My Biggest Loser Blog

If you have kids you know that they can be very adamant about what they like and what they want to eat.

As adults we don’t always eat the healthiest foods- as is witnessed by obesity and rampant disease throughout not only the USA but all over the world. We need to be more aware of what foods are healthy and which foods are unhealthy. And it is never more important than when it comes to our children

The food choices that we make are never more important than when it comes to kids.

Bad food choices are bad enough for adults but kids being so much smaller these bad choices can add up even more quickly.

IMHO toxins in our kids foods can build up to unhealthy levels more quickly than in children.

Do you realize that there are kids foods that your child should not be eating?

For instance, take tv dinners. They are a popular fast food that many parents choose because they are quick and easy. You may keep your freezer stocked up with them for times when you don’t have time to cook a meal or when your child is home alone while you work as they can pop them into the microwave and have a ‘home cooked’ meal in minutes.

But do you realize the amounts of sodium and other items that are excessive and could be very unhealthy? (This applies not just for your kids but you too)

I am not saying that you should throw out all of the tv dinners that you have in your freezer as that would be wasteful. But, be aware and try to make healthier choices from now on.

Even within brands you will find that certain meals have a lot more sodium than others. Try to lean towards the lower sodium/lower fat meals

Even a popular tv dinner that is geared towards children is guilty of the same thing so do not just think that it is for children and should be healthy. Take a few minutes and look at the nutrition chart and the ingredients.

How about crackers? They are a quick and easy snack that is popular not only with kids but adults too.

There is a popular name brand cracker that is geared towards children and yet the sodium levels in these crackers is very high.

A better choice? Graham crackers. They were popular when I was a child and I gave them to my son as a treat too. I am talking about plain old fashioned graham crackers. The popular new ones with all of that sugar and cinnamon on them has a LOT of sugar so feed them to your child accordingly. One of them once in a while would be fine but not large amounts of them.

 

 

Many parents think that fruit rollups are a good healthy snack for kids to get their vitamins.

Many of the fruit rollups that are geared towards kids are actually high in sugar. Check brands and compare. Better yet? Give your child the real thing. An apple, grapes or other fruit is fast food too and is high in vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Keeping fruits and vegetables washed, cored and ready to eat in containers in your refrigerator makes it easy for kids (and YOU) to snack on them instead of junk food. A container (or baggie) of apple slices with a small container of peanut butter makes for a healthier snack ,or meal, choice.

Fruit drinks

taste great and kids love them. The bad thing? They can be full of sugars, artificial colors and preservatives.

Better? Get your kids to drink real fruit juice. Want to send some for your child to drink with their lunch? Afraid of it spoiling? Freeze some in a bottle and put in with their meal in the morning. This helps keep other items cold and will be thawed for lunch time ready to drink.

Prepackaged lunch trays

are a common item for kids. They are already packaged and so are an easy to take meal for your child. But, these items can be high in sodium and other items such as preservatives.

If you feel you need to buy these for your children then at least compare labels and compare ‘meals’ within each label for the best choice.

The best choice would be for you to get your child an insulated lunch bag with a water bottle or thermos. You can freeze bottles of real fruit juice or milk ( even chocolate) and send sandwiches, fruit and prepared vegetables all ready to eat. These are fast and easy too but are full of good nutrition that will help your child to stay healthy, build strong bones and feed their brains so that they do better in school.

Soup

is healthy-USUALLY. Yet again, you need to be checking labels for ingredients and nutrition. Soups that are geared for children do not necessarily mean that they are healthy for kids.

Better yet? Homemade soup. It is not difficult. Anyone can make it and it will be full of good nutrition without all of the sodium and preservatives.

Don’t have time? Make large batches and freeze them in individual servings. Use a slow cooker so that your home made meal can be thrown together the night before and sat in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning just get your soup, or meal, going on your slow cooker. When you and your family come home you will have a good for you home cooked meal that was fast and easy.

Many people have switched from candy bars to granola bars as a healthier snack. BUT, some granola bars are full of bad ingredients too. As with everything else- check your labels.

Another healthier option might be to make your own granola bars so that you control what goes in them. Too hard? No they’re not.

 

Macaroni and cheese

is a huge favorite among kids and adults alike. Some popular brands are geared more towards kids with fun shapes and yet they are high in sodium.

I am starting to feel like a broken record…..uhhhhh…scratched cd :0)LOL

Check your labels people.

A better choice? Home made macaroni and cheese. Use whole grain pasta with low fat cheese and milk. This is easy to make. You can freeze small portions for individual servings to be heated later so making a large batch once every 2-4 weeks takes no more time than making enough for 1 meal and you will be all set for weeks.

Waffles

make for a fast easy breakfast and yet some of the prepackaged waffles you buy may not be the best choice due to high sodium and high sugar content.

Do you ever make home made waffles? When you do just make a double or triple batch and put the extra in the freezer for warming in the toaster in minutes for a ‘home made’ breakfast.

Cereal

? Kids cereals are full of sugar and sodium. Start your kids on the path to good nutrition by starting them early on whole grains. Too late? Try getting them to eat a mixture of whole grain cereal an kids cereal. Slowly increase the whole grain cereal and decrease the kid cereal.

I did this with my son and he likes to eat bran cereal, raisin bran and other healthy cereals

Lunchmeat

? Clearly all lunchmeats are not created equal. Check your labels and be aware that it is much better when you are able to to cook extra meat when you make your meals. Make sandwiches out of the extra. Or, make your own lunchmeat. It is not as hard as you might think and you can control how much salt goes into it, avoid preservatives and unhealthy amounts of fat.

I have told you about many choices that you can make to feed you and your family healthier food. Some of them you would be better off preparing at home. Think that it is too hard to make these items at home? Keep your eyes open as I am going to be bringing you an ebook that will give you the tools you need to make healthier foods for your family fast and easy.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 8:50 pm and is filed under Health, Diet and Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.