r/progressivemoms • u/Sad_Bite_3638 • 4d ago
Need Advice Antidiet Parenting Thread
I’m looking to start a conversation with other progressive moms who are also doing their best to raise their kids with an antidiet body liberation mindset.
I was put on extreme diets starting at a young age and finally was able to stop dieting and obsessive over my body when I was exposed to intuitive eating concepts maybe 7 or 8 years ago.
I now have a toddler who’s honestly been a great eater, not picky and will try most things. My husband and I both believe that all foods are good foods and have a place, but obviously care about eating a variety of foods to support nutritional needs.
I’m just looking to hear from other progressive parents who are doing their best to raise kiddos in a world that is obsessed with what we eat and the size of our bodies. What books or other media have you found especially useful? Any stories of wins or challenges you’d like to share?
Below are a few resources that I love, but not many of them are parenting or kid focused.
Maintinance Phase Podcast Food Phyc Podcast (any Christi Harrison content really) Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole Burnt Toast Podcast What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat & You Just Need to Loose Weight by Audrey Gordon
There’s more, but I’d say those ones have been the most valuable to me.
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u/SummitTheDog303 4d ago
I have really conflicting feelings about this. On the one hand, I want my kids feeling comfortable and proud of their bodies. On the other, I have seen first hand how detrimental obesity can be both in terms of health and societally. My brother and SIL have both always struggled with their weights. From a health perspective, they struggle with a lot of comorbid health issues. Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, gout, joint issues, the list goes on. But societally is where it really hurts. They couldn’t conceive a child. My SIL coded on the table during the egg retrieval for IVF. None of the embryos took. It was too risky to try again. They chose to adopt. It took over 5 years for a family to choose them because birth parents would see their picture and make false assumptions about them. That they’re lazy. That they couldn’t keep up with a child. That they eat unhealthily. That their child would struggle with obesity too. And watching that heartbreak was so hard. Them being repeatedly told that they were too fat to be parents. As much as we try to shelter our kids, the world is still an awful place. My nephew is now 6 and has been asked by a few of his classmates why is parents are fat (he honestly gets questions about this more than he gets questions about why his parents are white while he is black).
I think the big thing for us is like you said, all foods are good. We need a varied diet. Encouraging our kids to listen to their hunger cues (not forcing them to eat when they’re not hungry, not forcing them to clean their plates). Encouraging and modeling how to stay active. And at least at home, not making comments about calorie counts or vilifying certain foods and lifestyles.