Preggo Cravings Vs. Clean Eating

Love is sitting together on the couch while your husband watches So You Think You Can Dance with you. Love is watching the commercials together, and feeling your heart skip a beat when a Reese Peanut Butter Cup commercial comes on. Love is looking over at your husband.... and having him know, without saying a word, that he is about to drive to the store to pick up Reese Peanut Butter Cups.... Love is having only to say "Baby wants...." before watching your husband sigh, put on his hat, and then walk out the door to the car. For me, last night, love was Reese Peanut Butter Cups.... 

So, I guess the point of this post is to ask, where do pregnancy cravings and "treats" fit in with clean eating and real foods? How much do you deny? How much do you indulge? Am I a hypocrite? Am I setting a good example for my daughter? Questions questions questions.

This is an often discussed topic on one of my favorite blogs: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/05/10/i-dont-want-my-daughters-to-worry-about-food/

She recently took on the topic in the link I posted above, and I have to say I agree with her on several points. It gets really hard to avoid processed food when you leave the safety and comfort of you own home. Your kids get invited to a birthday party, and are inevitably offered tones of processed foods full of sugar, preservatives and food dye. Get invited to a family member's home for dinner, and don't even think about asking what is organic and if they have cheddar cheese that isn't dyed orange unless you want to look like a huge asshole. Successful trip to the doctor? Here's a sucker. Bank teller thinks my daughter is cute, offers her a candy. The list is really endless. All the while the comment I commonly hear is "once in a while isn't going to hurt anything..." 

I read a post/rant from a doctor a while back: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2013/02/20/why-is-everyone-always-giving-my-kids-junk-food

In it he makes the conservative estimate that his kids were offered, on average, about 600 calories of "sugar-spiked junk food" each and every week from non-family sources. So really, that "once in a while" isn't really once in a while. Add holidays such as Christmas and Halloween to the list I just mentioned above, and its easy to see why so many kids and adults seem to be struggling to eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight. While I don't want to push my views of eating on any of my friends and family members, it gets hard to stand up for what what I believe in about food and eating without coming across like a judgmental asshole... the kind that no one wants to be around. So.... how do you do it? Where do you strike a balance?

More importantly, as talked about in the 100 days blog, what do I want my daughter to learn about food? Do I want her to politely refuse a treat from her grandmother with a reply of "Gramma, do you KNOW how much processed white sugar is in that!?!" Do I want her to be one of those kids under the age of 10 reading food labels and counting how many calories come from sugar? Do I want her to grow up with the notion that there are "bad" foods and "good" foods and that some foods are strictly off limits? 

Well, no. I don't want to raise a little food nazi. I want her to be aware of her food choices, to be aware of the implications of choosing humanely raised beef over the less-humanely raised beef. To know where her food comes from, to know that yogurt doesn't really come from a tube. I want her to be aware but not obsessed. And really, it starts from me. Since she was 16 months old she has wanted to eat whatever she sees Mommy and Daddy eating. If we are eating spinach and salmon, that's what she wants. If we are eating hot dogs and Doritos, that's what she wants. Is it healthy for her to eat good food at home, and see mommy cooking tortillas from scratch so as to avoid all the preservatives in the store bought ones? Yes it is. Is it also good for her to get handed a few sugar/cinnamon coated mini doughnuts from Mommy at the farmers market on Saturdays? Yes it is. 

Though she will inevitably be offered "treats" from sources other than myself and my husband, I think it is important to let her grow and navigate her own waters on that matter. Just as it is important for her to know that Mom and Dad like to keep a house full of healthy foods, its also important for her to see Mom and Dad indulge once in a while. I could just be justifying my pregnancy cravings, but really, whose going to argue with a hormonal pregnant lady? One thing that has been made glaringly obvious, is that I am going to have to start baking and having some "healthy" treats on hand. One chocolate bar once in a while is one thing.... but these preggo cravings sometimes seem to take on a life of their own!