Anonymous wrote:I like to eat a few almonds, too, along with some cashews, a handful of goldfish and an apple! All just for my snack!

+1 I like the soy wasabi roasted almonds and I prefer the extra toasty cheez-its. A nice green apple provides refreshing contrast.

I like to eat a few almonds, too, along with some cashews, a handful of goldfish and an apple! All just for my snack!

I'm a cheesecake mom.

Anonymous wrote:An almond mom is not a woman who is skinny because she has no appetite. The term is used for women with body dysmorphia and disordered eating habits (e.g. telling your daughter to eat a few almonds instead of a meal like Yolanda Hadid). It is not something to aspire to.

https://www.today.com/parents/moms/almond-mom-food-recovery-rcna53873

This. I try to be be mindful NOT to be this way - I don't talk about weight, or dieting in front of my kids, I model eating healthy balanced meals that provide nourishment etc.

Forgot to add that Almond Mom is not something to aspire to. She is not simply a thin mom who doesn’t eat very much. Almond Mom sucks the air out of the room, makes others uncomfortable and tends to give her daughters lifelong food and body issues. If they are lucky they will have some self awareness about what their AM did to them, eventually unpack it in therapy and make some funny TikToks.

Anonymous wrote:I thought it was women who starved themselves and only ate a few almonds a day to stay thin. Is that not it?

Kind of, but not literally.

An almond mom, often thin, is a mom with an eating disorder who gains a lot of self worth from being thin and controlling food intake. To her, her control of food isn’t disordered eating but just the “lifestyle” required to be thin, which is very important to her. She feels no shame about her eating disorder, and may be openly proud of it, and tries to exert control over the eating of those around her, especially her daughter(s).

Behaviors of an almond mom:

- Almond Mom is visibly uncomfortable when there is any perceived gluttony around her. She will not usually be able to resist commentary. At a restaurant, when food arrives at the table, she will usually loudly say “Wow that’s a lot of food! Who could eat all that?” or “Okay, I’m definitely going to need a box.” You feel uncomfortable ordering appetizers or dessert around Almond Mom. Even if she holds her tongue, the tension is palpable.

- On vacation, when a member of the family says they’re hungry for lunch, she will look at them incredulously and say “But we had such a big breakfast, how can you be hungry?” If she can be convinced to allow the rest of the family to have lunch, she will make sure everyone knows that she is Not Hungry. Instead of enjoying a cup of soup or pushing an entree around with a fork, she will loudly ask if someone wants to just split a salad with her.

- When her teenage daughter says she needs a snack, almond mom might tell her to simply eat a “handful of almonds” or some other low-calorie, wholly unsatisfying food in a tiny amount

- She is convinced that her willpower and efforts are the only reason she’s not overweight or obese, so therefore anyone who is overweight could adopt these same habits and be thin too. In reality, almond mom is usually naturally average to thin, and if she abandoned her almond mom vigilance she might be 5-10 pounds heavier. Almond mom just doesn’t like food very much.

- Dedication to an exercise routine varies widely amongst AMs, but Almond Mom may be preoccupied with getting her steps in. If she doesn’t have time for her daily 5 mile, 4.5 mph power walk you might find her doing aggressive laps around the soccer field or even pacing the room at the doctor’s office with an eye on her Apple Watch.

An Almond Mom is different than a mom with many of the same controlling eating behaviors for herself, but who doesn’t extend control to those around her. In fact, she loves to cook and share food with others and will always push more food at you (though she may gossip about your weight gain behind your back). She would not dream of you going hungry in her house, but she will only pick at the lasagna she made. I’m not sure what these moms are called. I have one of those, and I say she’s just Italian.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an almond mom in that I’m tiny thin and pick at my food to stay that way. But I feed my kids tons of goodies I don’t eat - I live vicariously through their appetites.

If you think they won’t pick up on your eating disorder, you’re wrong.

[i]


+1 I find it fascinating, staying thin is some women’s raison d’être. Their whole lives are planned around what they will not be eating and how to circumvent celebratory foods at social events. I wish I were thinner, but I don’t have that sort of dedication. I also secretly think they live pinched, judgmental little lives that are sort of anti-intellectual. That might just be my carb-besotted bias talking, though. I love the holiday threads that discuss all the food and kitchen control issues of in-laws.

Anonymous wrote:I’m an almond mom in that I’m tiny thin and pick at my food to stay that way. But I feed my kids tons of goodies I don’t eat - I live vicariously through their appetites.

If you think they won’t pick up on your eating disorder, you’re wrong.

An almond mom is not a woman who is skinny because she has no appetite. The term is used for women with body dysmorphia and disordered eating habits (e.g. telling your daughter to eat a few almonds instead of a meal like Yolanda Hadid). It is not something to aspire to.

https://www.today.com/parents/moms/almond-mom-food-recovery-rcna53873

I’m an almond mom in that I’m tiny thin and pick at my food to stay that way. But I feed my kids tons of goodies I don’t eat - I live vicariously through their appetites.

Anonymous wrote:I eat a few almonds every day. It does work.

What works for middle age moms does not always work growing adolescent girls.

If your child is a healthy weight, stop inducing food anxieties by teaching them that their normal eating habits are wrong and that dieting middle age woman diets are right. They can learn to eat healthy for their weight and growth stage.

Does chocolate almonds count? Or how about almonds in rocky road ice cream?

Anonymous wrote:Are you pear- shaped?

Is there a correlation between almonds and pear-shaped women?

Anonymous wrote:Me too OP. I love eating so much but I am dying to be a skinny mom who doesn’t ever think about food - or even repulsed by it! Sigh.

I heard Wegovy does this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought it was women who starved themselves and only ate a few almonds a day to stay thin. Is that not it?

Op here. Yes, this is it. They eat almonds and salad and smoothies and refrain from eating actual meals under the guise of health and their daughters tease them about their unhealthy eating habits.

So why would you love to be one? Food is amazing and living well means eating well!