I do not have a history of eating disorders except for using food as a coping mechanism. I have been sitting down to dinner with the family & having bone broth to be social and also so that I do not have to explain fasting to my 11yo daughter. She is small for her age and could actually stand to gain some weight, but I am wary about discussing my own attempts at weight loss in front of her.
Anyone else addressed this at home? If so, what did you say?
How to explain fasting to my tween daughter?
MI_Girl75
#1
amargolis
(Athena)
#2
I would explain the science of it to her in detail that while you are fasting your body is “eating” its fat stores. She is old enough to understand how this way of eating works and there are lots of fun cartoon explanations out there (or else I wouldn’t understand it!).
jmbundy
(John)
#4
You know how bears eat a lot of food and get big and fat so they can hibernate? This just means they can use their body fat to keep them alive without having to eat throughout the winter when food is hard to find. People can do this too, which is why we store fat when we eat too much. Fasting is just kind of like hibernating, we already ate the food, now I want to live off of it for a while until I get hungry again. Some people can do it for just a day, some for a month! I’m not sure how good I am at it yet so i’m going to just try a little at first.
Explained it similar to that to my daughter, she gets it. She even checks labels for me, she asked yesterday after picking up a taco seasoning pack why they use wheat in it. Your guess is as good as mine.
Jbird71
#5
I tell my girls (11 and 13) I’m giving my digestive system a break. It’s been working hard for 40+ years and it deserves some time to rest and repair. I explain they do not need to fast because their bodies have not been working non-stop for so long. They seem to accept this logic. I never talk about weight loss, just improved health.
Goal179
(Dawn)
#7
My daughter is 13 and I have chosen not to touch the subject of fasting with her. I do however talk her ear off about keto. She hates our daily rides home because they are usually filled with 2KD podcasts. My daughter is big chested for her age, but she is a good weight and height and doesn’t need to intentionally lose any weight. So my focus with her is on Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition and avoiding sugar. Honestly, my family hasn’t even noticed that I fast. I didn’t eat for 13 days and no one noticed. They just assumed I was eating at a time when they weren’t around. So my fasting is still a secret to my family. Only people who know I am doing are the folks on this forum. Another thing, my children already naturally fast. They just don’t eat when they aren’t hungry. They don’t really graze throughout the day. So in my house, fasting is just not discussed. I will start to teach my daughter a little more about the science of fasting once she is older…around 16 or so. Today the focus is on keto, nutrition and NO SUGAR.
