3 Ways to Help Your Kids Have a Healthier Body Image This School Year

If you’ve ever cringed at something your kid came home saying about food or their body after a day at school… friend, I get it.

I’ll never forget the day my son—fresh out of kindergarten—waltzed through the door clutching a worksheet from his “healthy eating lesson.” He proudly showed me where he had circled the “healthy” foods and X’d out the “unhealthy” ones, just like the teacher told him to.

Cue the deep sigh, the slow sink into my chair, and the eye roll (yes, all three happened in quick succession 😅). As a food freedom dietitian and mama who works hard to teach my kids that all foods are morally neutral, this worksheet felt like a flashing neon sign for one of those “We need to talk” moments.

Because here’s the deal—those kinds of messages? They don’t just stay on the worksheet. They sink deep into our kids’ little hearts and minds, shaping how they see food… and eventually, how they see themselves.

And...

Friend, your lack of motivation isn't the problem—and you're NOT failing.

Okay, Confession Time…

Last summer? I had THE plan.
You know the one. The gloriously idealistic, Pinterest-worthy, color-coded summer schedule for my kids with:

• Daily reading time
  
  
• Educational games
  
  
• Plenty of outdoor adventures
  
  
• And—miraculously—blocks of quiet time for me to work while they entertained themselves like the sweet little angels I imagined they’d be 🙃
  
  

And for like… two weeks? It actually worked. 🎉

But then… reality.
The schedule got tossed aside, the activities weren’t quite as exciting anymore, and those "quiet" work blocks? They turned into:

“Mom, can you help me?”
“Mom, I need a snack!”
“Mooom, look! I can stand on my head!”

Every. Five. Minutes. ⌚

And I remember sitting there wondering:
“Why can’t I just stick with this? What’s wrong with me?”

But here’s the thing I want you to hear loud and clear:

It wasn’t about trying harder.

It was about expecting a plan to work under per...