I would like to introduce my friend McKenzie. She always has such great advice and yummy recipes which are also good for you! I recently asked her for some smoothie recipes to have for breakfast and they were yummy! I will have to have her on here again to talk about that. A lot of people might have made New Year's resolutions to lose weight and eat healthier (myself included). Well, I thought that it was only fitting to have McKenzie guest post on here with some really good advice for eating healthier by eating the right foods. She doesn't talk about any diet plan (Atkins, Weight Watchers, Slimfast, NutriSlim, etc). So, read and enjoy and I hope this encourages you to have a healthier new YOU for the New Year!
*************
Hi Everyone! My name is McKenzie. I’m a registered dietitian with the WIC
program. I’m lucky enough to get paid to
talk about food all day, while being surrounded by tons of cute little
kids! In addition to nutrition
education, I also write a monthly newsletter for our program that focuses on
nutrition & wellness and daily, I update the Scott County WIC Program
Facebook page with health & nutrition news, parenting tips and healthy
recipes!
I’ve known Bekah for several years and
our husbands have been friends for ages!
I feel so privileged to get the chance to guest post today and hope you
enjoy!
Michelle Obama has done an amazing job
promoting healthy eating & physical activity. Today I thought I’d share with you some
strategies from Letsmove.gov to help you create a healthy home environment in
just a few easy steps! Since children do
not usually choose what to eat and have to rely on what parents purchase, surrounding
children with healthier options ensures they will eat healthier food. Small changes in five key areas can make a
huge difference and add up to real results: eat more fruits and vegetables,
consume less sugar and fat, eat healthier snacks, watch portion size, and eat
together as a family.
Fruits & Vegetables
• Kids
(and adults) should eat five fruits and vegetables a day
• Serve
fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables; they all count
• Provide
fruit or carrot sticks as snacks
• Offer
100% juice, with no added sugar
• Mix
vegetables into dishes, like adding peas to rice, or cucumbers to a sandwich
Healthy Choices to Reduce Fat and Sugar
• Switch
to low- or non-fat milk, yogurt and cheese
• Choose
lean cuts of meat like skinless chicken or extra lean ground beef for burgers
or pasta sauces
• Bake
or grill instead of fry
• Substitute
olive or vegetable oil for butter
• Substitute
water or low-fat milk for sodas or sweetened beverages
• Drink
less soda or sugar-sweetened drinks
• Switch
to lower sugar breakfast cereals
• Switch
desserts like ice cream and cake for fruit based desserts
Snacks
• Reduce
the number of snacks served each day
• Leave
a bowl of fruit or carrot sticks on the kitchen table
• Differentiate
between snacks that require permission (cookies), versus snacks that kids can
take freely (fresh or dried fruit)
• Have
kids drink water at snack time
• Save
"treats" for special occasions
Portion Size
• Kids
are smaller than adults and should eat smaller portions
• Use
smaller plates for kids
• Don't
force kids to clean their plates if they are full
• Portions
should be about the size of the back of a fist—a child’s fist for a child’s
portion
• Start
with a small portion. Children can have seconds if they are still hungry
Eat Together
• Family
meals focus on eating and enjoying food and each other
• Eating
together is a chance to model good behavior
• Regularly
scheduled meal and snack times help kids learn structure for eating
I encourage you to start small. Make it a goal to have your family make one
small change every week. I promise small
steps add up to big change! And if you
want more information, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter (give Bekah
your email address) or “like” Scott County WIC Program on Facebook!
No comments:
Post a Comment