We all know by now that fresh foods are better for us than processed foods. Let’s spend today looking at our fresh food intake vs. packaged/processed food intake.
The bottom line: we need to put more “real” food in our body. We need to cook more whole foods and get back to basics, which will help lessen the burden we put on our bodies. Think about it in terms of “you are what you eat.” If you consume a lot of junk, your body will turn that into fuel or fat. That junk can get stuck in our bodies in negative ways. We need to keep things moving and in working order.
Think of food in terms of what it does for you and your kids. Imagine if we ate a typical American kid diet of cereal, cheese pizza, cheese quesadilla, fried chicken nuggets, juice boxes, cookies, noodles with butter, sugar laden pb&j…we’d feel like crap. Our bodies would be begging for a salad or carrot stick after a while. Kids aren’t sure how to ask for those things, so the request for better nutrition comes out in things like behaviors and/or back to back illnesses. We need to be giving our children what their bodies actually need and not what commercials try to convince them they need.
Choose one or more ideas from the list below to help get more fresh, whole foods into your family’s diet this week:
- Be sure to include one raw food with each meal (i.e. nuts, carrots, fruits, etc.)
- Do your research: look up articles about how to clean up your eating
- Commit to buying more fresh foods
- Commit to making more of your own foods (i.e. soup in a crock pot made from fresh ingredients rather than a can)
- Make fresh chicken for sandwiches rather than just processed deli meats
- Subscribe to a local fruit & veggie delivery service
- Try new fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis. Let your kids be involved in the picking and preparation
- Talk openly with your kids about why they need to eat fresh foods
- Commit to serving fruits and vegetables on your kids’ plates at every meal, even if they believe they “don’t like it.”
- It takes multiple introductions to a food for kids to try it on their own
- Research the benefits of specific fruits and vegetables and share your findings with your family
- Or come up with your own! Whatever helps you include more fresh, whole foods