Eating Healthy for the Whole Family

Author: Shannon Miller

Pull together the troops, Mom – it’s time to get everyone on that healthy eating track.

Your kids may not be crazy about eating healthy now, but they’ll thank you for it later – I promise!

So, the question is,

how do you kick healthy eating into action?

• Make breakfast a priority every morning.  Some healthy options include whole grain cereal (i.e. Raisin Bran) or whole wheat toast and jam.
• Break that stereotype that healthy foods don’t taste good.  Teach your kids that they can, in fact, taste very good!  Make macaroni and cheese with fat-free or low-fat milk.  Rather than a fast food burger, feed your kids a PB&J for lunch.
• Rather than refined-grain foods (i.e. white bread, white rice, and white pasta), choose whole-grain foods (i.e. whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, and brown rice).
• Make it a habit to reach for fruits and vegetables as snacks.  Keep a large bowl of fruit salad in the refrigerator, buy bags of mini carrots, put a classic kid favorite like peanut butter together with a healthy vegetable like celery.
• Limit the amount of sweets that you keep in your house.  If too many sweets are available, the healthy stuff won’t stand a chance!

TIP: What will you do this week to get you and yours eating healthy?

Source: “Energize Yourself and Your Family.”  Weight-control Information Network.