Eoin enjoys his desserts! A few weeks ago, Eoin and I were having a late lunch with one of my close childhood friends. We were having a nice meal on the patio of one of our local Greek restaurants, and I had the rare opportunity to just sit back, relax, talk to my friend, and watch Eoin. As I observed my son, it occurred to me that I really could learn a lot from the way that Eoin approaches life. Finding my inner child just might bring me the balance I have been searching for over the last few months.
First, for those of you that don't know a whole lot about my son, this child was once known as the Fruit Bandit. From a very young age, Eoin knew that not only was fruit a delectable treat, but it was easy to sneak a bite anytime he wanted, because I always had fruit on the counter where the entire family had access. This child loves fruits and vegetables, and will often ask for seconds and thirds at every meal. However, he also loves his sweets. I am afraid this gene probably came from me. But the thing I can learn from Eoin is to eat a balanced diet. He eats a little of everything including protein, healthy grains, fruits and vegetables, but he also eats desserts...which leads me to the second thing I can learn from my son.
First, for those of you that don't know a whole lot about my son, this child was once known as the Fruit Bandit. From a very young age, Eoin knew that not only was fruit a delectable treat, but it was easy to sneak a bite anytime he wanted, because I always had fruit on the counter where the entire family had access. This child loves fruits and vegetables, and will often ask for seconds and thirds at every meal. However, he also loves his sweets. I am afraid this gene probably came from me. But the thing I can learn from Eoin is to eat a balanced diet. He eats a little of everything including protein, healthy grains, fruits and vegetables, but he also eats desserts...which leads me to the second thing I can learn from my son.
The reason Eoin was known as the Fruit Bandit--poor tomatoes! While Eoin loves sweets, he stops when he is full. I suspect that Eoin scored the large portion of delicious vanilla bean ice cream with chocolate syrup in the above picture, because the girl behind the counter thought he was cute. But Eoin felt no obligation to eat every bite of said sundae. He took a few bites, and then left the rest to melt as he happily played around the patio. I need to learn from Eoin to eat slowly and then stop when I am full. I don't need to eat every bite--I can leave food on the plate and my figure will be thankful if I do.
As Eoin moved around the patio, it reminded me of how Eoin never makes the time to work out--he works out all day long. From the time his eyes open until he finally collapses under the covers at night, he never stops moving. One minute he is pretending to be a soccer player running around the backyard, and in the next minute he is running up and down the hallways pretending to be a race car. I am not saying that I will be replacing my workouts with pretend play with Eoin, but I am saying that we can all put a little more movement into our days. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park at the farthest end of the parking and get a little more walking in, or you can walk or bike to the store for any small grocery items you might need. We can all learn to be a little more active like Eoin.
So I am hoping to take Eoin's lead and try to find my inner child on a more regular basis. I will try to focus on eating a healthier diet, but not completely deprive myself of desserts. Eating ice cream every once in a while is not going to kill me...I just need to be reasonable. I am going to try to remember to eat more slowly so that I can better monitor when I am full, and when I am feeling full I will stop eating. I am exercising on a regular basis, but sometimes during my workday I forget to get up and move around. I know that if I was more like Eoin, I would find a way to move my body throughout the day. Hopefully all these things will help me balance my focus on staying fit, with remembering to let loose and enjoy the fitness I have worked so hard to attain.
As Eoin moved around the patio, it reminded me of how Eoin never makes the time to work out--he works out all day long. From the time his eyes open until he finally collapses under the covers at night, he never stops moving. One minute he is pretending to be a soccer player running around the backyard, and in the next minute he is running up and down the hallways pretending to be a race car. I am not saying that I will be replacing my workouts with pretend play with Eoin, but I am saying that we can all put a little more movement into our days. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park at the farthest end of the parking and get a little more walking in, or you can walk or bike to the store for any small grocery items you might need. We can all learn to be a little more active like Eoin.
So I am hoping to take Eoin's lead and try to find my inner child on a more regular basis. I will try to focus on eating a healthier diet, but not completely deprive myself of desserts. Eating ice cream every once in a while is not going to kill me...I just need to be reasonable. I am going to try to remember to eat more slowly so that I can better monitor when I am full, and when I am feeling full I will stop eating. I am exercising on a regular basis, but sometimes during my workday I forget to get up and move around. I know that if I was more like Eoin, I would find a way to move my body throughout the day. Hopefully all these things will help me balance my focus on staying fit, with remembering to let loose and enjoy the fitness I have worked so hard to attain.
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