What is an Almond Mom?
You’ve probably come across the term or hashtag #almondmom either from TikTok or some other form of social media which has caused you to ask yourself either “What is an almond mom” or “Wait, was my mum and almond mum?”.
In short, an almond mom is a mother who pushes unhealthy food beliefs and disordered eating onto her children. This occurs in many forms such through making comments about appears that suggests that thin is best, limiting their own or their children’s food, and over exercising themselves or their children.
Often Almond Moms truly believe that they are doing the right thing and are in fact leading their children towards having a healthy lifestyle, however, the opposite occurs as these comments and behaviours are what causes children to grow up with a poor self-image.
More and more people are connecting with the term “Almond Mom” and are even creating TikTok videos to show their experiences of growing up with an Almond Mom. There are thousands of videos under the Almond Mom hashtag which show prime examples of mothers making negative comments about weight to their daughters and even putting them on diets as young as eight years old.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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What do Almond Moms look like?
Almond Moms don’t have a specific appearance, in fact, many Almond Moms may even be overweight or obese themselves. Often their attempts to keep their children “slim” is because they are trying to encourage or help their children to not look like them. Usually Almond Moms have spent their entire lives on a diet, trying fads, and avoiding certain foods.
They have inherited these body hang ups, feelings of shame, and lack of self-confidence from their own mothers and grandmothers. This entire situation is comes from generational trauma around body image that is based down from generation to generation?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Why are Almond Moms focused on their children’s appearance?
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Almond Moms see their children as an extensions of themselves. They fear that if their child does not meet their own unrealistic beauty standards that others will judge them. They fear that people will blame them for their child not being “beautiful and slim”. Their actions and behaviours are a direct reflection of their relationships with themselves and their own body image issues.
What should I do if I have an Almond Mom?
The best thing you can do is work on your own body image. You can break the cycle and raise your own children (or inspire the children around you) to be body confident. You can also set boundaries with your mother and state that converstations around your appearance, food choices, and lifestyle are not up for discussion.
I don’t know how to improve my body image…
Don’t worry, that’s where I can help you out. I work as a body confidence coach and I help people all over the world to improve their body image. I provide coaching for adults, parents, and teenagers. All you have to do is contact me and I can help you break the cycle and heal from your experiences of growing up with an Almond Mom.
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Want to learn more about body image? Read more on The Body Blog or follow me on Instagram.