There is this recent movement in the parenting world that involves making healthy, fresh fruit and vegetable purees and hiding them in regular meals such as macaroni and cheese, or lasagna, burgers and cakes etc. Now I am all for getting veggies into your children, but I think hiding veggies can get dangerous since you take away the look and feel of nature's bounty and ingrain in your children that eating foods such as mac and cheese, pastas, burgers etc. is the way to eat. By all means, hide some veggies in food for extra nutrition, but why not try and offer your child the real deal too? And maybe experiment with ways to make fruits and veggies fun. I know my 4 year old loves salad flowers (I just slice cucumber, grape tomatoes and carrot sticks and design them in flower shapes). And this evening she willingly ate raw spinach in her whole wheat pita with hummus, red onion, olives, avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers and I felt so excited that she is embarking on what I pray to be a lifetime of healthy choices.
With the obesity dilemma and growing disease in children and young adults,there is rising interest in how to get our children to eat better. Though some people may feel that their children are OK if they are eating 'kid food' as long as they are not overweight, but it is creating a habit in them that will stay for a long time, and healthy habits form early on. I urge you to show your children real, raw veggies. Maybe even make some fun out of it if you can - get some broccoli and kale, spinach, radish, apples etc and paint, take it all outside and make some art with it. Get your kids to wash veggies. Getting them familiar with the look and feel gets them used to it and less afraid of it. The food they should fear more is ironically the food most kids gravitate toward. And it really is a parent's or caregiver's job to promote healthy eating. If my daughter had it her way she would eat pancakes with syrup for breakfast, mac and cheese for lunch and dinner, and crackers and cookies in between. But with my loud and passionate encouragement (gentle doesn't work at my house!) she knows that eating fresh fruit and vegetables is a necessity every single day.
It is a constant effort to get children to make good choices, food and otherwise. But like everything in parenting, consistency is key. Never give up and in time, your kids will see the benefits of eating vegetables and fruit in their natural form, and they will do it. You just have to keep offering and lead by example. They will ultimately copy you.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Information Fast
In a world that is ever addicted to information, I have decided, somehow that in the coming weeks I will be going on a short information fast. Studying nutrition is so enlightening and invigorating for the mind and body and I am constantly learning new ways to fast/detox the body. But even with a physical detox, you can still feel 'full' spiritually and mentally.
I have a clean philosophy in the way I eat and how I live. There isn't much clutter in my house, not much on the walls, very neutral colors and little furniture (I'm not talking white walls, white floors and a table in the middle of the room - my house is just not overcrowded). It is due to my oversensitivity to information. Everywhere we look we are absorbing whatever we see, whether it be a conscious decision to do so or not. When we go online, every bit of space on a web page that can be filled with ads or information is at capacity and looking at a web page is like a power surge to the brain. In 5 minutes online I can read about 15 different (useless) stories that I will remember. And checking facebook and other social networks just adds to the mind noise. I really do not need to know every detail of everyone's life all throughout the day. Don't get me wrong, I am not against facebook, social media or the internet (I am addicted to the net) but I think just as we detox from junk food, we need a detox from all the junk-ersation and junk-ormation. A detox from all the inane babble that is truly meaningless and fruitless.
Things like having the TV on in the background, or surfing the net for things you don't need, or window shopping, listening to the radio in the background - it just adds to stress levels and prohibits your ability to truly slow down, breathe and feel connected. Even when you think you're unwinding you might be listening to music or reading a book, but both are affecting you, causing your body to respond. Our addiction to noise and information makes us so scared to be silent, to be thoughtless.
I confess I was never this sensitive to information and conversation before. I was an information and noise junkie and I am known to be excessively verbose and I apparently talk non-stop. But as I get older, I become more sensitive, just like my mum, to noise that I needn't hear. And I am irate at myself for surfing the net and absorbing information I don't need to know on a daily basis. So with that, I declare my intention to detoxify my soul of the unnecessary noise for at least one day sometime this summer. I would ideally love a day of silence, but as a mother of 2 I think that may impossible (my 4 year old daughter would be distraught that mommy isn't talking.) Instead I will stay offline, not listen to music, not watch the television or shop. I will enjoy the silent moments, the sound of my children (unless they're crying...that just grates on me but I will try!), the sky, the trees, the Potomac river. I will let you know when I decide to do it - I don't have the willpower to attempt it anytime soon!
It's the intention though, right?
I have a clean philosophy in the way I eat and how I live. There isn't much clutter in my house, not much on the walls, very neutral colors and little furniture (I'm not talking white walls, white floors and a table in the middle of the room - my house is just not overcrowded). It is due to my oversensitivity to information. Everywhere we look we are absorbing whatever we see, whether it be a conscious decision to do so or not. When we go online, every bit of space on a web page that can be filled with ads or information is at capacity and looking at a web page is like a power surge to the brain. In 5 minutes online I can read about 15 different (useless) stories that I will remember. And checking facebook and other social networks just adds to the mind noise. I really do not need to know every detail of everyone's life all throughout the day. Don't get me wrong, I am not against facebook, social media or the internet (I am addicted to the net) but I think just as we detox from junk food, we need a detox from all the junk-ersation and junk-ormation. A detox from all the inane babble that is truly meaningless and fruitless.
Things like having the TV on in the background, or surfing the net for things you don't need, or window shopping, listening to the radio in the background - it just adds to stress levels and prohibits your ability to truly slow down, breathe and feel connected. Even when you think you're unwinding you might be listening to music or reading a book, but both are affecting you, causing your body to respond. Our addiction to noise and information makes us so scared to be silent, to be thoughtless.
I confess I was never this sensitive to information and conversation before. I was an information and noise junkie and I am known to be excessively verbose and I apparently talk non-stop. But as I get older, I become more sensitive, just like my mum, to noise that I needn't hear. And I am irate at myself for surfing the net and absorbing information I don't need to know on a daily basis. So with that, I declare my intention to detoxify my soul of the unnecessary noise for at least one day sometime this summer. I would ideally love a day of silence, but as a mother of 2 I think that may impossible (my 4 year old daughter would be distraught that mommy isn't talking.) Instead I will stay offline, not listen to music, not watch the television or shop. I will enjoy the silent moments, the sound of my children (unless they're crying...that just grates on me but I will try!), the sky, the trees, the Potomac river. I will let you know when I decide to do it - I don't have the willpower to attempt it anytime soon!
It's the intention though, right?
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Beautiful Sedona
I have been absent from blogging recently as I went away to Arizona to visit family. During our trip, we went to Sedona, known for its magnificent red rocks and beauty, and its spiritual centers and retreats. I wish I could have spent more time there! I very carelessly forgot to take my camera but thankfully my phone was alive and took some mediocre images.
I also found a fabulous organic, vibrant, family-owned cafe called ChocolaTree http://www.chocolatreecafe.com/ - I bought some delicious brownie bites made with raw cacao - yummy and a superfood. It doesn't get much better than that!
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