This was a Guest Post by Lara Zibarras on She Owns It

I felt my daughter watching, that quizzical look in her eyes. She noticed when I cooked separate meals for myself, when I turned down my husband’s pancakes, and when I didn’t swim with them in the ocean. It was always no.

One day – Mommy, why aren’t you eating toast with us?

I didn’t have a good answer. The real reason was that I was on-off struggling with healthy-eating-turned-obsession (aka orthorexia), although I didn’t know it at the time. 

My diet was very restrictive and I forced my family to eat healthy versions of everything. I’d even bake sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free birthday cakes, much to the children’s disappointment.

After my youngest was born I wanted to “get back on track” and this slowly morphed into a rigid eating pattern where I’d given up many foods for the sake of “health”. Only it wasn’t healthy – I was constantly tired and it impacted my mental health.

My daughter’s innocent question was a bombshell: why wasn’t I eating toast? She was watching me, and soon she’d be copying me – turning down food, being restrictive, and over-exercising, just like her mom. The last thing I wanted to do was pass this on. 

Years later, I’m fully recovered and doing my best to role model a positive relationship with food and body image to my children. Here are 4 tips to help any caregiver…

Read the full article here…