Thread: Meals times

Do you sit with the family while they eat their meals if you are on VLCD? My boys are 2.5 and we have always made an effort to all sit at the table at least twice a day for meals, so they get good habits. At the moment i can't bear to sit and watch them all eating. I wonder if they notice i am not there and think it odd, or would it be odder if i sat at the table, but didn't eat anything?

I try to sit down with my daughter and have my soup at the same time as her dinner....for the first few weeks though I didnt even want to be in the same room as her at mealtimes, even though thats horrible cos theres only the 2 of us and shes only 6!!! I enjoy sitting down for meal times with my daughter though, catching up on the day, but it is hard not to snatch something off her plate!!

Originally Posted by Splodge

Do you sit with the family while they eat their meals if you are on VLCD? My boys are 2.5 and we have always made an effort to all sit at the table at least twice a day for meals, so they get good habits. At the moment i can't bear to sit and watch them all eating. I wonder if they notice i am not there and think it odd, or would it be odder if i sat at the table, but didn't eat anything?

Hi Splodge

I do understand why you would be wondering about this and what to do for the best. My two youngest are 3 and 9 years old and I do think it's important that I sit down with them to eat as much as possible.

HOWEVER.....my other viewpoint is that if you are finding it difficult at the moment, then you don't need to create extra pressure on yourself by sitting there and struggling. No-one is going to think you are not being a good parent for just taking a break from the routine at the moment.

Children, especially young children, are very adaptable and resilient to changes in routine usually. I'm sure that you not sitting there for a while is not going to have any negative effect and when you find you can sit there, that's fine too.

What I'm trying to say whilst typing a novel length post is .....we as women and mothers, are not used to putting ourselves and our needs as a priority. When we do, we feel guilty sometimes. It goes with the territory.

You need to do what you need to do for you at the moment and being a bit selfish is really ok. I know loads of other members will agree with this as I've seen this viewpoint many times on here.

VLCD and losing weight is hard enough as it is and the challenges it throws up. I'm sure your children will be totally fine and more importantly.......the best thing they can have is a HAPPY mummy, regardless of how she gets there.

Lacey...xxx

its a tricky one isnt it?! i try to have a shake and water before their meal so im full up by the time theyre eating, that way im not so tempted to steal off their plates. if i am tempted my full stomach makes it much easier to talk myself out of it. i keep telling them ive had my meal when they ask me where mine is and that im full up. my girls are 1.5 and 2.5 and the food issues ive been thro most of my life are the absolutely LAST thing i want them to go thro so it will be so very worth it in the long run. take care and good luck xx

to be honest I would sit at the table, have my soup in a bowl with a spoon and I never felt like I was missing out on what they were eating. I think it makes you feel like you're having a proper meal when you do that, if you have it with plenty of water you'll be pretty full anyway.

I cant sit with them, its hard enough to smell the food cooking but I can`t sit there and watch them eat it too.
Though I did go through a faze of sniffing everything they ate.