Three golden nuggets that helped me with parenting

One of the things I enjoy most about life is how much there is too learn. 

Learning is a lifelong process, it is a self-directed and self-paced journey of discovery which fills me with true wonder at the world.

When it comes to the area of kids nutrition, I’ve learnt bucket loads, through the eCourse Thrive, Raising Kids Who Love Real Food, which I proudly run with great mate Alexx Stuart from Low Tox Life. We are kicking off our only live round this year on the 22nd May 2019! 

There are SO many things I have learnt from interviewing various experts, so I decided to share just three things which have personally made me stop to think, and have made a difference to how I approach nutrition and parenting issues with my family as well as my clients.

1. In my interview with Dr Leila Masson, a biomedical paediatrician, we were talking about genes amongst many other things. It was enlightening to here how inheriting a gene alone doesn’t cause illness. It’s the gene in combination with certain environmental factors, which can trigger the expression of that gene. My daughter has inherited a gene from her Dad (Factor 5 Leiden) which makes her susceptible to blood clotting. This gene has been expressed in her Dad which has caused him health issues and lifelong reliance on blood thinning tablets. So you can imagine how worrying this has been for me. Given my daughter’s healthy lifestyle and reduced exposure to toxins, however, I am comforted that this gene is less likely to be triggered in her. Soooo good to know Dr Masson!

• In my interview with Simone Emery, from Play with Food and who is a Children’s Feeding Expert, I learnt SO MUCH about fussy eaters. Example, have you heard of the term ‘food jagging‘? It’s when your child suddenly gets stuck on a food and that’s the only thing they’ll eat. While it can be incredibly worrying to parents, Simone explains that often it’s simply related to a developmental or cognitive stage they are at, and she provides some very practical tips on how to work through this stage to ensure you child gets proper nutrition.

• My interview with David Bedrick, Counselor and Positive Body Image Advocate, was a huge eye opener not just for me, but with many members who were incredibly moved by the knowledge he shared. For instance, what he discovered when doing some research 7 or 8 years ago, was that more women were dying of eating disorders then they were dying of AIDS. But AIDS makes the headline news, eating disorders only makes the ‘style section’ tucked away somewhere. Eating disorders are deadly and affect 7 million women in America and affect approximately 9% of Australians. I loved David’s advice that one thing we can do is to help our children start to think critically about the ‘ideal female image’ from a young age, with tips and ideas on conversations you can start to have with them.

There is so much to learn about both physical and psychological health of our children and so many positive and simple ways we can overhaul or enhance their lives. Alexx Stuart and I share so much in our course THRIVE, RAISING KIDS WHO LOVE REAL FOOD. We are proud to say the experts we interviewed are the best in the field and we are blessed to have them share their wisdom and passion to help parents provide the best life possible for all of our children.

Join our only LIVE ROUND this year and be surrounded by passionate, likeminded parents on a mission to provide the best life for their kids and where Alexx and I will be daily present in the private Facebook to steer the ship and answer all your burning questions.

Bren x