Habits

A habit is something we do repeatedly without conscious attention. Often times our habits are a reflection of what our parents instilled in us as a child. There are good habits and there are some bad habits. If it is causing harm to yourself or to someone else, it is bad. Sometimes we teach our children things we don’t realize are bad, because we were taught that way by our parents.

To give an example, lets take a walk down memory lane. I’m sure most of us at one time or all the time heard from our mother, “Don’t be wasteful, there are starving children in other parts of the world, so eat all the food on your plate!” Now we all know that eating or leaving those brussel sprouts on our plate was not going to change the fact that there were people starving on the other side of the world. Then there was the bribe technique, “If you eat everything on your plate, then you can have desert”. Stop and think about what these two examples are teaching children early in life. 1. You should never leave any food on your plate = continue eating even if your stomach feels full = overeating. 2. Overeating is then rewarded with more food. When we overeat, the food in our stomach does not get digested all at once. Therefore there is an accumulation of food in our stomach. Over time this accumulation will lead to disease and cancer later in life.

Instead of teaching our children bad habits that will lead to obesity and disease, put whatever food they don’t eat into a container and refrigerate it for when they do feel hungry again. Smaller meals eaten more often promotes healthy digestion. Teach them a good habit, go for a walk after dinner as a family. This not only will teach them a healthier way of life that they can pass down to their children, but spending quality time together will strengthen the family bond.