As many of you know I am a huge fan of Jamie Oliver and share many of the same views as him on the way we eat and the huge problem we face. Jamie Oliver declared last Friday as Food Revolution Day. It was a very simple concept. A day to educate others about what they eat, how to cook, and inspiring others. This is a great way to get people together to enjoy a meal, each other's company, and learn how to eat better. I spent last Friday with great friends eating a meal that was all freshly prepared and absolutely delicious. This is such a great time of year to have days like this. As the gardens are starting to blossom and the weather is starting to get nicer, I can't think of better ways to spend the summer nights. I understand that the Food Revolution Day has already come and gone, but we can continue this all summer long. It can be a weekly event where we have Pot Lucks and fun gatherings with our friends. It is great to share delicious and healthy recipes and also involve our kids in the process of preparing the foods.  It is a shame that recipes are not handed down through generations anymore. We can get this going on again by kids cooking with us adults and hopefully continuing to do so as they grow older.

http://foodrevolutionday.com/

Let Them Be Little

As an overachieving type A mother and a kindergarten teacher that wants everyone of my students to succeed, I find I have a hard time finding the balance between letting kids be kids and pushing them as far as we can. It seems that every year in school the bar gets set higher and higher for young students. I remember when I started teaching first grade, it was our job to get the kids to read in first grade. When I started teaching kindergarten we were happy to give the kids a solid foundation and get them reading basics- cvc words, sight words, and predictive text. Now in kindergarten, we are encouraged (not quite expected) to push the kids even further and have them reading complex text. For this to happen, kids have to come into kindergarten knowing all of their letters, sounds, and have an awareness of phonics and phonemic awareness. Can we get kids here. Some but not all. We truly will be pushing kids beyond their limits and would you rather have your child enjoy learning and reading or see it as a chore and a forces activity. I think we can push our kids but need have it well thought out and make sure our kids are ready to be pushed.
This holds true in sports now too. There are programs out there that get kids started doing gymnastics at birth and soccer at 18 months. By the time a child is in kindergarten, they play a different sport each season. I am a huge fan of getting kids active and I think sports are a great way. I choose to drive 40 minutes for a soccer program. It is not because I want my child to get a head start but more that I want her to learn how to play the right way, have discipline, and also have a lot of fun. Again, we can push our children in sports beyond their limits. Kids can keep going but we need to make sure they are learning valuable lessons and having fun.
So do we push our kids to their limits and beyond or do we let them be kids? I think we need to find the balance. We need to encourage them and push them but stay within means. Let them direct how far we go and always push them a little further than they want to go but at the same time never push them beyond where they can go. My rule of thumb is stop when it is not fun anymore. Revisit it later or try something new. A childhood is such a tiny amount of time in life but it molds these individuals for the rest of their lives. Find a balance in everything and maintain it.

People eat worse after having kids

I wanted to share an interesting article that I recently read on a study about the effects of having children on a parent's diet. The article states that the study was a no brainer and it is obvious parents eat worse after having children for several reasons. This article and study really bothered me not because there wasn't truth behind it but because it is so true in many instances but should not be.
As a parent, we know what is good for us and what we should eat. I have a philosophy that if I am going to feed it to my kids then I am going to eat it and vice versa. I don't buy kid food and I don't buy unhealthy snacks. My eating habits actually got much better and continue to after having children. I have educated myself on food and have seen how food effects the way my kids act and feel and how I act and feel.
Below is a list of answers to why parents don't eat healthier. I think these are bogus. After each answer is my alternative for parents to eat healthier with an easy adaptation. But most importantly know it is ok to sometimes pick the unhealthy as long as the healthy gets chosen more often!

1. Being a parent is tiring, and tired people reach for comfort foods. Maybe because it takes more energy to swallow mac and cheese than to chew lettuce. Maybe because kale doesn't remind you of your own childhood. If you are tired, don't go for comfort but go for energy. Instead of picking the mac and cheese, grab a cheese stick or apples with peanut butter. Even more satisfying. There is nothing worse than scraping the bottom of the mac n cheese pan to still feel hungry and blah. 

2. Tired people also eat sugar. Often at 4 PM.

Cut off all sugar after 4pm that is not natural. If you are craving sweet, grab a fruit. Limit the sweets in your house. If they are not there, you will not eat them. If you are at work or on your way home, pack some almonds and chocolate chips or a fruit.  

3. Being a parent is time-consuming. The days when you could leave work, head for the gym, then stop at the market to wander the produce aisle, are gone. Now dinner is a game of beat the clock, and the winner is whoever gets food on the table before the whining begins.

Healthy hearty dinners don't have to be time consuming. On average, we can get dinner on the table in about 30 minutes using only fresh ingredients including a fruit and vegetable. If you don't have time to shop the produce isle, buy frozen in bulk. Make shopping at a farmers market a fun weekend outing. Join a CSA and have the produce delivered to your house. If you can't hit up the gym, go for a walk, run, or bike ride around the neighborhood. While waiting for your child at their sports event, go for a little run.

4. Kids have working taste buds. The foods they like -- and see advertised, and taste at friends houses -- are high in fat and sugar, and salt. In other words, once they sample french fries they aren't going to be demanding carrots. Plus, they look so darn cute when their faces do that light-up-with-joy thing after you hand over an ice cream cone.

Kids are not naturally picky eaters. Picky eating is a learned behavior. So kids will eat what they get if they don't have an alternative. If there are not french fries at the dinner table but carrots, they will eat the carrots because there is no choice. Sure, they may enjoy foods high in fat and sugar but if they don't have them to pick from they will eat healthier foods. The parents are the ones that do the shopping! 

Then, the ice cream cone starts to melt. And they hand it to you to finish.

How often should you be buying your kids ice cream cones? If they are only getting them every once in a while, licking a melting cone will not contribute to unhealthy eating! 

5. Being "Snack Parent" means eating snack.

Buy healthy snacks so then you will eat the healthy snacks. Instead of supplying fruit snacks, supply fresh fruit or even fruit leathers. 

6. Having snack foods in the house means eating snack.

Again, snacks can be healthy. Buy less processed! 

7. Stopping in just for a minute to pick them up at a birthday party, means eating snack.

Self control! Yes, they look and smell so good but remember you are just piking up. Make a rule that you only grab birthday treats at parties you actually attend. 

8. Pizza crusts have calories.

Start buying thin crust! 

As parents, we care about the health of our kids and we need to care just as much if not more about ours. Our children see what we are eating and will inherit these unhealthy eating habits. While it may be a no brainer that people eat worse after having kids, they really don't need to and there really isn't good reason to. Think of it as a family lifestyle and make a change as a family to eat healthier together.