How Hunter McGrady is trying to break 'unhealthy' food cycles for her kids
Hunter McGrady is opening up about how she's "trying to break" a generational cycle with her kids.
On Thursday, the 29-year-old model took to Instagram to share a black-and-white photo of herself eating noodles, paired with a powerful message about breaking cycles of disordered eating and learning not to treat food as a "reward."
The "Model Citizen" podcast host began by asking her fans if they've ever said to themselves: “'Oh wow this is way more food than I thought. This is a meal for 5 people! 'I’m just gonna have a bite I’m trying to be good.' 'All you really need is x amount of food!'"
"Well, same," she admitted. "And I’m desperately trying to break this cycle for my children. I don’t want them to grow up having a bad relationship with food or having 'bad' food and 'good' food which then results in extremely harmful habits and statistically results in disordered eating."
In an effort to help her children avoid developing an unhealthy relationship with eating, McGrady explained that she's going to stop making food "an issue."
"You didn’t finish? No worries. Not hungry? Don’t stress. Dessert and main course are served at once and it’s never an issue. Food is not a reward," she penned to her more than 720,000 followers.
"Our kids are listening. The way we talk about food, our bodies, other people's bodies — all of it," she added. "Be cautious."
McGrady's post garnered praise from fans for bringing attention to a "generational issue."
"I'm so glad you shared this. It's not talked about enough. The reason so many of us struggle to maintain a good relationship with food is because of how our parents taught us to look at food, and how their parents taught them, and so on," one Instagram user commented. "If we want to put an end to this generational issue, we have to change the way we talk about food around others. It's our responsibility not to pass that trauma down to our children."
"Seriously, thank you for this," another added. "Your kids will grow up knowing food is love because you showed them!"
Someone else wrote: "This is so refreshing!"
"Love this so much," another shared.
"Also the whole, 'I need to go to the gym now after eating this,' like both are a punishment. I'm also working on shifting these words and mentality myself. Thank you," a fan chimed in.
Last month the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model revealed that she is expecting her second child with her husband Brian Keys, with whom she also shares a 14-month-old son, Hudson. She announced her growing family in an emotional Instagram Reel.
"Well, I guess it's time to share the news! Hudson is going to be a big brother!" she said in the video. "We couldn't be more excited to enter this new season of life in growing our family. I'm feeling all the emotions from excitement to nervous to giddy!"
"Can't wait to share this journey again with you guys over the next few months as you all were so gracious and supportive during the last time," she added.
Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
