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no such thing as moderation

no such thing as moderation

I’m guest posting over at Wellness Mama about why it’s so difficult for me to embrace moderation in one area of my life. From the post:

This year, I made a strategic error during the holiday season.

For this special time of year, I decided to let my kids indulge moderately in some sweet treats. They found chocolate in their stockings. They ate cookies at Grandma’s. We even made healthy homemade chocolate and marshmallows!

But to my 5-year-old, there’s no such thing as moderation. She cannot enjoy just “a little” of a sweet treat. The first taste fuels the desire for a second or third or fourth, till the carton is empty, the bar is demolished, the carton is poured out, yet she’s whining and begging for more. Her body is screaming for more sugar. When it comes to sweets, her body doesn’t seem to have an “off” switch.

Unfortunately, her body shows a remarkably low tolerance for sugar. I’ll spare you the details, but symptoms of misery follow closely behind what does in fact seem like a “reasonable” portion of a sugary treat. Moderation doesn’t work for her…..

Head over to Wellness Mama to read the rest!

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14 comments

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  1. Tim says:

    Read it, loved it, left a comment there.

    One thing on this line: “to my 5-year-old, there’s no such thing as moderation.” Is there such a thing as moderation for any 5-year-old?

    😉
    Tim

  2. Okay, I went over to Wellness Mama to read the rest of your post, and then, I clicked over to Gretchen Rubin’s “Abstainer/Moderator” post, and BOOM! I’m an abstainer. It’s so sad to realize this, yet I’m so relieved knowing this as well. I just can’t handle sugar. Done. Now the living it out part, we’ll see. I have a feeling it will be easier to just give it up than trying moderation all these years. After all, that’s how I gave up soda completely. Thanks for this post today, Anne.

  3. Suzette says:

    You are totally talking about me and my daughter. Totally. The only exception we have found: dark chocolate. Geez that’s so awesome Anne. Pray that my husband and I have the courage to take that step, please!

    Love the diversity here!

    • Anne says:

      It’s funny, I don’t miss it until I have a little bit–then I start to miss it! That’s what makes me an abstainer and not a moderator. Sigh.

  4. Ellen says:

    Hey! I clicked over to your post on Wellness Mama, and it sounded familiar. See, I was the kid whose mama avoided sugar and junk food like the plague. We rarely had dessert, and it was usually healthy. I thought that chocolate chip cookies were supposed to be rocks full of oatmeal for many years. I don’t ever remember her buying potato chips. Ever.

    The problem with this approach for me was that I learned very little about moderation in eating junk food and sweets when I was a child. So when I got old enough to drive to the convenience store, I did. And I bought all kinds of junk. I’d felt deprived of what the other kids were eating, and I wanted to taste it for myself. In college, I ate junk until I finally got sick of it.

    My husband, on the other hand, had a little dessert every night from the time he was a child. We’re talking 2 M&M’s or a tablespoon of ice cream. He was far more well adjusted about healthy eating than I was when we met.

    We’ve adopted his parents’ approach now that we have a family. I largely follow the model for healthy eating that my mom taught me when planning our meals…. but the occasional bag of potato chips makes an appearance with dinner. And our boys get a little dessert at night if they finish their dinner.

    Just a thought for you….

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