Un-learning Theory

The other night my daughter was lamenting the fact that I had to teach a class on a night I normally would be home. I explained to her in terms that a 6-year-old would understand that “Mommy needs to go teach grown-ups how to eat veggies and fruits.” My daughter laughed at the idea that adults would need to be taught something like that. She replied, “Well, why do grown-ups need to learn anything anyway? I thought only kids went to school.” Ah, if only she knew just how much grown-ups need to learn, I thought to myself. It got me thinking about the process in which adults learn skills, and how we as a culture need to do a lot of “unlearning” when it comes to our eating habits - particularly in the United States where the overweight/obesity rate is already at 67% and steadily climbing each year. To a 6-year-old, and frankly anyone, it does seem like a crazy notion that we need to learn how to eat healthy foods and get our bodies moving, when it would appear to be such a natural, evolutionary experience for human beings. Studies show that the bulk of hunter/gatherer diets were fruits and vegetables! Now we’re lucky if we have parsley on our plate as a garnish. Nevertheless, I went to work that evening with this concept on my mind.

Strategies were exchanged as usual that night in the class. “Try a bag of carrots in your car,” “Bake up some chick peas,” “Put 2 fruits instead of 1 in your shake tomorrow morning.” All were exceptional ideas intended to get more fruit and veggies in our bodies. But would it be enough once we all left class and were bombarded by a world of deep fried butter balls and free lollypops at the bank? (Even my gym gives away free chips at the front desk!)

I realized when I left class that night that it doesn’t have to be enough. It just has to be something. Each week, we need to leave with something that will be new or different or challenging to try and in a different way than we’ve done before.

Whether we’re grown up’s with years of unhealthy habits ingrained from our histories or lucky enough to still be a kid growing up in a household with an abundance of fresh produce and access to sports and exercise opportunities, it’s all about the learning we do each day and the way we apply and practice the fresh skills and knowledge we acquire.

“So, yes,” I replied to my daughter that night, “Grown-ups need to keep learning too. Let’s go downstairs and have an apple, honey.”
 

by jennyb on 11/22/2011 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: Weight-Loss, HMR, motivation, mood, kids, mommy blog