How Much Do I Portion For My Toddler?

Toddlers, or "Little People” as I like to call them, have different needs than elementary aged children and infants. We know this of course! But what do their portions look like?

Trust That Your Toddler Knows How Much They Need.

Toddlers, just like infants, have extraordinary hunger and fullness cues. They are more in touch with their bodies and what they need than we do! For this reason, you can trust that your child will ask you when they are hungry and stop when they are full.

There may be medical reasons why this is difficult for your child. Therefore, if you do notice or are concerned that your child is undereating or overeating, consult with your pediatrician and look for a dietitian who can help you better know how to feed your young one. At Bamboo Nutrition, we have dietitians who can help you!

The main thing is that you are offering a variety. (Julia Henry, RD)

As our dietitian, Julia Henry puts it, the main thing is that you offer a variety of foods to your toddler and let them choose what to eat and explore. These are the years that they will expand their palate and curiosity around foods.

As parents, our job is to offer a variety of foods at regular intervals. It is encouraged to offer three meals and 3 snacks at the same (or close to) times every day. This will also help your child regulate their hunger and fullness.

Your child’s job is to choose how much to eat. Your job as a parent is to choose what, when and where. (Ellyn Satter)

Don’t Forget Safety!

Offering variety is great, but keep in mind that their foods will look different in order to be safe.

Some great ways to offer produce that is safe for kids to eat is to thinly slice them, puree them, or shred them. Small amounts are always safest to start with and if they like it and ask for more, then have the jar or plate ready to put more in front of them.

If you’re worried about how much you’re offering vs. how much your toddler is eating, know it is ok to start small. Always have something on the plate that they are familiar with. This way there is at least one thing that they will eat or fill up on.

Offer small portions of new things and if they want more, they will tell you. This way your toddler also will not be overwhelmed. Sometimes if you give them too much of something new, this will feel scary or intimidating and they will choose not to eat any of it.

Sometimes Your Toddler Might Not Eat… This is Okay!

If your toddler chooses not to eat, this is ok. It’s not abnormal for a toddler to choose that they don’t want something. If they sit and play with their food rather than eat it, this is also ok! In fact, its a great sign that your child plays with their food. This is a part of them being curious and learning about food and what they like.

If your child does not eat, encourage them to stay at the table for at least 3-5 minutes to be around the food before you let them down to play. If they don’t eat, then wait until the next meal or snack time before offering again. Giving water in between meals will be just fine!

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Need More Guidance?

If you feel more guidance or one-on-one sessions with a dietitian will be helpful for you to feel confident in the way you are feeding your toddler, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our dietitians at Bamboo Nutrition!

What is "Joyful Movement?"

Joyful Movement is a new (ish) term that came to light for many through the Intuitive Eating movement.

In the book, Intuitive Eating, Joyful Movement is the 9th principle out of 10 principles total. To learn more about these principles, visit our page discussing each of these principles!

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Joyful movement comes down to connecting and listening to your body and what it needs that day.

It is less about what we think we ‘should’ do and more about what we need or what our body finds enjoyable and comfortable. This may vary day-to-day or week-to-week. It may depend on the weather, your mood, the stage you are at in your menstrual cycle, your stress load at work, etc.

Finding the “Internal Cues”

Listening to your body and what it needs comes with time and practice. Intuitive Eating is about listening to and honoring your body’s internal cues. A cue could look like a headache, soreness, a hollow feeling in your stomach, the need for a good stretch, etc.

There are many health benefits of intuitive movement! Unfortunately our society (cough cough, diet culture) places a lot of focus on the external motivators for activity. i.e. calories, weight, appearance, etc.

What may make the biggest difference between a short-lived behavior and a long-lasting behavior is your motivation. Long-lasting behaviors often follow internal motivation.

Internal motivation simply means moving your body for reasons that make you happy, you feel good about, and prefer to do. When you move your body for internal reasons, you may find forms of movement that feel awesome that you never would have thought were helpful or enjoyable.

Do a Quick Body Scan.

When you wake up, do a quick “body scan” where you ask yourself “how do I feel?” or “what would feel good to do today?”

It is okay to rest.

Having 1-2 rest days per week are actually really beneficial! Our body needs rest, in fact, for individuals really wanting to get stronger, rest is one of the best things you can do for your body! A small example of this is taking 1-2min rest in between sets of weights. This time allows your body to rebuild and allows you to take a pause and listen to what your body needs- was that set too heavy, do I need to stop, do I need to begin my cool down? Other ways to rest are after being outside for a long period of time. Does your body need water? Does it need fuel? Do you need to do some self-care such as taking a shower or laying down?

Without rest, our bodies do not get stronger and we do not often listen to what our body needs.

Ask Yourself “Why?”

Ask yourself “why am I doing movement?” Is it to burn calories or for an external reason or is it because I enjoy it or it is to relieve stress.

Let the Clothes Fit You!

We may not often think about this, but clothing has a BIG impact on your movement and your ability to enjoy what you are doing or not. It is important to be wearing the right kind of fabrics for the activity you’re doing so you are comfortable and can do those movements without distraction. In addition, the way clothing touches your body may be the difference between enjoying what you are doing or maybe even avoiding movement all together. While you do activity, you do not want to be feeling pinched or like you are always having to pull your pants up.

Rather than trying to ‘fit into clothes,’ let your clothing fit you!

Find a brand that you can get behind. 

There are many awesome clothing brands out there that make size-inclusive clothing. Some we love are:

• Athleta

• SheFit

• Just My Size

• Primadonna

• Dia & Co

• Fabletics

• Superfit Hero

• Good American

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As you can see, there is more that goes into joyful movement than we think and there are so many things we can do and change up to help us move for internal reasons rather than external pressures. Let us know how you feel once you move for internal joy!

Our dietitians often talk about intuitive movement in sessions because it does directly impact our nutrition, food needs and body confidence. If you’re looking to talk to a dietitian about any and all things related to nutrition and movement, let us know!

Diet Culture Dropout

What is a “diet culture dropout?”

Coming from the world of nutrition and dietetics, a world I have spent over the last decade of my life learning about in the classroom, from the most intelligent professors to people in their regular lives, I have come to realize that everyone is vulnerable to the messages of diet culture. It Is frustrating looking back because I think of the thousands of dollars spent to earn my degree and I see the bias that was lectured to me. The bias about weight, the bias about “good foods” and “bad foods”, the bias about diets and energy balance, etc.

What is interesting is that in all the work I have done with my clients over the years, my most successful clients are the ones who are Diet Culture Dropouts.

Sure, it sounds cheesy, like a club of some sorts. What isn’t cheesy is that these individuals who have abandoned diet culture have higher self-esteem, a better relationship with food, more self-compassion and body appreciation and the cherry on top… they are no longer spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on phony marketing and diets.

These Diet Culture Dropouts are playing the long game.

You may be asking, “If they’re playing the long game, what game am I playing?”

The reason I say they are playing the long game is because diets are designed for you to play the short game. A quick fix, a short-term solution to get where you want. To make your body look how you want it.

In the long game, the strategy is to learn to accept your body now and grow to love it. It is to learn how to repair your relationship with food now and reject the diets and low-calorie sweeteners, and Just. Eat. Food! In the long game, you are less concerned with food, more excited about doing things with others and avoid the yo-yo diet and weight madness.

How do you become a Diet Culture Dropout (DCD)?

Well for starters, most DCD’s are so dang tired and frustrated from diets already that there’s not much convincing they need that a change is necessary! These individuals come to Bamboo Nutrition open and ready to play the long game.

In working with a dietitian at Bamboo Nutrition, we help you build skills, think long term game strategy, work through the most pressing and vulnerable hurdles. We think of ourselves as “food therapists” sometimes. We talk so much about food and the role it plays in your life from your mental health, fitness, relationships, upbringing, and more.

Seeing a dietitian is not a 100% necessary thing to do to be a DCD, but it can be a great tool to work through the turmoil the diet culture has left for you over the years. If you feel that you may be ready to see a dietitian and begin the Diet Culture Dropout journey, call us today! We cannot wait to get started with you!

Yours truly,

Isabelle Bouchard