New Year's Resolutions.....Bah, humbug!

Happy almost 2011 everyone!

I know the header sounds negative, but I don't think much of New Year's resolutions.  I believe each and every one of the 365 days we are given is a chance to live a healthy life.  We make choices daily on what we eat, drink and do....if you feel in May, you want to make a change, do it!    I find it ironic that New Year's Eve is known primarily as a big night out, special dinner, drinks, partying all night long.....oh, that will make you healthy!

I admire anyone who can decide to make healthy life choices at any time.  Switching to water at a certain point at a party....eating from the veggie tray and not the canapes platter...smoking one less cigarette....walking a little farther....really focusing on portion control when dining.... switching from ground beef to ground turkey in recipes...using chicken sausage instead of pork....getting outside,(weather permitting), to either play with your kids or walk or bike or run...sourcing local produce for your family.....these are resolutions that are managable. 

We all have enough "have to's" in life, don't pressure yourself about going to a gym so many times per week.  Take a look at the opportunities you have each and every day to make your life and your families lives a little healthier....they are out there, and if you are ready and if you look, you will find them and be all the happier for the healthy changes you make.

Post Holiday Health

Hope your holidays have been good  and if it was like ours, it has been full of food!

Our family gathered with friends and family 5 nights over the week leading to Christmas, with a family lunch thrown in for good measure at a lovely Italian restaurant. 

For the most part, the food was great, prepared at home with fresh ingredients and lots of love and care.  The volume of food was absolutely amazing and that is what we all need to be careful of.  At my house alone, for Christmas Eve, our 25 guests enjoyed  a wide array of appetizers, followed by a meal of prime rib, sprial ham, sausage and my daughter's delicious potatoes au gratin and ending with a choice of desserts, fortunately all home-made and light!  It was ridiculous, but delicious.  Multiply that by another night or two,(or three or five!), of similar family celebrations and you are feeling the effects of a little too much rich food and your clothes are not fitting and we have not even arrived at New Year's Eve or day!

The best way to keep yourself and your family feeling good is to choose more plant based foods for meals like breakfast and lunch.  Drink lots of water to maintain good digestive health and get out there and walk, or run, or bike or lift weights or clean your house or watch an exercise show on TV or go to your library and get an exercise DVD and actually do it! 

Exercise Idea for Parents and Kids- Presidential Active Lifestyle Award

Healthy Lifestyle habits begin at home!

Daily exercise by parents and other caregivers will be modeled by children as they age.  Parents, when you make exercise a priority, children will see that exercise is a necessary habit like brushing their teeth.  

Beginning early will ensure that as they grow, they make the time to exercise.  Make it fun for the kids, and set some achievable goals for both of you. 

A good place to start is signing you and your child up for the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA). The PALA program helps parents set realistic goals to achieve fitness for a lifetime. 60 minutes a day for kids and 30 minutes a day for adults will jump start your healthy lifestyle! Kids will enjoy entering and tracking their activity online. In as little as 2 months your family can achieve a Presidential Award. For more information and to sign up go to Fitness.gov. 

So parents let your child see you prioritize your health and pretty soon, you and your child will be exercising together!

Smart holiday eating

Stay away from all the brown stuff!   Eat colorful foods this holiday season.....look for orange carrots, green celery, red radishes and purple grapes!

Book Report- "Little Sugar Addicts" by Carol Simontacchi

A great books for health-minded parents to read  is “Little Sugar Addicts”  by Carol Simontacchi.  This book helps  parents understand how much hidden sugar is in products that are given to children and in food in general.  

Want to know why little Johnnie or Janie can’t sit still?  Check out labels for hidden sugars!  

Label products that end in “ose” like fructose, lactose, sucrose,etc  are sugar. 

Book Report- "The Food Revolution" by John Robbins

A great food book to read is “The Food Revolution” by John Robbins, heir to the Baskin-Robbins company, who walked away from the family business to live a healthier life for himself. 

A section of this book addresses the marketing methods used by food companies to sell products to children.  Any parent interested in their child’s health and well being would be well served to read this book.  

It is available in audio form and my two children were 9 and 7 we listened to this in the car as we drove to school, shopping,etc.  Both my children asked many questions about the marketing methods used, it was their favorite part of the book.  To know that a 9 year old and a 7 year old understood enough to ask questions made me realize as a parent how much we can teach them about food.  It also enabled them to become smarter and savvier shoppers.