Cookies giving the wrong messages
"I was at a friend's birthday party. There were dozens of people there: grandparents, friends, parents, children, teens, toddlers, babies, even a couple of dogs. My friend had her first child six months earlier. The baby was just learning to stand up. There she was, in the living room, surrounded by adults sitting on couches and chairs, all of them eating (of course), drinking, and laughing. She got up on her tiny legs....and immediately fell down, more frightened than hurt.
Understandably the little girl cried. And cried. Within twenty seconds her father ran over to her, and with the finesse of a tennis pro lobbing a brilliant serve, he lifted her up in one hand while simultaneously reaching for a cookie with the other.
The girl stopped crying. In this brief period she learned four things about life:-
* It's not okay to cry. Emotions are scary and best over with quickly.
* Any emotion, from pain to bliss, however short or however real, is something you should avoid.
* You should hide your powerful feelings in food rather than learn the appropriate - and healthier - response, which is to allow yourself to feel.
* In short, rather than feel your feelings , eat them.
Have a cookie and everything will be all right, was the message this little girl's father gave his daughter. But instead of giving her food he could have hugged her and smoothed her hair. Eventually the pain would have eased and she would have stopped crying. Instead, at six months old she had already learned to eat her feelings instead of feeling them. And just as swiftly the chemical hook was in place, those sparks of physiological cravings created by the blast of sugar - staying ignited long after this particular incident was over."
The question that come to mind is what were we taught about food as children, and what messages are we passing on to the next generation. Maybe we need to evaluate what we do and how we do it. We teach what we have been taught, but sometime we need to learn new things to teach others. You are here not only to lose weight but to learn about food and then in turn to teach your children, grandchildren. Someone has to break the cycle, and guess what that person is you.
Technorati Tags:
obese, overweight, anorexia, diet, cholesterol
Understandably the little girl cried. And cried. Within twenty seconds her father ran over to her, and with the finesse of a tennis pro lobbing a brilliant serve, he lifted her up in one hand while simultaneously reaching for a cookie with the other.
The girl stopped crying. In this brief period she learned four things about life:-
* It's not okay to cry. Emotions are scary and best over with quickly.
* Any emotion, from pain to bliss, however short or however real, is something you should avoid.
* You should hide your powerful feelings in food rather than learn the appropriate - and healthier - response, which is to allow yourself to feel.
* In short, rather than feel your feelings , eat them.
Have a cookie and everything will be all right, was the message this little girl's father gave his daughter. But instead of giving her food he could have hugged her and smoothed her hair. Eventually the pain would have eased and she would have stopped crying. Instead, at six months old she had already learned to eat her feelings instead of feeling them. And just as swiftly the chemical hook was in place, those sparks of physiological cravings created by the blast of sugar - staying ignited long after this particular incident was over."
The question that come to mind is what were we taught about food as children, and what messages are we passing on to the next generation. Maybe we need to evaluate what we do and how we do it. We teach what we have been taught, but sometime we need to learn new things to teach others. You are here not only to lose weight but to learn about food and then in turn to teach your children, grandchildren. Someone has to break the cycle, and guess what that person is you.
Technorati Tags:
obese, overweight, anorexia, diet, cholesterol
posted by
Bev Clement at 7:14 AM
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