I have been making lots of changes lately. I have been doing yoga, exercising regularly, and working on creativity through this blog, song writing and crafty projects. These changes are good and I feel healthier and happier as a result. I haven't, however, examined my diet and my family's diet in some time. Whenever you seek to change something it is always good to look at the things that you are already doing right... and frankly I feel like my husband and I eat a pretty good diet and feed our kids well. We eat tons of fruit. We always have vegetables at dinner (and I don't consider french fries or ketchup a vegetable serving). We are VERY moderate in our junk food and fast food consumption. We buy organic milk and eggs and we try to eat organic meats and veggies whenever possible. All in all we aren't doing too bad... but like most things we could do better and so I've compiled this list of things we might change to help us eat a healthier diet.1. I need to plan a family meeting to talk about this list and get ideas from my husband and kids.
2. Keep a food journal for myself and my family for a few days to find out what we are doing wrong and what we are doing right.
3. Make copies of the food pyramids and find out good serving sizes for me, my husband and the kids.
4. Make a list of vegetable side dishes and salads so that we can increase our vegetable consumption and add variety into dinner. We tend to get in a side dish rut around here.
5. Drink more water and help the kids do the same.
6. Make lunch and breakfast more interesting and balanced meals. Breakfast, especially, tends to be rich in carbs... How can we add more fruits and veggies to these meals?
7. Get the kids more involved in planning and cooking healthy foods. Have them make salads and such to increase their interest and awareness of this neglected food group.
8. Improve on snack options. Make a list of healthy snacks and have them ready and on hand so that the kids can help themselves to a wide variety of "anytime" foods.
9. Replace one unhealthy eating habit with a healthy one. Example- make smoothies for a treat instead of heading to sonic for a cherry limeade.
10. Reduce reliance on processed foods. We don't eat too many of these... but there is certainly room for improvement.
Sounds like a great plan! We also tend to eat pretty healthy, but like you said, there's always room for improvement. I've got this idea on my to-do list too. Good luck!
ReplyDelete