Why Our Family Said Goodbye To Mindless Snacking

Why Our Family Said Goodbye To Mindless Snacking

Several years ago my pantry looked very much like the standard American pantry. I started making real food changes after the birth of my first-born son, but I still gave into the notion that little kids needed to snack all day long. For that reason I had a variety of snacks that my 16 month old, at the time, would always be asking me for. I had a little snack cup that he would carry around and oh how he loved his snacks. I tried to pick what I thought were ‘healthy’ snacks like fruit, dried fruit, cheese cubes, crackers, etc. But then I started to notice something.

My child was no longer hungry at meals.

He would pick at his food, taste it, play with it, and then be done. At first I thought he was just becoming a picky eater. I tried to tell myself that little kids don’t eat a lot at meals anyways. But when I really analyzed the situation I realized two things:

1. The constant snacking was interfering with his meals.
2. I had an emotional connection to giving him snacks. It made him happy which made me happy. It was almost like my love language to him – in the form of food.

I think reason number 2 was hampering my ability to do anything about reason number 1. I feared that if I stopped giving him his snacks, he would think I didn’t love him. I prayed about it, talked to my husband about it, and realized that this was not healthy (on my part). I decided to do a ‘no snack’ experiment. And by no snacks I mean no mindless snacking. I still gave him one snack between lunch and dinner, but I gave it to him very purposefully. He got it when he woke up from his afternoon nap and had to eat it at the table.

The Experiment – No Mindless Snacking for One Week

I’m not going to lie. The first couple of days were rough. Whenever my son brought up wanting a snack I pulled out a fun activity to distract him. It was exhausting. However, by day two he was eating full meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner again. I couldn’t believe how quickly that changed. By the end of the week he no longer asked for snacks. He got three hearty meals and his snack after nap time. No more roaming around the house with his snack cup mindlessly filling his mouth. And he still loved me!

That was nearly two years ago and we are still a no mindless snacking family. My kids are now 3 years old and 20 months old and both are hearty eaters. Even my husband and I have found that by cutting out the snack foods we are finding other ways to fill that emotional food void that snacking used to fulfill. That little experiment taught me several things:

• Contrary to popular belief, our kids don’t NEED to snack constantly throughout the day. Snacks are a WANT, not a need.
• Teaching kids to fill up at meals trains their bodies when to desire food. It’s just like us as adults. If we constantly snack on carbs and sugar throughout the day, then we will start craving carbs and sugars throughout the day and probably won’t eat as much at meals. If we fill up on real, whole nourishing foods at meal times and refrain from mindless snacking throughout the day, then we will not crave those carbs and sugars throughout the day.
• Sometimes kids go through growth spurts or become genuinely hungry between meals. (I do too lol!) In these instances of course I feed my children. However, I feed them something substantial and make them sit at the table to eat it.
• We have to be careful as adults of OUR emotional connection to feeding our children food. I know I’m not the only one who gets tied up in the joy that my children express when I present them with something like a cookie or a piece of candy. It THRILLS me to see that huge smile on their face. And that’s OK. It becomes not OK, when I’m feeding my kids treats to make ME feel good for making them feel good. Does that make sense?

I think what it really comes down to is moderation. Snacks and treats are OK in moderation. Please don’t think I’m the mean ol’ lady who never lets her kids enjoy food. Far from it. We love and enjoy food. If anything, that little experiment has finally helped us to develop a healthier relationship with food.

How do you handle the snacking situation in your house? Do you ever feel an emotional connection to feeding your children?

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Original article and pictures take simplelifeabundantlife.com site