BONUS EPISODE! How I Broke Out Of Eating Kid Friendly Food and Got My Son To Eat More Of What I Wanted
Let's have a show of hands...How many of you moms serve your kids frozen kid friendly food regularly? How many of you end up eating that food too because it's easy and you're already making it for the kids?
I once did that too.
Don't get me wrong, there's definitely a place for chicken tenders and pizza bagels, but when my oldest son was young, I relied on these foods
Way. Too. Much.
I knew it wasn't good for his health. I knew it wasn't healthy for any of us. Of course I wanted him to eat healthier foods and have a wider pallet. And I certainly wasn't practicing what I preach as a Registered Dietitian.
I have been slow to share my story but in this bonus episode I share how I got sucked into unhealthy eating habits and how I eventually, slowly broke out of those patterns.
Now I only serve one simple meal for the entire family-no short order cooking. Everyone eats what I serve. Plus I'm serving healthy foods that I want to eat and I want my family to eat. You can experience this success too!
Transcript of this Episode
Andrea Heyman 00:00 Hi friends, in this bonus episode, I want to go through and tell you how I got my kids, particularly my oldest child to eat the healthy foods that I wanted him to eat, and that I wanted to eat, so that our entire house can be more healthy. So I've been really slow to tell you guys my story. But I think that you can relate to what I've experienced. So I want to dive into that and tell you a little bit about that. So when my oldest child was born, prior to his birth, I was doing some consulting work. But I really wasn't working full time. And after when he was born, it was pretty clear that I wasn't going to go back to work right away. So my sole responsibility, or my primary responsibility, was taking care of that baby. And I really dove into that pretties pretty significantly. He was always a on the smaller side. So I don't I don't want to say he's, you know, really, really small. But he's, he's typically like, a pretty slight kind of child. Back then, since it was my only real, my primary focus and responsibility was to take care of this child, I got caught up in the comparison mode, I was compared comparing my own child to other kids. And I have to say, I live where I live, the community I live in, is pretty competitive. So you know, people are trying to one up each other. Not saying everybody, but there are aspects like that. So I was around people who were comparing my child to their child and making comments like, my child's bigger than yours. And it was almost it really was like a competition. And I have to say, in retrospect, it took me a couple of years to put things in perspective. And really, if you saw me or knew me in person, and you saw my husband, you would look at us and say, Yep, they're never going to have huge children. We're both pretty small, pretty small builds, and also not particularly tall. So that being said, the genetic makeup of our kids is not expected to be super giant kind of kids. Nonetheless, I got caught up when my oldest child was a baby. In comparing, and I got so worried that he wasn't growing big enough. Let me tell you a couple things I used to do. When he was really little I used to when he would take an afternoon nap, he would get up. And then he would watch like a half an hour TV show. While he was watching that show, I would make him oatmeal. And I literally would spoon feed it to him while he was sitting there on the couch. Because I thought oh, if he ate a little more than he'll grow more. And yeah, so that's pretty ridiculous that I did that. The other thing I started doing was that I started really just serving him many more kid friendly kind of foods. So frozen foods, you know, those mini hot dog things that are like, like those little hors d'oeuvres that are wrapped in kind of like a hot dog in a blanket kind of thing. And mini pizza, bagels, things like that, that were much more quote unquote kid friendly. Now there's nothing wrong with those kinds of foods every once in a while. But I was giving the hit that to him very regularly. I want to say probably one of those items like once a day, because I knew he would eat it. They were calorie dense. And again, I was wrapped up in comparisons, and I was worried about him growing. So you guys know that I am a dietitian. So this kind of went against pretty much everything that I had been taught in school and everything that I was saying outside of my own home, so I was not practicing what I was preaching at all when it came to feeding my own child. So I really the other negative thing was that I really got into the habit since I was feeding him. These convenience foods, that is what I started eating, and that is what we started eating more of. And those were not the foods that made me feel good. That, you know, gave me Energy for All the things I had to do as a mom. So it just wasn't a good situation. Does this sound familiar to you guys? I bet it does. So what did I do? Well, and what I did is not super rocket science, I am 100% positive, that if this is you, and these are some of the habits that you've gotten into, that you can break out of it just as I did, you can take a stepwise approach, just as I did. And if you need help doing this, I am happy to help you. Otherwise, you can use the tips that I outlined here, if that's enough for you, or you can listen to some of my other podcasts where I talk about feeding kids and feeding kids healthy foods. Alright, so first of all, I I started serving my oldest son, the foods that I wanted him to eat. Now, this did not happen overnight, it really was a pretty gradual progression. Because since he wasn't eating a wide wide array of foods, I had to kind of start with the foods that I knew he would eat. So and that's not to say that at every meal, I was still just giving him all the foods that I knew he would eat, that wouldn't work, because then we would never branch out and expand in and grow the palate. So what I started doing is planning meals sort of around him, because that's what I was already doing. But now I included, I would have an entree. But if I had side dishes, I knew that he would eat at least one of the side dishes. So I might make, let's say, a tofu dish with vegetables. But then there was rice with it. I knew he would eat the rice. And I initially started by keeping the rice separate the tofu separate, and then the vegetables separate. Then I began to kind of expand once I knew, let's say he would it except carrots and broccoli, then I knew I had those vegetables in my repertoire. So I would serve those a couple times a week each. But then I would add a new vegetable in. So now now since he had a couple of vegetables that he would serve, then on the days that I was serving those vegetables, then one of the other foods at the dinner meal would be an item maybe that was new that I was trying to introduce or reintroduce. And then I slowly built up like that. Now it sounds like a lot of work. And I would say initially, it's a takes a little bit of planning for sure. But it is it was successful, and got him to branch out and eat more foods except more foods and foods that I wanted him to eat. Because let's be real, I didn't really want him eating many hot dogs a couple, two or three times a week. That wasn't what I had envisioned for my child because really, I when we feed our kids at a young age, we're really setting them up for the future. If they go into their grade school years and their teen years, having good healthy, balanced eating habits, and actually understanding what it means to eat a healthy meal that it means. Yep, you've got fruits in your diet, you got vegetables in your diet, lean proteins, whole green food items, all of those balanced foods. That we are setting our kids up for success and really that's what every parent wants when It comes to eating habits, but also when it comes to other things as well, like we can generalize that. So like I said, it was a slow progression, but it can be done. And like I said, I'm completely 100% positive, that you can do this too. So if you find yourself in the trap of making quote unquote, kids meals, and maybe even making yourself a separate meal, or falling into the habit of just eating those kids meals, and you want to break out of it, because you want to eat healthier, you want to lose a little bit weight of weight. You want your kids to eat healthy, you want to role model, good, healthy eating habits, all of those things that we want for ourselves, our families, our kids, you can do it. I'm always here to help you. Please send me a message on my Instagram account adventures and feeding my fam. Or you can find me on Facebook Andrea Heyman. Either place, send me a message, and we can chat and you can tell me how I can help you more. Thank you. I'm so glad you guys were here. And you'll keep listening for other episodes.
Transcript of this Episode
Andrea Heyman 00:00 Hi friends, in this bonus episode, I want to go through and tell you how I got my kids, particularly my oldest child to eat the healthy foods that I wanted him to eat, and that I wanted to eat, so that our entire house can be more healthy. So I've been really slow to tell you guys my story. But I think that you can relate to what I've experienced. So I want to dive into that and tell you a little bit about that. So when my oldest child was born, prior to his birth, I was doing some consulting work. But I really wasn't working full time. And after when he was born, it was pretty clear that I wasn't going to go back to work right away. So my sole responsibility, or my primary responsibility, was taking care of that baby. And I really dove into that pretties pretty significantly. He was always a on the smaller side. So I don't I don't want to say he's, you know, really, really small. But he's, he's typically like, a pretty slight kind of child. Back then, since it was my only real, my primary focus and responsibility was to take care of this child, I got caught up in the comparison mode, I was compared comparing my own child to other kids. And I have to say, I live where I live, the community I live in, is pretty competitive. So you know, people are trying to one up each other. Not saying everybody, but there are aspects like that. So I was around people who were comparing my child to their child and making comments like, my child's bigger than yours. And it was almost it really was like a competition. And I have to say, in retrospect, it took me a couple of years to put things in perspective. And really, if you saw me or knew me in person, and you saw my husband, you would look at us and say, Yep, they're never going to have huge children. We're both pretty small, pretty small builds, and also not particularly tall. So that being said, the genetic makeup of our kids is not expected to be super giant kind of kids. Nonetheless, I got caught up when my oldest child was a baby. In comparing, and I got so worried that he wasn't growing big enough. Let me tell you a couple things I used to do. When he was really little I used to when he would take an afternoon nap, he would get up. And then he would watch like a half an hour TV show. While he was watching that show, I would make him oatmeal. And I literally would spoon feed it to him while he was sitting there on the couch. Because I thought oh, if he ate a little more than he'll grow more. And yeah, so that's pretty ridiculous that I did that. The other thing I started doing was that I started really just serving him many more kid friendly kind of foods. So frozen foods, you know, those mini hot dog things that are like, like those little hors d'oeuvres that are wrapped in kind of like a hot dog in a blanket kind of thing. And mini pizza, bagels, things like that, that were much more quote unquote kid friendly. Now there's nothing wrong with those kinds of foods every once in a while. But I was giving the hit that to him very regularly. I want to say probably one of those items like once a day, because I knew he would eat it. They were calorie dense. And again, I was wrapped up in comparisons, and I was worried about him growing. So you guys know that I am a dietitian. So this kind of went against pretty much everything that I had been taught in school and everything that I was saying outside of my own home, so I was not practicing what I was preaching at all when it came to feeding my own child. So I really the other negative thing was that I really got into the habit since I was feeding him. These convenience foods, that is what I started eating, and that is what we started eating more of. And those were not the foods that made me feel good. That, you know, gave me Energy for All the things I had to do as a mom. So it just wasn't a good situation. Does this sound familiar to you guys? I bet it does. So what did I do? Well, and what I did is not super rocket science, I am 100% positive, that if this is you, and these are some of the habits that you've gotten into, that you can break out of it just as I did, you can take a stepwise approach, just as I did. And if you need help doing this, I am happy to help you. Otherwise, you can use the tips that I outlined here, if that's enough for you, or you can listen to some of my other podcasts where I talk about feeding kids and feeding kids healthy foods. Alright, so first of all, I I started serving my oldest son, the foods that I wanted him to eat. Now, this did not happen overnight, it really was a pretty gradual progression. Because since he wasn't eating a wide wide array of foods, I had to kind of start with the foods that I knew he would eat. So and that's not to say that at every meal, I was still just giving him all the foods that I knew he would eat, that wouldn't work, because then we would never branch out and expand in and grow the palate. So what I started doing is planning meals sort of around him, because that's what I was already doing. But now I included, I would have an entree. But if I had side dishes, I knew that he would eat at least one of the side dishes. So I might make, let's say, a tofu dish with vegetables. But then there was rice with it. I knew he would eat the rice. And I initially started by keeping the rice separate the tofu separate, and then the vegetables separate. Then I began to kind of expand once I knew, let's say he would it except carrots and broccoli, then I knew I had those vegetables in my repertoire. So I would serve those a couple times a week each. But then I would add a new vegetable in. So now now since he had a couple of vegetables that he would serve, then on the days that I was serving those vegetables, then one of the other foods at the dinner meal would be an item maybe that was new that I was trying to introduce or reintroduce. And then I slowly built up like that. Now it sounds like a lot of work. And I would say initially, it's a takes a little bit of planning for sure. But it is it was successful, and got him to branch out and eat more foods except more foods and foods that I wanted him to eat. Because let's be real, I didn't really want him eating many hot dogs a couple, two or three times a week. That wasn't what I had envisioned for my child because really, I when we feed our kids at a young age, we're really setting them up for the future. If they go into their grade school years and their teen years, having good healthy, balanced eating habits, and actually understanding what it means to eat a healthy meal that it means. Yep, you've got fruits in your diet, you got vegetables in your diet, lean proteins, whole green food items, all of those balanced foods. That we are setting our kids up for success and really that's what every parent wants when It comes to eating habits, but also when it comes to other things as well, like we can generalize that. So like I said, it was a slow progression, but it can be done. And like I said, I'm completely 100% positive, that you can do this too. So if you find yourself in the trap of making quote unquote, kids meals, and maybe even making yourself a separate meal, or falling into the habit of just eating those kids meals, and you want to break out of it, because you want to eat healthier, you want to lose a little bit weight of weight. You want your kids to eat healthy, you want to role model, good, healthy eating habits, all of those things that we want for ourselves, our families, our kids, you can do it. I'm always here to help you. Please send me a message on my Instagram account adventures and feeding my fam. Or you can find me on Facebook Andrea Heyman. Either place, send me a message, and we can chat and you can tell me how I can help you more. Thank you. I'm so glad you guys were here. And you'll keep listening for other episodes.