Parents' Money (from Jill)

I read an interesting article lately that was both surprising and upsetting. It talked about a study showing that parents spend more on fast food for their children per year than on entertainment such as books, music, video games and movies combined! Now, that's not ALL food, but just fast food alone. Not to say that there aren't times when we are all too busy to cook and also not to say that there aren't healthy choices to be made at fast food restaurants, BUT, we all know that the choices kids make at fast food restaurants are generally full of saturated fat and "empty calories". So, again, I know there are times when we are running and the drive-thru might be a necessary evil but I thought this eye-opening statistic may help spur us to plan ahead a bit more and pack a sandwich when we think we'll be on the run. Not only is it healthier for the kids but will also help save us lots of money (and fat and calories) at the end of the year :-)

health for the whole family (by Jill)

This week, i read and interesting article that talked about ways parents can help their kids eat healthy and I wanted to share those ideas with you.

1) Don't Nag- being a “food cop” is only going to drive your child further away from our healthy intentions. Rather than watching over their shoulder and what they are eating, try bringing only healthy food choices into the house so that there is not question if what they are eating is healthy. 2) Lead by example. - If you eat right and exercise regularly, studies show that eventually they will, too. 3) Do it for the whole family. – no matter if one person or the whole family is overweight, eating healthy will benefit everyone and prevents you from “singling out” one child who may be overweight. 4) Make it easy- Keep sliced fruit in the refrigerator and other healthy choices at eye-level or out on the table. 5)Give them a say. – a great way to help the kids fell empowered is to teach them what healthy foods are and then let them pick which snacks they’d like to have (that are within the healthy guidelines) 6) Eat together.- show the kids that the “rules” are for everyone, not just them.
If you’d like to incorporate healthy eating but need some guidance, feel free to call and make an appointment with one of our health educators today 

200 decisions (from Jill)

I read a really interesting article this past week and I wanted to share the main point with you. People often lament how hard it is to eat healthy all the time and they say they feel like a "failure" if they can't "stick to a diet". First, let me say that you really want to look at eating as a healthy lifestyle, not a diet. But, beyond that, i thought this article was very interesting because it said that we are faced with, on average, about 200 decisions about food each day. You know you have decisions to make for meals and snacks but this article was also pointing out that every time we see a commercial, an ad in the newspaper or pass by a yummy-smelling bakery, we are constantly bombarded with food images and make split-second decisions right then and there if this is something we are going to eat or not - even if we aren't hungry. So, my point is that, yes it IS hard and you are NOT a failure if you can't "stick to it". What you need are the skills to help you make healthy decisions 200 times a day and working one-on-one with your own dietitian can do that for you :-)