On Dieting and Body Image

I wrote this post out of frustration with some things I had to deal with this morning. It is in no way my intention to offend anyone. I almost didn't post it, but then decided to just in case anyone has any thoughts.

This morning at school I found out that at least a couple of my girls are basically "dieting" to lose weight. First off, they don't need to lose weight. And second, how sad is it that fourth graders are even concerned about diets and weight loss? It breaks my heart that these girls are concerned about their body image at nine and ten years old. It's pathetic that as a culture we project the need to be "skinny" on our young girls.

It got me thinking about dieting in general, and how I've changed my overall way of thinking. When I was younger (high school and college younger . . . not nine or ten years old younger) I used to diet (even though I didn't need to). I would count calories or portions or only eat certain things. Now that I'm slightly older (and hopefully) wiser, I don't like diets of any sort. I think they send horrible messages to our kids. I just don't get them. Why can't we just eat healthier? Eating lean proteins (fish, chicken, and on occasion lean beef), lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, avoiding highly processed foods (lots of lunchmeat, frozen meals, prepackaged meals, and pre-prepared meals, etc.) and sodas, and drinking lots of water should lead to a healthy body. This is how I feed my family most days of the week. I want to teach my children to love good food. I don't want them to think of eating as a bunch of dos and don'ts. I want to them to make healthy choices because they love healthy food. I'm not bragging. I'm trying to make a point.

Do we ever have a treat? Yes. I also don't want to go overboard the other way and be a food nazi. Sometimes, I grab a Lean Cuisine for lunch because I just don't have time to prepare an elaborate healthy lunch, and as a family, we love ice cream. We also go out to eat once or twice per week, and while I try to order healthy "stuff" off the menu, sometimes I splurge. And Patrick . . . well I have no control over what he eats for lunch, and he's not as much of a fan of fruits and veggies as I am. But when we eat at home, and we do at least five nights a week, I try to make sure that I cook healthy well balanced meals.

I also think about exercise differently than I did even five years ago. I used to work out to lose weight. Now I work out to be healthy and strong. While toning up is an added benefit of working out (and one I won't complain about), I really don't care if I lose weight. I like the way it makes me feel. I like knowing that I'm setting a good example. I do it because it makes me feel better, mentally and physically.

I've been stewing over this since I spent fifteen minutes of this morning trying to explain to a very confused little girl that starving herself is not a good idea. I said all that to say this, we spend so much of our lives trying to teach our children to be confident in who they are and how God made them, but when we don't set a good example ourselves I think we fall short. I think that's why I am so against dieting. I think it sends the wrong message to our kids . . . especially our girls. It says, "I need to be skinny to be happy" rather than saying "I want to eat right and exercise so that I'm healthy".

I hope I didn't offend anyone . . . once again, it certainly wasn't my intention. You all know that I sometimes use this blog to sort out my thoughts and feeling. Which is exactly what I'm doing here. Had I not dealt with this issue this morning you probably wouldn't have been so fortunate as to read this discombobulated rambling post. I do, however, think that a unit on being truly healthy and taking care of your body may be coming up in Mrs. Davis's classroom very soon.

Thank you for listening. I am now stepping down off my soap box.