, 2022 01:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyDear Care and Feeding,
My husband and I have two daughters, “Blake” (16) and “Kaylee” (13). Blake developed the habit of emotional eating to cope with stress in middle school, and during quarantine, she began buying lots of junk food and keeping it in her room to eat whenever she was stressed, doing homework, or even watching a show. We have always provided our kids with healthy meals and snacks while still enjoying junk food in moderation, and have modeled body positivity. But despite numerous talks with Blake about if there was anything we could help her with, she insisted everything was fine, she just liked snacking while doing boring tasks. Now, everything has gotten out of control.
At Blake’s most recent doctor’s appointment, her pediatrician told me that she’s gained a large amount of weight very rapidly and that he was concerned about the impact her diet was having on her quality of life—it had already made activities she previously enjoyed, like biking, a struggle for her, and could lead to more health issues in the future. After a long talk with him, Blake decided that she wanted to stop using food as a coping mechanism, and start helping us cook and prep balanced meals, which she began doing a month ago and says that her relationship with food is already improving.
However, around the same time, Kaylie’s prescription for ADHD meds increased, and while she is having a much better time in school, the medication reduces her appetite, so she’ll pick at lunch but be starving in the evening, and will think nothing of polishing off a bag of veggie straws or plantain chips before dinner. We’re fine with it because these are fairly healthy snacks and fill the gap created by her lunch, but Blake gets irritated when her sister won’t “help her follow through on health goals” by not keeping snacks in the top cabinets so she can’t get them in the night or at least only eating Blake’s pre-made protein snacks. Kaylie is almost underweight, and if she didn’t struggle so much without medication I would take her off of it, so I want to allow her to continue her after-school snacking.
But Blake and my husband both say that we should be supporting Blake’s goal of eating healthier and cutting out processed foods and that it’s unfair to let Kaylie keep “unhealthy” snacks in easy reach of everyone. I am sick of finding crumbs in bedrooms and I want both of my kids to understand that food is fuel, and to eat a healthy amount of it each day, whether it’s from potato or burrito bowls. How do I handle the current “snack war?” I want to support both Blake’s initiative to eat a more balanced diet and ensure that Kaylie actually gets in nutrients!
—Sick of Snack Sniping
( Read more... )
My husband and I have two daughters, “Blake” (16) and “Kaylee” (13). Blake developed the habit of emotional eating to cope with stress in middle school, and during quarantine, she began buying lots of junk food and keeping it in her room to eat whenever she was stressed, doing homework, or even watching a show. We have always provided our kids with healthy meals and snacks while still enjoying junk food in moderation, and have modeled body positivity. But despite numerous talks with Blake about if there was anything we could help her with, she insisted everything was fine, she just liked snacking while doing boring tasks. Now, everything has gotten out of control.
At Blake’s most recent doctor’s appointment, her pediatrician told me that she’s gained a large amount of weight very rapidly and that he was concerned about the impact her diet was having on her quality of life—it had already made activities she previously enjoyed, like biking, a struggle for her, and could lead to more health issues in the future. After a long talk with him, Blake decided that she wanted to stop using food as a coping mechanism, and start helping us cook and prep balanced meals, which she began doing a month ago and says that her relationship with food is already improving.
However, around the same time, Kaylie’s prescription for ADHD meds increased, and while she is having a much better time in school, the medication reduces her appetite, so she’ll pick at lunch but be starving in the evening, and will think nothing of polishing off a bag of veggie straws or plantain chips before dinner. We’re fine with it because these are fairly healthy snacks and fill the gap created by her lunch, but Blake gets irritated when her sister won’t “help her follow through on health goals” by not keeping snacks in the top cabinets so she can’t get them in the night or at least only eating Blake’s pre-made protein snacks. Kaylie is almost underweight, and if she didn’t struggle so much without medication I would take her off of it, so I want to allow her to continue her after-school snacking.
But Blake and my husband both say that we should be supporting Blake’s goal of eating healthier and cutting out processed foods and that it’s unfair to let Kaylie keep “unhealthy” snacks in easy reach of everyone. I am sick of finding crumbs in bedrooms and I want both of my kids to understand that food is fuel, and to eat a healthy amount of it each day, whether it’s from potato or burrito bowls. How do I handle the current “snack war?” I want to support both Blake’s initiative to eat a more balanced diet and ensure that Kaylie actually gets in nutrients!
—Sick of Snack Sniping
( Read more... )