Author: eattypelive
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Eight glasses of water per day is a myth that refuses to die
The eight glasses of water per day myth has been debunked over and over again – yet it refuses to die. Where did it come from? And why isn’t it going away? Let’s travel back in time, to 1829, when Vincent Priessnitz opened the first ‘hydropathy’ clinic in Austria. He believed that water could cure…
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Self-care at the mercy of others
“Just remember to make time for you,” said every person I interacted with in the first year after having a baby. It certainly felt like every person, anyway. I would smile and “Mm hm” back at them but some days the temptation to bitch slap these well-intentioned people was almost overwhelming. It’s not the message…
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Baby’s first foods
I got a message a couple days ago from a friend, asking about first foods for baby. She’d gone online and, in her eloquent words, discovered that “There’s a lot of shit out there.” I couldn’t agree more. First thing’s first: when is baby ready for solids? You’ll hear six months thrown around a lot…
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To hide or not to hide: the vegetable question
My 3-year-old is currently going through a growth spurt. He is super tired, super hungry and super emotional all at once. I consider it training for when he’s a teenager. When I picked him up from preschool yesterday I read his little take-home slip of paper that lists what he ate that day. I was…
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Mindful eating and hypocrisy
I dipped my spoon into my soup and slurped the creamy goodness noisily. I crunched my piece of toast, delighting at the way it broke into chunks in my mouth… And then crumbs spilled all over my keyboard and I very nearly knocked the bowl of soup over trying to clean it up. I eat…
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Want to increase IQ and EQ? Read a novel
Recently I was told that I’ll never “develop as a person” if I continue to read novels instead of more serious non-fiction titles. It’s hard to explain my reaction when confronted with this view: a mix of exasperation, incredulity and facepalming. But sadly, this is a common misperception among self-help book devotees. I couldn’t bring…
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Breastfeeding is more than the milk
Recently, a mother complained on Twitter about the pressure to pump and bottle feed instead of just OG breastfeeding. I had only been on Twitter a couple days at the time and I was nervous to comment and share my own story, but I wish I had. The pump-then-bottle-feed message was pushed on me time…
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Spacing out
Some time ago, my then 2-year-old was sitting on the couch, staring off into space. In this blissful moment of silence, I pulled my phone out and started going through my emails, writing the shopping list, and checking my To Do list for what else I needed to get done. And all the while my…
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The dinnertime battleground
My son was sitting at the table, ready for his dinner. We had a vase of flowers on the table that he had picked from the garden, and we had lit several candles. I placed his plate in front of him, smiling at my lovingly prepared wholesome meal that would meet all of his nutrition…
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The gentlemen’s powerlifting competition
My breath rose in misty clouds in the air in front of me and I snuggled deeper into my blanket. It was 2010 and I was in a typical student hovel in Dunedin, having transferred universities to pursue nutrition studies. We were too cheap to turn the heat pump on in my flat, so I…