After healing my own food  addiction, I’m always happy and amazed when I open my freezer and see something like this:

It’s a milkshake with a mere few bites left in the bottom, stored in the freezer.

Why does this make me happy?

• Is it some sort of trick, or sign?

• Am I taunting myself with “forbidden” foods?

• Is someone else tempting me or sabotaging my weight loss success?

• Am I breaking all the “diet rules” by having this in my freezer???

No!

Not only do I have absolutely NO forbidden foods on a mysterious list – which is addictive behavior! – I am responsible for my own actions and no one can SABOTAGE me. My food addiction is healed, a thing of the past.

This is my son’s milkshake.

I might eat ice cream occasionally, if I want it, but milkshakes aren’t my thing.

I’m thrilled when I see this in the freezer because it’s a great big sign of HEALTHY.

First of all, my son is 24 years old, 6’1″ tall and weighs about 160 lbs. From what I can tell, he occasionally has one of these “mixer” shakes with his baseball team, after a game.

He left this in the freezer to finish another time, and he did this freely, of  his own accord. He eats when and what he wants and he STOPS when cued by his body.

ALL children of any age do this naturally, if they are not taught to “clean their plates” or “eat everything” or “be grateful you  are not starving like other children in less fortunate places in the world.”

He’s ALWAYS done this… stop when he’s had enough. It’s his natural behavior with food. He has NEVER had a weight problem.

When he was young, and I was losing weight (those 100 pounds I lost, which never returned), I was eating everything on my plate. I was trying to “control” portions by measuring how much I put on the plate, and failing constantly because I felt so LIMITED, even when I put the food there. I noticed he stopped eating, without warning, at a different point every meal. Sometimes, he left a lot on his plate, sometimes very little.

I got curious. I started asking questions.

He TAUGHT ME what normal eating was. He taught me to search for, and identify my own satiation cues, which I’d lost during years of destructive dieting. I learned to respect his decisions first, then my own.

This plastic cup with the little bit of ice cream is a bigger sign too… during weight loss and the healing of my food addiction, I was happy to be free of compulsivity around food, but I really REALLY didn’t want my son to be addicted. I learned addictive behavior at the hands of two addicted parents and I made the decision to STOP the mindless passing along of a hereditary mindset based on deficiency.

When I see this sight in the freezer… I see that he’s still honoring his body and its cues. He’s listening and being attentive. He NOT addicted.

I am so happy for him!

I also have to think twice when potential client tells me they make the food they prepare “for their kids” and sacrifice time and attention to themselves “for their kids.”

Maybe the best thing we can do for our children is to STOP our own madness around food, dieting and deprivation… and learn true healthy habits together.