Every parent wants good things for their
children: a positive outlook on life, a healthy respect for authority, a strong
sense of self, a disease-free body…a healthy body weight.
Despite our best intentions, for the first time
in two centuries, the current generation of children may have a shorter life
expectancy than their parents.
With all the advances in medicine, how could this
possibly be true? The blame falls squarely on today's toxic food environment.
In short, your kids are eating too much junk.
And who can blame them? Junk food tastes great.
The good news is that healthy food also tastes
great. And now that our kids are home from school we have more control of what
they eat. Take these simple tips and transform your child's diet into one that
is packed with good health.
1) Add Color
Adding bright and colorful fruits and veggies to
your child's plate will get their diet on the fast track to health. Fresh
fruits and veggies are filled with fiber, vitamins and minerals that are
essential to good health.
If your kids are resistant then make it fun.
Serve veggies with salad dressing as a dip. Cut fresh fruit in the colors of
the rainbow and place them on a skewer. Serve a color themed meal – all green,
all red or all orange. Use your imagination and you'll come up with an endless
number of ways to make fruits and veggies fun to eat.
2) Think Whole Foods
Processed foods are the biggest problem with our
modern diet. Packaged and refined food products are devitalized and filled with
empty calories that quickly lead to weight gain. Unfortunately, processed foods
make up a large portion of the diet of many children.
Train your kids to opt for whole foods, rather
than packaged ones. Whole foods are foods that are in their natural state. An
apple. A piece of sprouted grain bread, spread with natural peanut butter. A
piece of hormone-free chicken. A bowl of beans. You get the idea.
3) Use Wholesome Sweeteners
Refined sugar and corn syrup are packed into many
of the foods that your kids love. But wait, there are more wholesome sweeteners
available – sweeteners that add vitamins and minerals rather than empty
calories. Use the following rather than white sugar or corn syrup:
•
Sucanat: This pure, dried sugar cane juice
retains its molasses content. Use it to replace white sugar in baking.
•
Pure Maple Syrup: Forget the “fake” syrups
containing corn syrup. Pure maple syrup contains potassium, calcium and some
amino acids.
•
Brown Rice Syrup: Use this dark syrupy sweetener
instead of corn syrup. It takes longer to digest and won't spike your blood
sugar like refined sugar.
•
Dates: Throw a few seeded dates into your blender
to sweeten your smoothie rather than adding white sugar.
4) Make Smart Substitutions
Kids love pizza and pasta and peanut butter and
jelly sandwiches, and that's not going to change any time soon. Rather than
fight your kids on their favorites, try making smart substitutions to make
their favorites more nutritious.
•
Pizza: Up the nutritional content of your pizza
by opting for wheat crust over white, adding veggies to the toppings and
sticking with lean meat toppings.
•
Pasta: Use sprouted grain or whole grain pasta
rather than traditional white pasta. Add veggies to your pasta sauce. Stick
with red sauce, since white sauce is so high in fat.
•
PB&J: A PB&J, made with white bread using
sugar-filled peanut butter and corn syrup-filled jelly, is fairly void of any
real nutritional value. Try the PB&J Makeover recipe below instead for a
sandwich that will provide real wholesome fuel for your child's day.
5) Ban Sugary Drinks
One of the best things that you can do for your
child's good health is to instill in them a love for water rather than sugary
drinks. Soda pop and juices are filled with empty calories that encourage
weight gain.
The easiest way to do this is to stock your house
with lots of pure, filtered water. Don't have fruit drinks or soda pop readily
available so that they grow accustom to drinking only water.
While I presented these tips as improvements to
be made to your child's diets, these tips will also do wonders for your diet.
Try these 5 tips out for 30 days and I guarantee you'll look and feel better.
Parents all want good things for their children.
Now how about doing something good for yourself as well? You are your child's
biggest role model on how to live, for better or worse.
Treat yourself right by calling or emailing today
to get started on an exercise program that will change your life for the best.
Pay Attention
Here's a tip for kids and adults alike. When you
are eating, pay attention.
Sounds simple, but how often do you snack in
front of the T.V. or eat your dinner while in rush hour traffic?
Paying attention means eating when you are hungry
and stopping when you are full. It means never eating just to eat, but rather
because your body needs it.
Do this and you will quickly reach your ideal
weight.
PB&J Makeover
Not all PB&J sandwiches were created
nutritionally equal. It all depends on the quality of the ingredients that you
use.
If you use white bread, corn syrup-filled peanut
butter and refined sugar-filled jelly, the result would be a sandwich that will
skyrocket your blood sugar, promotes fat storage and leaves you feeling hungry
a short time later.
However, if you make this recipe, with sprouted
grain bread, true peanut butter made from one ingredient: peanuts, and fruit
preserves that are naturally sweetened with fruit juice rather than sugar, then
the result would be a nutritionally dense food that would promote stable blood
sugar levels and provide you with hours of sustained energy.
Your kids will love the fun twist of having their
sandwich grilled and stuffed with banana slices!
Servings: 1
Here's what you need:
•
Sprouted grain bread or whole wheat bread
•
1 Tablespoon pure peanut butter (no added sugar
or corn syrup)
•
1 Tablespoon natural fruit spread (no added sugar
or corn syrup)
•
1/2 of a banana, sliced
1
Spread one piece of bread with peanut butter and
the other with fruit spread. Line one side with the sliced bananas and sandwich
it.
2
In a grill pan over medium heat, grill each side
until grill marks appear and the sandwich is warmed.
Nutritional Analysis: One
serving equals: 380 calories, 8.7g fat, 53g carbohydrate, 9g fiber, and 13.2g
protein.
Call today for a consultation and
fitness assessment
Phone: (219) 548-3480
Web: pumpsfitnessinc.com
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