I’ve always thought that that was kind of funny and true, seeing as the papers and magazines teem with dieting advice just before the major holidays. I’m not sure if this saying is compatible with FA, though. Or maybe it is? Plainly, it’s just stating that nutrition-wise it’s the long run that counts, not the exceptions. I doesn’t actually pass judgment on being fat. (I don’t. Not on being thin, either. Or in between. Or tall, or short. Or whatever.)

Oh, rutabaga! An important source of vitamin C where I come from (Scandinavia). Often referred to – here, that is – as “the orange of the North”.

Mixed root vegetable mash can be a complement to, or a substitute for, staples like plain potatoes/pasta/rice. Due to its sweetish taste it goes very well with smoked and/or salty meats, for instance different kinds of sausages. Did I mention bacon?

A standard recipe would be something like this:

1 part carrots
1 part rutabaga
1 part potatoes, if you have almond potatoes then all the better

All peeled and sliced into large chunks, boiled tender in UN-salted water (important! the mash will tend to go all glue-ish if you add salt before you mash it. It’s a reaction with the starches in the potatoes, as far as I know.)

Drain off the water, but save about a cup of it for later on. Mash the boiled vegs by hand using a potato masher. When the mash has gotten a chunky texture, add butter and salt to your taste. Then add some of the boiling water if you think that the mash is too thick (will vary with factors like which kind of potato you have available).

Varieties: Adding smaller parts of celeriac, sweet potato and/or parsnip. Seasoning with fresh parsley or nutmeg. Thinning the mash with milk or cream instead of water.

The only “mandatory” ingredient in this mash is the potatoes, since they are really good for creating that mashy structure.

That was rambly but it’s all striking me as very funny.

As it applies to children, it means that parents choose when and where (and mostly what) to serve for meals, and then children sit down and choose how much and whether to eat.

I look at it the same way when it comes to the mind/body split-state that people are living in when recovering from dieting: you choose the structured times and what to offer yourself, foodwise, but then your body (taking the role of the child) gets to choose how much/whether to eat at those times.

The whole thing is based on a mix of discipline (to get the food on the table in a structured, reliable manner) and permission (to eat or not to eat, and to eat what you like.)

The most common way this happens? When you don’t have regular meals and snacks at regular, set times.

As I said in another comment somewhere on this page, learning to eat well, and learning to trust yourself, requires proving to your body that you are trustworthy.

You do this by feeding it. Regularly. Not “when I’m hungry,” and not “When I have time.” But at regular periods of time, even (at first) in the absence of hunger.

I have a post about this coming up soon, because this seems to be a big question on everyone’s mind, and it’s important to go through it in detail. But for now, the short version is: eat meals and snacks in a structured, orderly, and routine fashion.

the question i then have is, if the threat of restriction isn’t real (if it, for instance, is a learned threat from years of imposed dieting and restriction as a kid, which is what i believe is at work for me) what do you do to shake it? like, my subconscious is really, really convinced that starvation threat is right around the corner at any time, and it doesn’t seem like there’s anything i can do to rewire my brain when it comes to that.

One of the nicest things about spending the holidays at home with just me, my husband, and our son is that we can eat whatever and however we want. My family doesn’t do the guilt about overeating, but they can be big pressurers to eat more than you want or stuff you don’t want. I have very little appetite lately (baby must be encroaching on some of my stomach space), and I feel better when the food I can eat has less sugar and more protein. So, we’re forgoing making Christmas cookies this year, or a pie, because we can, and DH and DS would rather have ice cream, anyway. I know I’d have to deal with all sorts of “Oh, come on, just have a little!” and “Are you on a diet?” comments that would drive me insane if we were visiting family. It’s really nice to just be able to skip all of that, and just have cheese and crackers and grapes all day on Christmas if we want, and have a cookie or not have a cookie as we feel like.