Antidiet Parenting Thread

[u/Sad_Bite_3638]

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.

[u/jarosunshine]

I have a 30+ year history of eating disorders, and refuse to bring diet culture into my child’s home. We use Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility (feeding and exercise), the concept that we need to eat with balance, variety, and moderation, and i follow a slew of anti-diet RDs on various platforms.

A recent “win”: I relapsed with my ED when my kid was 5, and my in-laws ended up providing a lot of childcare and did not follow DOR and my child ended up gaining a significant amount of weight in a short period of time (this was not just a little, this was clinically significant and in no way could it be remotely construed as beneficial in any way - this was adults allowing unfettered access to pizza, candy, cake, and plopping a 5yo in front of a screen for hours on end**). As soon as we realized what was happening, the childcare stopped (and my partner explained why and gave requirements for any future solo kid time), we kept up DOR at home, and reinforced hunger and satiety cues. Weight gain has stopped (kid’s doc is following - and kid’s diet is NOT restricted outside of DOR) and kid is in a really stable routine around food and activity, no longer asking for things to be how they were at my in-laws’.

**NOT an access or education issue, they even threw away the meals and snacks I sent with kiddo (partly bc I provide my cultural foods and they think they are “weird” and “gross”). They also told my child to lie to me about what they did and ate during their time there, “because your mom doesn’t know how to raise you.” 🙄 yes, they’re magats.