Some of my more personal parenting and reflection-based posts live in the paid space. If these sort of topics resonate and you’d like to keep reading, I’d love to have you there!
This week’s free subscriber recipe:
Zucchini Pizza Bites: A fun, veggie-forward twist on pizza, perfect for game day snacking (hello, Super Bowl 👀) or an easy appetizer incorporating plants!
Ahh, the 3 a.m. wake-up… followed by the brain spin. I had one (or a few) of those this week, and one of the spirals centered on something that’s been feeling increasingly challenging lately: feeding my youngest kiddo.
If this kid could live on slushies and soda as his primary fuel source, he absolutely would. He’s always been a “liquid kid.” Loves milk. Loves sports drinks. Would happily sip his calories all day if given the chance. (except water, that is…he’s not a fan).
But lately, it feels like more and more of our meals, and all the snacks in between, have become a tug-of-war. And even with my training, and the work I do with myself and my clients, I still want to support raising an intuitive eater with a healthy, shame-free relationship with food.
On the other hand, I also hold a belief (and yes, worries) that a diet heavy in sweets and drinks doesn’t really support his overall health, especially with his ADHD diagnosis, where my mind quickly jumps to regulation, focus, and energy.
Cue the spiral!
At 3 a.m. I thought: Okay. This “managing him and his foods is starting to feel overwhelming. It’s time to get some support. Now go back to sleep. ;)
I actually think it’s a really good sign when health professionals recognize that knowledge doesn’t make us immune to needing support; especially when it comes to our own kids. Parenting has a way of humbling even the well-trained among us.
So I reached out to Zoë Bisbing, author of Body-Positive Home on Substack. Zoë is a body image therapist with specific training in eating disorders and relationships with food. I’ve followed her work for a long time… and like many of us, I hovered over the “paid subscription” button for awhile before finally clicking it.
My first paid perk was a 45-minute workshop called “Shame-Free Food Limits.” I felt both comforted and challenged. Comforted because some of what she recommended, I was already doing.
Challenged because there were places I could feel my own rigidity, fear, and habits sneaking in, not only with my youngest, but all my boys. Below are the takeaways that stayed with me most.
