Food And Healthy

You already know how important it is to make healthy food choices for you and your family. But how can you fit the best choices into your busy life?

You'll be pleased to discover that a hectic life doesn't mean that every meal has to be fast food on the run! Sometimes it's difficult to make healthy changes, but with a little planning and know-how, it can be done.

Here are some strategies to help you and your family make healthy choices:

1. Avoid temptation. It's so easy to walk into the store with good intent, but walk out with bags full of unhealthy foods. Unfortunately, our wills are weak, especially if we've trained ourselves over the years to buy junk foods.

* Never shop when you're hungry. This way you won't pick out unhealthy choices because they look good at the moment.?

* Get rid of the unhealthy foods in your home. If they aren't around, you won't be tempted to eat them.

* Think of healthier alternatives to your family's favorite unhealthy foods. Rather than high calorie chips, try trail mixes or rice cakes. Low calorie puddings or frozen yogurts are better alternatives to higher fat ice creams.

2. Eat fast and healthy meals at home. When you're tired at the end of the day and you realize you still have to feed the family, it's easy to go to a fast food chain and throw fast food on the table. It may save some time, but it won't save your health – or your pocket book!

* The great thing is that there are many easy, fast, and healthy foods you can make at home. This takes some planning, but you'll be more satisfied, save money, and be healthier as well.

* Look online for quick and easy recipes made with all natural ingredients. Many recipes can be made in 30 minutes or less and only have 5 ingredients. Taking the time to do some recipe research will save your sanity in the long run. Then once you find a "hit" with the family, store the recipe in a book or on your computer.?

* When you cook, make large batches and freeze the leftovers. This way, you'll already have meals in the freezer that you can just thaw, heat, and serve. No muss, no fuss! This is the opportune way to enjoy "fast" food at home.

3. Eat Slower. Since the brain takes about 20 minutes to get the signal that the stomach is full, if you eat too fast you'll pack in a lot more food than you need. When you're still thinking you're hungry, it's easy to make the wrong choices about food. If you slow down while you're eating, you'll eat less and you'll still feel full.

* Set a calming mood before sitting down for a meal. Avoid having the television on or eating as you're rushing the kids out the door to another activity. Sitting calmly at the table will allow everyone to relax and enjoy their meal.

4. Make dinner time a social experience. Dinner should be about enjoying your company and taking pleasure in the foods you're eating.

When you begin to look at mealtime as a social experience, it becomes easier to make the right choices about healthy foods. Suddenly you aren't so worried about rushing through and making it quick.

Dinner becomes a great experience when you're able to enjoy healthy foods together. Take time to eat as a family and enjoy a real conversation with each other. Talking will naturally slow down your eating pace, while also reconnecting you with your family members.

Using these techniques will bring all kinds of healthy benefits to your family and teach your children a healthy lifestyle. Healthy food choices are a possibility in your busy life if you take the time to plan ahead and make dinner time a priority in your home.

Adolescence seems to be synonymous with erratic eating habits as the typical teenager's life fills up with friends, sports and homework. Yet, adolescence is also a time of rapid growth and development that makes healthy eating habits even more important. Therefore, it is critically important that teenagers are encouraged to make nutritious food choices.

What can you do to improve the health of your teenager?

Teens have the freedom to make their own choices, and are eating out more, visiting fast food restaurants more often, and getting their lunches from school vending machines.

Expecting teenagers to bring a brown bag lunch to school when their friends are eating at fast food restaurants, or to snack only on carrot sticks when everyone else is eating chips, probably is not realistic.

With teenagers, it works best to teach them how to make better choices (even if they are not perfect choices) whether they are eating at home, school or in restaurants. Improving eating habits among teens is crucially important for two reasons (among others): building strong bones and preventing obesity.

• The foundation for a lifetime of strong bones is built during the teen and young adult years until about age 30. This represents their peak bone mass - the strongest their bones will ever be. Yet, research indicates that teenagers are not getting nearly enough calcium to build strong bones and that can lead to osteoporosis later in life.
  
  
• Maintaining normal weight is critically important since obesity often leads to diabetes-type 2, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, conditions once seen most commonly in adults. For adults as well as children, the best way to treat and prevent these problems is a combination of healthy diet and exercise. In addition, positive eating patterns fostered during the teen years are very likely to last a lifetime.

Tips for parents

• Teach teenagers that eating "healthier" does not mean giving up their favorite foods altogether. For many teenagers, it means cutting down on portion size and adding foods with nutritional value to their diet - having a smaller bag of chips along with an apple or switching from higher fat chips to pretzels, for example.
  
  
• Acknowledge that teenagers will eat fast foods, yet encourage buying the smallest portion sizes available or sharing a super-sized meal with a friend. Also, encourage teenagers to make beverage choices that are nutritious, such as milk, rather than always selecting sodas.
  
  
• Model good behavior - eat well, exhibit a healthy attitude toward food, display a good body image and lead an active lifestyle yourself!
  
  
• Encourage nutrition label reading. Emphasize key teen nutrients that may be in short supply - such as calcium and iron. Starting the day with a bowl of cereal with milk is a great way for teens to get more calcium.
  
  
• Remind teenagers to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Skipping meals does not help with weight loss and it might keep them from getting all the nutrients they need.
  
  
• Encourage teenagers to choose an activity they enjoy and to exercise for at least 30 minutes to 60 minutes most days of the week.

At times, it may be hard to believe that teenagers will grow up into individuals who will make good decisions about their nutrition and activity choices; however, your nutrition education efforts will go a long way toward helping them to do just that.