“The power siblings have over our eating habits is no small thing. yet we hardly ever talk about these familial influences.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat
“A treat cannot possibly have the same meaning in an era where white-flour cakes are everywhere and candy canes are sold by the dozen for less than the price of a loaf of bread.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat
“We are all descended from survivors, and survivors were the chubby ones.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat
“We urgently need to invent new models of generosity. We need to find a way for a small portion to feel as much like love as a large one.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat
“Feeding children too often can make them forget what their own hunger feels like. Large portions lead to overeating. And giving food to calm a distressed child teaches them that unhappiness is a reason to eat.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat
“Force-feeding is a crime of passion, driven by a parent’s desire to see a child eat; as with other crimes of passion, the perpetrator has lost sight of the loved one’s autonomy.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat
“Indulgence makes a child fat. Restriction makes a child fat and unhappy.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat
“The true objective is independence: for a child to reach the point where they can regulate their own intake of food and to choose the things that will do them good while giving them pleasure. Weaning them off milk is one thing. But the real task for a parent is to wean children off needing you.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat
“I bade good morrow,
And thought to leave her far away behind;
But cheerly, cheerly,
She loves me dearly;
She is so constant to me, and so kind.
- To Sorrow”
Source: The Complete Poems
“Next time you sit down to eat, imagine you are an ideal parent feeding a beloved child. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could offer yourself food in a warm, structured, no-fuss kind of way? You wouldn’t punish yourself with crash diets nor would you allow yourself too much junk. Your priority when choosing food would be to see yourself well nourished and you’d choose meals to keep your mood on an even keel. You’d want yourself to enjoy eating. The pantry would be stocked with good food and you would trust yourself to choose wisely from its contents.”
Source: First Bite: How We Learn to Eat