Hi, I’m Donna and I’m a recovering junk food addict! Yes I mean Oreos and chips and all those things we typically think of when it comes to junk food. There’s a couple things folks don’t think of when they hear junk food, and I’m recovering from them as well, steering away from processed food and working towards a whole food diet.
I’m still learning something new everyday on how to eat healthier, and hope to be a life long learner of nutrition. I’ve been making healthier choices in my diet & making sure those choices I’m now making are visible to my kids as well as adjustments in their meals. It can be as simple as antibiotic free chicken (which I’m told by my 7 year old tastes better, and I would have to agree). It can be a process like switching from pre-packaged snacks to making your own ahead of time for the week, knowing exactly what ingredients go into it. Making the kids part of the process not only means you are engaging with your kids, but they learn, too, the “whys” behind the foods I’ve learned so much about through the program I’m doing.
It’s a process and I will tell you it won’t happen overnight, but every great journey has to start somewhere. Here’s a couple things I’ve found that help us out:
Engage them in meal prep: Little hands that can’t use knives yet can help clean veggies, mix salads, put your chopped up goodies in containers. It’s giving them a chance to be part of the process of healthy living as well as an opportunity to “taste test” things they might not ordinarily try. This is how we found out my w year old daughter LOVES red cabbage, something I wouldn’t have even thought to introduce to her on a dinner plate.
We also recently tried our own granola. We all enjoy it but I don’t enjoy reading the ingredient label on packaged granola from the store. I’ll give you a guess. It starts with an S and ends with UGAR. Making it at home means you control what goes into & what you want your kids eating. We’ve also made it fun; my kids pick what goes in and, for some ingredients, how much. It’s trial and error, Mamas and Dads! Much like parenting, it doesn’t always turn out as expected so give it a couple tries and see what works for your family! I’ve included a base recipe at the bottom of this post.
If you live in an area with grocery pickup and don’t already- TRY IT! This saves so much time and headache, especially during the school year, and I plan meals better this way as I can add to my cart at home as I decide what we are eating for the week.
Along with that, it makes it easier to compare prices and ingredients. Everyone says eating healthier is more expensive. I can’t get behind that for several reasons, and one I’ll mention here is the packaging nightmare that comes with shopping in stores. I can buy a big ole tub of plain store brand Greek yogurt that I can create different things with peanut butter or blueberries or bananas etc for less than a package of 8 individual servings chocked full of added sugars because they have paw patrol or a Disney Princess on the package and my 2 year old is begging for them then eats half and throws it away. (.11 an ounce compared to .82 an ounce, not including fruit, PB etc in this example) if you have the option to keep the kid out of the store, do it! Also, you can read the ingredients online for most of these services, saving you from the frustration and added time doing so in the store.
With my 7 year old, as I’m learning to read ingredients and not the packaging “low fat” “no added sugars” stuff, he can too. As I learn he learns and we practice his reading skills especially as we get into the “oses” we are learning to say no to. You might say your kid is too young or doesn’t care, whatever. Yeah my son tells me it’s boring sometimes. But these ears are still listening, when I hear him tell me he decided to eat a piece of fruit instead of cookies because it’s healthier.
Be. Strong. This is the everyday-push- play -bit of advice and the one that requires the most dedication. If you cave, they cave. You are their biggest role model and little ears and eyes see and hear so much than we realize right? Now, let me be clear here, I’m not advocating taking a box of hohos into the closet after the kids go to bed here, I’m saying be consistent and resolute with your nutrition not only for yourself but your kids as well. If you wake up everyday with that mindset to push play on your goals, be it nutrition & fitness or any other goals in your life, your kids are going to see that example you are setting and you’re not only going to make a huge impact in your own life in those daily victories, but your children’s as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment