Stay Attuned ™: The E-zine for Nourishing ConnectionsYour journey to freedom from food and weight struggles presents an opportunity for not only a new relationship with food, but also a new relationship with yourself and others. Ultimately, it is a journey of nourishing connections with yourself, others--and yes--even food. Stay Attuned™ is committed to supporting you in this journey and to helping you develop nourishing connections that will last a lifetime. Remember, a journey always starts with one small step.... From fellow travelers,
Nourishing Nuggets
“One must ask children and birds how strawberries and cherries taste.”
“The things we know best are the things we haven’t been taught.”
“The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to
unlearn.” Reflections for Staying Attuned
Parents, professionals, and even the government often assume
children cannot regulate their own food intake. Goaded and guilted
by recent government reports on the “obesity epidemic”, adults are
feeling the need to coerce children into eating "healthy" or eating
less. However, research has shown for years that “excess” weight in
school-aged children is strongly associated with parents trying to
control their kids’ eating.
When parents back off -- truly back off -- kids will stop eating when they are full. Why? Because these children no longer fear being deprived and can respond to hunger and satiety. Kids who are afraid they won't get enough to eat or that they might not get a chance to eat that “forbidden” food again any time soon, will overeat whenever they get the opportunity. If there is emotional eating, controlling food intake will cause further overeating in response to the deprivation—and the underlying issues will remain unresolved. Continued overeating, both deprivation-driven and emotional, is the result. The same thing happens when adults diet. The answer? For kids, allow their natural ability to eat when hungry and quit when satisfied to reassert itself. For adults, commit to re-connecting with this attunement process. The result? An incredible freedom around food, and a body at its natural, healthy weight!Stay Attuned TipWatch a young child eat who has not been influenced to control food intake. Notice as she becomes full, she will lose interest in food. Children do not need to use theirs heads to tell themselves to stop eating—because their bodies have already told them. It happens naturally. Now, try to recall a time when you were able to do this. Some people were fortunate enough to have eaten without undue influence and were able to self-regulate. Others were denied this experience for myriad reasons. Either way, consider what it would be like to eat in this "intuitive" fashion now. Stay Attuned Affirmation "I have the innate ability to regulate my food intake." What's New at Nourishing ConnectionsNew research confirms that non-dieters are more successful at boosting health than dieters. The study will be published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Scientists from Copenhagen have found that curvy women are more likely to live longer than slimmer women (women with a hip measurement smaller than 40 inches). Verrry interesting! Also, if you are concerned about your child’s eating, or you are a nutritionist with young clients, consider reading Kathy Kater’s Real Kids Come in All Sizes: Ten Essential Lessons to Build Your Child’s Body Esteem and Ellen Satter’s How to Get Your Child to Eat…But Not Too Much. Feedback and ClosingWelcome to our new subscribers, and hello to current members! Stay Attuned™ exists for you. If you have ideas for topics or feedback (did you try an idea? how did it go?), please write us at ideas@nourishingconnections.com. Spread the WordFeel free to forward this E-zine to others. We just ask that you keep the E-zine intact, including contact and copyright information. For any other use, written permission is required. And thank you for sharing Stay Attuned™! Subscribe or UnsubscribeTo subscribe (to join), email join-stayattuned@list.nourishingconnections.com. To unsubscribe (be removed from list), email leave-stayattuned@list.nourishingconnections.com. Delivery Problems If you experience delivery problems, check here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stay Attuned™ is written by Karin Kratina, PhD, RD © Copyright 2005. Dr. Karin Kratina and Amy Tuttle. All rights reserved. ~~~~~ DISCLAIMER: This information is not intended to constitute a
professional relationship between Karin or Amy or the reader, nor is it
intended as therapy or counseling. Be sure to consult a qualified
professional if you require medical or psychological services.
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