Why Your Language Matters
Mama, your language in the home matters.
The relationship between food and body image permeates every corner of your home and every aspect of your mother-daughter bond. And if that relationship is not a positive one, it can become toxic.
If you talk about dieting, foods you cannot eat, foods you are afraid of or even just how “you need to take the bag away from me or else I will eat it all”… you are exposing your daughter to diet culture.
I know you NEVER mean to do so! Most of the time, we don’t even know it’s happening. But the point of this blog post is to help you identify diet talk in the home.
Diet talk comes in so many different ways. For example, it can arise from statements like:
“You can’t have a second serving of pasta, but you can choose the vegetables.”
“Slow down! Are you sure you want another bite?”
“We don’t eat sugar in this house.”
“How much have you eaten? I think you should stop now.”
“Mommy can’t eat this because her body is different, but you can have 1 serving”
“My daughter doesn’t eat those kind of foods”
Though these statements may seem harmless, each one of them have some diet reference.
The truth behind these statements, is that they actually shed light on your relationship with food rather than your daughters. Each statement signifies your own food rule, food fear or diet rule.
For example, if you make a comment like, “We can’t have a second serving of pasta, but you can choose the vegetables” then this may signify that you have a negative relationship with carbohydrates (pasta).
So, what is the best way to identify diet talk in the home? Before you go to make a comment about your daughter’s food intake or choices, stop and ask yourself what is really going on in your head? Is it that you fear the food she is eating, have an overwhelming concern that she will be unhealthy or that she will be stuck in a larger size body?
I challenge you to think about your own thoughts and how you really feel about the food or behavior you want to comment on.
