(원제: Politely Refusing Grandma's Food)
Imagine the following scenarios:▶ Grandma tells you that she made cookies just for you and hands you a plate of frosted cookies an hour before dinner.
▶ Grandma says: “Get some Songpyeon, it is a Chuseok tradition.”
▶ Your aunt is hosting dinner and says: “I’ve got a fresh batch of chocolate brownies for anyone who finishes their dinner.”
Each of these scenarios features well-meaning relatives pushing food on you. While grandparents and aunts have the best intentions, they could be innocently contributing to problems affecting your diet, such as:
▶ Forcing you to get into the habit of eating to please others rather than yourself.
▶ Encouraging you to eat more frequently, making it difficult to recognize the body’s hunger cues.
▶ Training yourself to associate food with punishment because their messages imply that you must eat certain foods to “earn” dessert.
People are born with an instinct to know when we are hungry and when we are full! Unfortunately somewhere early in our childhood, we lose that instinct. Part of it is due to the people who are part of our lives and the meaning they give to food!
When the food-pusher is someone close to you, turning down food becomes a more delicate affair. Let’s find out ways to handle it carefully.
If people are the closest to you, just go ahead and tell them how you want to eat. At the beginning they may get offended, but with time, they would understand that you do not have anything personal to their cooking abilities. You should also let them prepare something simple and healthy.
One Stop Summing Up: Vocabs & Expressions
scenario 시나리오(n) / plate 접시(n) / frosted cookie 설탕을 입힌 쿠키 / a batch of chocolate brownies 한번에 구워내는 초콜릿 브라우니 / well-meaning 좋은 의도의 / relative친척(n) / push on ~을 ~에게 떠밀다 / best intention 좋은 의도 / innocently 순수하게 / contribute to problems 나쁜 쪽으로 기여하다 / affect 영향을 입히다(v) / force 억지로 ~하게 하다(v) / get into the habit of ~하는 습관이 들다 / please 기쁘게 하다(v) / encourage 격려하여 유도하다(v) / hunger cue 배고프다는 신호 / train 길들이다(v) / associate with ~와 연관 짓다 / imply 암시하다(v) / earn (그럴 만한 자격•자질이 되어서 무엇을) 얻다[받다](v) / instinct 본능(n) / food-pusher 음식을 먹으라고 부추기는 사람 / turn down 거절하다 / delicate affair 민감한 일 / offended 기분이 상하는