A little follow-up
We had a great Support Group last night. I think we had 25 or so folks there. There weren’t any empty seats and in fact there were a few sitting in the bleachers at the back. Folks really talked and shared and supported one another. We had several “first timers” and “first talkers” and that doesn’t happen if it isn’t a warm and inviting and safe environment. It was heartwarming to see. In fact, one couple drove another attendee, whom they had just met, home - so that person wouldn’t have to take an Uber. How cool is that?
Among the many things we talked about, there were a few I promised to provide follow up on. Here are the links. I would love to share a PDF or full text of the articles but the on-line media is making it more and more difficult to access their material. I get it - they need to stay in business - but it does make it a challenge to share the important ideas that make the media relevant. Ok, that’s it for my soap box soliloquies.
The following is Jane Brody’s excellent NYT review of intermittent fasting. If you can’t read it - the take away is this: stop eating after dinner and try not to eat again till you are hungry the next day. Breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day. The most important meal is the ONE YOU ARE EATING. Stay focused, make good choices, chew slowly, and of course - eat only if you are hungry. If you can stretch the interval between meals or snacks to at least 16 hrs - you derive optimal benefit. If you finish eating by 8 pm, you don’t eat again till noon the next day. Of course, I also tell you to eat when hungry and ONLY when hungry. If you wake ravenous - then have a healthy breakfast. If you aren’t hungry - then don’t eat. And if that sense of satiety lasts till noon or later - then all the better.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/well/eat/the-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting.html
This article is a nice review of the data and literature on how to help kids eat healthily. Number one task - model healthy behavior. If you eat healthily - there’s a darn good chance your “copy-cat” kids will do the same. If you eat junk - duh - your kids are gonna wanna do the same. Provide options and let your kids choose. No kid will starve his or herself. When they get hungry enough - they’ll eat. And as long as there are healthy options available - that’s what they’ll choose. Remember food is NEVER - reward or punishment. Food is NOURISHMENT and that is all. We don’t eat because we are mad or sad or glad or upset with work or school or family or finances. We eat because we are hungry and NOT because there are people “starving halfway around the world.” There are and that is sad and needs to be addressed - but whether or not we “eat everything on our plate” is not going to change that.
This last article let’s all of us parents as well as our own parents off the hook. “It’s just not our fault.” At least not 75% of it. This article discusses the emerging science of the “nature vs nurture” debate and at least according to this article - there isn’t much debate. Genes and genetics are far more of an influence than parenting when it comes to who and what a child will become when they grow up. In fact, the environment beyond parents - the extended family, school, friends, peers, teammates may have as much if not more to do with the outcome.
I hope you liked the reading. This isn’t school. There is no test. This is life. And enjoying is our goal.
All the best,
Adam
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