Is it my fault?

When my children are still babies and toddlers, I am the one to feed them, control what movement they do. But then what? Then they start deciding for themselves, what they want to eat, drink and if they want to do sports and other activities. But do I have a say? Is there anything I can do to help them choose a good lifestyle?

I think I shouldn't just tell them to eat healthy, not to eat a lot of sweets, to exercise. But I will have to help them do it. They will eat what they find in the cupboard, therefore what I buy. So if I buy good food, that is what they will eat at home. I am also trying to make exercise a daily routine, it will become a good habit.

Us working out!

Banning soft drinks, junk food and similar things altogether to me is not a very good idea. Depriving my kids from it, will only make them crave it more. And once they got their hands on it, they will never let go! Instead I make them have it and educate them that this is something you should limit in your diet. I will teach them what is good and what is fattening and bad for their health. What we eat just in the weekends and what our body needs to be strong.

I can teach them how to regulate their emotions, so they don't regulate them by eating a lot of junk food or sweets. If they are excited before an exam or if they had a bad day or had an argument with someone. Instead of going to the sweets cupboard to take a spoon of nutella to help them feel better, I can tell them to go for a walk, ask them to play a game, do a workout together, read a book, pamper themselves.

Instead of criticising how they look, I would say "let's do a workout, so that we will wear our nice dresses, so they will still fit us." But keep repeating that they are beautiful, wonderful kids and most importantly intelligent/bright. They say that when you are living a healthy life and your kids are with you, they are automatically absorbing all you are saying. So talking on the phone with my sister about how in the weekend we ate a lot, so now on Monday I will have soup, the kids are gonna get used to that. You are indirectly telling them what to do when you overeat.

I love making some foods events, so that the kids know that this is a one-off. Like pizza on Saturday, or fried chicken on Sunday. I normally tell them "shall we get some bad food today? Maybe fried chicken? Then tomorrow we will go for a walk." I normally take ice cream with them for example. Then if they ask for another one, I say, "No, as if, not another one, I'm gonna puke, that was enough.

We will take another one tomorrow."

Working out with the kids

When my babies didn't eat anything at all, I would open their mouth myself when feeding, closing it for them, putting the food in with my finger if it fell. Then put their heads up so they swallow it! When babies don't eat you panic and lots of us tend to do this. Maybe I would do it again. But now that they are older and can speak to tell me they are full, I trust them. If they say no then they are full, they stop. I don't force them to eat more. And I don't force them to eat at certain times of the day. If my daughter is hungry at 5pm, then she eats at 5pm. She will have something small with us again at 7pm. I love dinner time. It's nice to gather the family with no screens and enjoy the food, while talking about the day with the family.

I hate giving the kids sweets as rewards, but I did it a few times. Or punish them, if you don't do that you won't have sweets. It is said that in doing so, you are putting an emotional relationship with eating. I prefer rewarding something they like. Punish? I don't punish them as I don't believe punishments work!

It's not easy to follow what I just wrote and I think I would have to come and have a look at this again myself. But will it be my fault if they do put on weight? No it won't coz I would have done my best. And maybe they were meant to be like that anyway, so the most important thing is to be strong and healthy. Eat healthy and stay active.