Why I Refuse To Buy Rice Cakes
Mom, we need to buy some rice cakes!”
”No we do NOT need those”.
“C’mon, they’re so good and crunchy and we could eat them with peanut butter!!”
Long pause while my cartoon thought bubble pictures snack or quick meal with peanut butter on rice cake.
“Still a no”.
“Ugh, you’re so annoying”.
What gives? What’s wrong with a rice cake and peanut butter anyways? Crunchy? Yes. Protein? Yes. Air filled wafer loved by dieters all the way back to Jane Fonda’s leg warmer wearing days? Yeah, and there’s the problem.
You might not question the rice cake, but I do. You know why? It can be the start of a very slippery slope that lands you smack in the face of diet culture. This isn’t the same satisfying feeling of flying down the slip-n-slide on a hot summer day when the ice cold hose water is eased by the scorching hot sun rays. That’s all fun and games.
Dieting is far from fun and games. There are very real negative physical and emotional effects from dieting that I want my kids to avoid.
You might reason with yourself that starting with a small substitution like a rice cake for a piece of bread or some crackers, eliminating a single food group or only allowing your hunger to be legitimate if the clock says it’s time to eat, isn’t a big deal. But it is. These innocent behaviors can accidentally send you flying down the diet hill. One rice cake suddenly turns into no carbs, strictly salads with dressing on the side and intermittent fasting.
Maybe your small change doesn’t have a material effect on you or maybe it does. You might even defend your ways all in the name of a lifestyle change that’s good for your health. Believe me, I’ve been in your shoes and it’s hard to stop feeling obsessed and crazy around food. It’s one of the many reasons why I wrote my book, Raising Anti-Diet Kids that you can buy here, here or here!
I talk a lot about why elimination even at the smallest level matters and is dangerous. Research shows that kids who diet are much more likely to develop eating disorders and gain weight. How ironic that the thing you do to avoid weight gain actually can be the very thing that leads to what you’re trying to avoid.
I don’t mind firing back at my girls. I will not give them the ammunition they might use for destructive behavior. Even though it was probably an innocent request, I’m not taking a chance. I vividly remember starting to picking raisins out of my afternoon snack on the way to track meets in middle school. Next thing I knew, it had spiraled out of control and I was afraid to eat things I used to love.
Don’t let your kids get on the slip and slide into diet land. Use caution with air filled foods that claim to provide satiety. You do not need these for your health. Treat yourself to the real deal. Yummy, chewy, satisfying breads and pastas.
I’ll give you all the strategies you need for situations like this and so much more in my book! 
