Welcome to The Experiment, a collection of posts from mommies and daddies doing their best to raise the little people in their lives.
There is only one
rule to the experiment: try your best to read the experiences &
thoughts of the folks kind enough to share them with an open mind.
There will be some ideas you agree with and others may seem different
than yours. But I can promise that we will all learn something.
I am pumped about sharing some juicy healthy eating tidbits from one of my dear friends. Melinda is not only a friend, but she is also an expert in health & nutrition. In fact, she led me through a recent week-long detox (one that I am trying during September as well) and I can say that I have never felt better physically. Now don't hear me wrong, I didn't get my 14 year old abs back. Haha. But I feel so much better when I treat my body good.
Our kids feel better and function better too when they have healthy foods. And I will be the first to admit that I have a long way to go in that category. Hopefully, some of Melinda's tips below will give you a good starting point or further encouragement. This girl is FULL of health tips, tricks & just plain common sense. Now as Melinda would say, LET'S ROCK!
FYI, here are some of Melinda's credentials...
Masters in Holistic
Wellness
Certified Weight
Management Specialist
Certified Pilates
and Prenatal Yoga
Instructor
Certified Personal Trainer
Doula-in-Training
Cheers to another tool in the toolbox:)...
*If you are interested in sharing your parenting experiences/thoughts with all of us, please email webbrachel@yahoo.com.
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Before I
start divvying out advise about how to raise a healthy family, let me
start with confessions from my previous self: I used to eat Pop Tarts
for breakfast (frosted strawberry, to be specific), wash them down
with a pot of coffee loaded with French vanilla creamer, head out the
door with a cigarette in one hand and a diet coke in the other, stop
for lunch at McDonald’s on the way to grocery shop for Snickers ice
cream bars and frozen pizza. It was only after the gentle prompting
of a friend that I read some books on healthy living and after the
consistent (albeit less gentle) nagging of caring friends and family
that I strongly consider quitting smoking that I really took a good
hard look at my personal health. It was…gross. So, I started making
changes…and I still am incorporating those changes into my life as
we speak. I begin this way only so that you don’t envision me as a
self-assumed know-it-all that grew up on a wheat germ farm or a vegan
member of PETA, or as someone who never craves that
melt-in-your-mouth snickers ice cream bar!! That is sooooo not me.
Nope, I’m just a girl (can you still call yourself a girl at 35 ½
years of age?) whose journey to health has lead her into a love
relationship for healthy living and for sharing the lessons I’ve
learned with others (if asked). Even though none of you asked
specifically, Rachel did, and so now you’re stuck reading my blah,
blah, blahs about some basics of teaching your kids how to be
healthy.
So here goes…
Be
a healthy role model. I
know that sounds trite, but pouring into your kids out of an empty
well just doesn’t work. You have to be healthy and to make good
food choices before you can expect your kids to be and do the same.
Any parent knows by now that our little ones watch everything we do
and say. So what are we teaching them about eating with what we
choose to stock our pantries with and to fill our plates with on a
regular basis?
“Let’s
start at the very beginning…a very good place to start!”
If you are a parent of a wee one just in the baby food stage of
life, get him or her started on the right path. If you can, try
making your own baby food. It honestly takes a blender, about a half
an hour a week, and leftovers (that is, if you are eating healthy).
Plus, you save a TON
of money!!!! If you don’t make your own food, make healthy choices
when you are buying manufactured baby food. Load up on greens, sweet
potatoes, and other fruits and veggies and this helps make for a
transition to healthy table food. I almost passed out in the aisle a
few weeks ago when I saw jarred baby food dessert. Really?!?!? As a
mommy, you gotta set the pace before the pace sets you, and giving
your baby’s palate dessert from the get-go will have him or her
coming back for more from that point on.
There
are similar resources for kids of all ages that a simple Google
search can uncover for you. A close look at what we are really
serving up compared to what we should be offering at mealtime may
help with grocery shopping and planning for meals and snacks. If you
go to the grocery once a week, for example, make sure you are coming
home with enough fresh produce, whole grains, and good protein and
fat options for you and your kids for that time period.
Out
of sight, out of mind. Okay,
so this one really gets my goat. I have a lot of moms ask me, “Can
you help me? I can only get Billy to eat chips and sweets!” “Sure,
I’m happy to help,” I (would love to respond but never have the
guts to) respond, “Give me the chips and sweets and show me the
trashcan!” I usually politely offer a solution in a more pc
manner, but that’s the real deal answer. A kid can not eat what is
not available to eat. Likewise, a pantry full of a variety of
healthy food gives a child the opportunity to make a good decision.
For example, I’d be crazy to think that my daughter Celia would
choose hummus and veggies over cookies. So cookies aren’t an
option. Instead, the choices are hummus and veggies OR a kid-size
Clif bar OR fruit and a spoonful of almond or peanut butter. Any
choice she makes will be a good one.
Make
healthy eating a natural part of your life.
When you’re out shopping, talk about the value of foods. “Oh
look at all of the yummy oranges!! Did you know that the stuff that
God made oranges with helps keep your body from getting sick? You
know the letter C that we’ve been working on? Well, oranges have a
vitamin in them called Vitamin C! Isn’t that cool?” Buy healthy
play foods for them to “cook” with in their toy kitchen sets and
talk about what’s good about those foods then, too. When you sit
down to eat your meals, carry on the discussion with them, then. It
may sound like a lot of talk about food, but just consider ongoing
conversations we have with our kids everyday—about manners,
sharing, etc. This is just another part of the conversation.
Find
a balance. Yes, we only
have healthy options in our home, but you’ve gotta leave the
house! At friends’ houses, playgroup, church functions, etc, junk
food abounds. What should you do? You don’t want to be offensive
or just plain socially weird, right? I get it. But this is a great
chance to teach moderation! Allow a little bit but also offer to
bring a healthy snack for everyone to share. Make sure to make your
healthy treats are yummy ones—kale probably won’t be a big hit
at preschool —so
that other moms and kids get excited about how they can make healthy
choices, too!
Okay, so
that’s the tip of the ice burg! Hope it’s helpful to you and your
families!
Cel
picking fresh garden tomatoes for lunch at her Mimi and Big Dad’s
House!
Celia
enjoying Organic Eggs (raised by her Poppaw), Edamame, Rice Milk, Soy
Yogurt, and Whole Grain Graham Crackers. YUM!
Celia
playing “Grocery”—checking out whole grain cereal and fresh
produce.
Cel
enjoying a V-8 Juice Popsicle we made!
Annie
Styles (7 ½ weeks) – who gets the most perfect food there is:
Breast Milk (but that’s a whole different blog post! )