Healthy Holiday Hint: Eat like a kid again!

Half the time when I pick up my kiddo from school, his lunchbox still has a few cleaneating goodies in it - graham crackers, a cereal bar, these great fig-newton (it's not a cookie! it's a fig newwwton!) thingies I found...just miscellaneous things he didn't get around to eating. And because I am a product of the "eat what you're given and don't complain," generation I ask him why he didn't eat all of his lunch.

And for some reason I am always pleasantly suprised to hear him tell me, "I was just done eating."

He was just done eating. He eats his lunch until he isn't hungry anymore and then he just stops and closes his lunchbox. That's so...healthy. I love how kids do that. They get a bum rap for only wanting to eat junk food but most of the time kids are actually pretty healthy with their eating patterns.  The food they want to eat may not be that healthy, but at least they eat it in a healthy way. :)

So that's our Healthy Heather Holiday Hint for today: eat like a kid again!  Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're not hungry anymore. I'll be at a Christmas Eve party on Friday with a buffet full of delicious holiday food, and you better believe I'll be remembering this hint. 

Healthy eating is more than just what you eat, it's also how you eat. Pay attention to your hunger signals this week and listen to them. They won't steer you wrong.

Remember: He sees you when you're eating! :)

Less Bad vs More Better?

There is a key phrase in this article I just read about strategies and solutions for getting junk food out of school vending machines that I want you to keep at the front of your brain this weekend:

"It may be less bad for you, but that doesn't mean that it's good for you."

This is the wisdom of Dana Woldow, a leader in the push for better snacks and co-chair of a California school district's Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee.  And Dana, thank you. 

So many times we pat ourselves on the back because we ordered the baked potato instead of the french fries, and ignore that little voice reminding us that steamed veggies and slivered almonds would have been the more-better choice.  I don't want to poo-poo those little victories because they are important, but let's get real.  Just because something is less-bad does not mean it is good, and you know it.  You know it, I know it, and most importantly (and this is where reality bites) your body knows it. 

But there is a population of people who don't know it - our kids. We have to teach them through example and hands-on experiences how to determine the difference between less-bad and more-better.  This article about the five worst kids' restaurant meals opened my eyes to the fact that we are all guilty of assuming our kids want grilled cheese or mac and cheese or fried cheese or basically anything with cheese, and rarely bat an eye at ordering off of the kids' menus even just to keep the peace at the dinner table.  Seeing the nutritional quality of these meals made me so happy that we rarely eat in restaurants anyway and that my own 4 year old son is a health-food champion who once asked the cashier at Wendy's for "something healthy."

Yes, I took my son to Wendy's.  I brought my own salad and he ordered oranges. My husband, yeah. He got the Number 2. :)  Love ya, babe!

I am willing to bet that there is something going on in your world this weekend that will force you to make the choice between less-bad and more-better. 

Go crazy!  Go big!   Go more-better!

New Flash: Sugar Not Good for Kids

I read yesterday that Nestle is removing from bottles of the kid's drink BOOST the claim that it helps prevent the cold and flu.  I have to say I am SHOCKED.  I mean, the packaging of this product clearly states that it is a Kid Essential with Immunity Protection! Surely there must be a mistake.  yes I am being sarcastic.

So I went and googled the ingredients of the drink right away.  When I saw the following list for the chocolate flavor, I decided the recall should be expanded to include the warning, "FYI this product will probably eventually kill your child." 

I've highlighted the ones that I would actually feed my kid:


WATER, SUGAR, MALTODEXTRIN, FRUCTOSE, SODIUM CASEINATE (MILK), HIGH OLEIC SUNFLOWER OIL, SOYBEAN OIL, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, MEDIUM CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDES, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CALCIUM CASEINATE AND LESS THAN 0.5% OF CALCIUM PHOSPHATE TRIBASIC, CELLULOSE GEL, POTASSIUM CITRATE, SOY LECITHIN, MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE TRIBASIC, CHOLINE CHLORIDE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM CHLORIDE, CARRAGEENAN, ASCORBIC ACID, CELLULOSE GUM, TAURINE, M-INOSITOL, ALPHA TOCOPERYL ACETATE, FERROUS SULFATE, ZINC SULFATE, NIACINAMIDE, L-CARNITINE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, VITAMIN B6 HYDROCHLORIDE, THIAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE, COPPER GLUCONATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, RIBOFLAVIN, BHA/BHT (TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS), VITAMIN A PALMITATE, BETA CAROTENE, FOLIC ACID, BIOTIN, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, SODIUM SELENITE, VITAMIN K1, VITAMIN D3, VITAMIN B12.

Look, I'm no doctor, but I do have a kiddo of my own.  95% of the stuff he eats is clean, natural, from the earth, and easily accessible from stores.  My kid has never had to take antibiotics, has not been home sick from school in at least a year, and is at a healthy body weight.  I probably just jinxed all of that by posting it here but I have to think at least some of those things are linked to the quality of his nutrition. 

So attention residents of reality: use your (whole grain) noodle! Don't feed your kids crap unless you want them to feel like crap. 

Rant done. Thank you for your time. :)

Veggie Police? Not me! I hope...

What is it with kids and vegetables? It's as if they are hard-wired to be immediately suspicious of them. My son at age two was already turning up his nose at carrots, green beans, broccoli...the usual suspects. I was completely stumped on how he could have formed this default opinion; he had spent 90% of his life up to that point with me, a vegetable lover. What part of his DNA was programmed to say, "ick," whenever something green and leafy landed on his plate? I think he got it from my husband's side of the family.

For years I have stubbornly put vegetables on his plate each day, made a big show of how much I looooooved to eat my vegetables, and like any self-respecting mother, I sneaked veggies into his food (*ahem* waaay before Jessica Seinfeld wrote her cookbook, just sayin') and took some comfort that at least they were getting into his body whether he realized it or not. I hoped that I could just keep being the good example and someday he would either taste them and realize what he had been missing, or just give up.

Neither seems very likely at this point; we are at a stalemate. But I am pleased to report that his gag reflex seems to be in good working order, which was evidenced last night by his response to our suggestion that he sample a piece of broccoli. After my husband and I presented our respective arguments, and after pointing out that broccoli has vitamins in it and reminding me that I had on previous occasions told him that he was allotted only one (chewable) vitamin a day, my four-year-old proceeded to stage a gagging and choking scene that almost made my husband leave the table to keep from laughing.

And I laughed, too. I'm a bit of a food cop, I'll admit it. I'm one of those all-natural moms who will gladly go out of my way to make my own everything, avoid artificial ingredients, bring my own food just about everywhere, and eat wholesome food made with pure, natural, vibrant ingredients that actually help our bodies function, not just satisfy an immediate emotional trigger to eat. I want my son to develop a healthy respect for the power of what we put into our bodies, and be able to make educated choices about what he chooses to eat.

Yes, he is four. So we try to teach by example. And after reading this article about the fuzzy line between monitoring the nutrition of our kids and sabotaging their future healthy habits, I feel pretty good about our methods. It recommends not forcing your kids to eat foods (although I am perfectly comfortable with the "take it or leave it" method of serving dinner), teaching by example (by not always being on some wacky diet), and teaching them about why its important to eat well.

People often ask whether my son is "allowed" to eat Halloween candy, whether I will buy him a chocolate bunny for his Easter basket, or if I bake him a wheat and sugar-free birthday cake. And while I do realize he is a kid and part of being a kid is wanting to eat candy and sweets, I do think there is a line to be drawn regarding the "fun factor" of food. It bothers me that I am perceived as punishing him in some way by not wanting to teach him that food is for entertainment purposes. But I figure 95% of what he eats is clean, wholesome, and healthy...and for the rest, he has grandparents.

There are some good tips here for creating a healthy relationship with food; one that is based on an understanding of the cause-and-effect of the fuel we put into our bodies and balanced with an example of how to manage situations that present...lower-octane fuel. :)

Yeah, he'll have cauliflower on his plate tonight, and I'll encourage him to take a bite and see what he thinks. But if he passes, that's okay.

I loooooove cauliflower. :)