Book Report- "The Crazy Makers” by Carol Simontacchi

A wonderful book to read on how fast food affects your child is “The Crazy Makers” by Carol Simontacchi.  This book discusses the prevalence of fast food in our society and how it affects long term health and behavior in people in general, not just children.  I particularly enjoyed the fantastic chapters detailing important foods for each phase of development, from infancy to adult. This book is perfect for anyone who is interested in what we need to eat, when we need it and why.   A great resource for parents, care-givers and those who prepare food for others.

Treat your food like its your job

Several years ago I read the statement that if we treated our daily food intake like it was our job we would all eat healthier.  That really struck a chord in me and I realized that I had slacked off in the food department for myself and my family.   Working outside all day teaching PE in the hot Florida sun makes a person tired and the last thing on my mind was going home and preparing dinner.  The man of the house was starting up a new business so he was working all the hours he could to build the business, our children were 5 and 7,too young to be able to prepare much, and I lacked the patience to engage them in the kitchen after working all day.  For someone who had made her own baby food and obsessed about her children's  food in their first 3 to 4 years, I had fallen off the wagon, hard.
Reality gets in way of healthy eating sometimes and prepared food are an easy option to turn to for busy parents, but it is not the healthiest of choices for our families.  After read John Robbins "Food Revolution" in 2006 I made decisions to get back to planning meals each week, taking on the task of shopping with a more critical and careful eye and getting my whole family involved in the food process. That means when I ask for meal ideas, everyone has to contribute, my husband and both kids.  We now have a list of meals that everyone enjoys and we  posted it in the kitchen so we can pull from that list.
Now I make a concerted effort to prep food over the weekend so that when I come home during the week, what I need to finish a meal is done and can be quickly put together.  Crock pot meals have been a wonderful way to ensure that tasty meals await us when we walk in the door.  The book "Make it fast, cook it slow" is an awesome book with great crock pot meals, plus the author gives the verdict of how her family felt about the meal....talk about the perfect book for me!
Treating the food my family and I eat like a job made me focus on the bad food habits we were developing and  helped me clean up what food came in the house and how it was prepared.  Putting your own self under the microscope is hard, but in that one line,"Treat the food you eat like it is your job" I understood that I had relied on other people to do that job, and that was not what I wanted. 5 years later, we eat cleaner, we all contribute to the meal process and we all understand that it is our job to choose good healthy food.  Wow, talk about getting a lot of bang for your buck on one line!

How to make healthy changes....one baby step at a time.

So many of us want to live healthier lives, what we eat, what we do,how we live......as parents we want our children to be the best they can be in all areas of life.  We want them to have a stable home, a loving family, good friends,attend a good school and of course, be healthy and happy.  Saying what we want and doing what is necessary to make those changes are two very different things......old habits are hard to break and changing behaviors about what and how we eat are tough.  Here are some ways to help you and your family live a healthier, cleaner life.

Living a healthy life is about making low-level interventions to your daily life. It is initially cutting back on certain food and drink until you are down to one a day and than none a day.  It is using lower fat/sugar products until it is second nature to consume the healthier product.  It is going to that corner produce stand to locally source your fruits and vegetables. You will not only be supporting a locally owned and operated business but also find a more affordable product and be able to ask questions about where and how the produce got to the stand....try that at a big-box retail grocer!  It is about taking the time to plan your meals and get the stuff you need so that you can prep a crock pot meal a few times per week. Believe you me, when I walk in the door after a long day of teaching outside and I know that dinner is made, I am one happy gal!  It is about making sure your kid's snacks are going to help them perform their best in all areas and not jack them up on a quick sugar rush just to see them crash and meltdown when the sugar high is over.  It is about reading the labels on any food you purchase to make sure it is the best product for your family. 

Living a healthy life is about parking a little farther away from the store and walking the difference in distance.  It is about going for a walk or a bike with your children instead of watching TV. It si about watching an exercise show/video together and getting off the couch and doing it!  It  is dropping one child at the skatepark/beach/practice and taking the other one(s) for a walk...if you are lucky like me, there are safe walks close to all my children's activities. 

Everyone is busy, we all have the same 24/7 to use.....if you can find the time to read this,  if you can find the time to watch TV or facebook or blog, you can find the time to move in a healthy way.  For the most part, living a healthy life is about making those simple daily changes and setting a good example for the next generation! 

What have you done lately?

Okay, we are 4 days in the new year......what have you done to make yourself and your family healthier?   It's hard, I know.   In my house we made sweeping changes several years ago....no soda, eliminating  processed food and a concerted effort by me to spend more time on healthy food preparation.

Believe me, it was difficult for all of us to adjust.  My son loves soda, but I have yet to read anything that indicates anything about soda is healthy so, off the shopping list it went.  There are times I do not want to plan out the menus and make sure everything we want or need is purchased, prepped and prepared, but off I go to the store because I know it is the best for my family.  I realized several years ago that if unhealthy food was in my house, it was because I brought it in.......so I decided to change....and I dragged my family along for the ride!  It is not so bleak as it sounds...if we have a party, I will buy soda and my kids can partake.  We make treats like brownies or cookies, and we can control the ingredients.  Instead of take-out or boxed pizza, we buy all the ingredients we need and enjoy and make them at home.  Does it take more time?  Yes.  Does it taste delicious?  Most definitely!  Are my children proud of the fact that they can create healthy, delicious food?  You bet! As their mom, I could not be more pleased and proud of how accomplished they are when it comes to healthy food choices and food preparation.

Our children need to learn healthy habits at home. Any parent who thinks the schools or community is going to do a better job than them of teaching children healthy lifestyles  needs to think again.  I tell my students at school that I can only account for what they do in the limited time I see them per week. My question to them is,  "what choices do you make at home?"  This is where mom and dad can shine through!