To know me is to know I am a bit obsessed with healthy eating. I continuously educate myself on nutrition and health, and I subscribe whole heartedly to the garbage in/garbage out mentality. As the mother of three growing boys, there is no doubt that I am in the food business. I am on a first name basis with the greeters at Costco as well as the cashiers at our Whole Foods due to my frequency of visits. From day one, a top priority for our family is to eat well to establish good habits for a lifetime of healthiness. However, educating our sons to practice healthy eating is no small task. Fortunately, all three are naturally lean, active and healthy boys who are ALWAYS hungry. It is extremely consuming to feed these growing boys, however, the most draining part for me is the non-stop mindless carbo pantry raiding that goes on despite all of my best efforts.
On the whole, our home is filled with real unprocessed food for clean eating – fruits and veggies, legumes, hummus, lean proteins. However, as soon as I look away, my boys almost always start in the pantry. I have tried countless and fruitless angles to encourage them to default to fruit and veggies. About two months ago, I started using the phrase: “Food for Fuel, Food for Fun.” Each day, as we prep and eat our snacks and meals, we talk about the difference between eating for fuel v. only for fun. Finally, this concept makes sense to my 7, 9 and 11 year old boys. They understand that “Food for Fuel” builds strong and healthy bodies for having more energy to outrace their brothers as well as friends in sports and games. In our house, “Food for Fun” is just that – it is an add-on, a treat. If the boys make a choice for Food for Fuel first, they inevitably eat less of the fun choice as they are satiated from the fuel choices. The biggest break through is that they understand fuel v. only fun and are starting to make independent choices. It is not perfect, but the boys are more empowered to make strong independent food choices and I am saving time by not micro-managing.
There is no doubt the healthy habits started young, last and benefit a lifetime. Please join our Facebook discussion and share your healthy eating tips.
