When I Grow Up...

I'm traveling for work for the next three days, and I'm not so sure how I'm going to deal with my food situation. I'm basicaly going to be eating out for every meal.

I'm trying to stay flexible and not have an all-or-nothing mentality, which is what have done in the past. Instead of just throwing out the next few days and eating whatever, whenever, I want to make the best choices I can for the next few days.

If I can stay focused on the long term goal, which is real change, it's not that difficult to make good choices. However, when I focus on the food in front of me without thinking about the future, I find myself throwing all caution to the wind and stuffing my face.

I wish that I could love myself more than that. I wish I didn't have to think--rationalize--so much. I wish it came naturally.  This is what I'm instilling in my children, because I don't want them to go through the struggles I go through when it comes to food.

Sometimes, I overhear them saying wonderful things. The other day, my oldest asked the others if they wanted a treat, and I heard the little one say, "No thanks, I already ate and I'm not really hungry right now." This sounds like such a normal response, but it's not my normal response. When I was a kid I NEVER said "no" to sweets, even if I was full.

I love that they make these choices so naturally. I tell myself that these decisions "come naturally" to them, because I have worked hard at allowing them to listening to their body signals instead of forcing them to "clean your plate" the way my dad did to me. I've also tried to expose them to as many healthy and delicious food as possible so that the word "vegetable" isn't a bad word in my house.

I remind myself that we are all born with the ability to listen to our bodies, with the hope that one day I will relearn how to do this and be able to make these decisions naturally, just like them.

When I grow up, I want to be just like my kids :)