Creating a Culture of Health

The other night after having a very health vegetarian dinner, my eldest begged me to make kale chips before he went to bed. I said sure as long as he made them. He took all the time and patience to wash, pat dry, oil, etc. and then all three of my kids devoured them as a snack!

So often I get people saying to me, "My kids refuse to eat healthy food" or "Or I could never get them to eat that, they are picky eaters." 

To that I say, "Fiddlesticks." 

My kids were not born craving kale! And each of them has gone through a picky eater stage. We just didn't cave in. We actually overcame huge hurdles because some of my kids are adopted and came to us only liking chicken nuggets, hot dogs and goldfish. It takes patience and persistence. And if you just keep putting the same healthy food in front of your child, they will eat it! They will not starve. And if you eat the same healthy food, explain its benefits, explain why we don't eat unhealthy food, and let them get involved in the preparation of the food. They will begin to love it. 

And I have to put a note here about healthy food and kids... Giving them processed food that just has the label "organic" on it but is made with sugar or is still candy, is not feeding your kids healthy food. You need to get back to basics. Actually, I think you need to move away from the whole packaging because your kids will not be able to read those labels and therefore will not be able to distinguish on their own what is healthy and what is not. Basic foods, which in reality is easy to do with cut up fruit, peeled carrots (teach your kids to peel them and for some reason they think they taste better), raisins, nuts, etc. Dinner may be a bit more challenging if you are used to pulling out a pre-packaged meal, and, yes, a bit more effort or planning, but not that difficult. My kids love their broccoli at dinner with some rice. Beans are fun with salsa on top. 

Don't go to fast food restaurants.... They will break you down! Just avoid them. 

So, my one child hated and protested green smoothies for a long time, but we kept serving them and eventually he began to like them (try stainless steel straws, a tiny bit of honey and putting on chocolate chip reward at the bottom), but now he asks for them daily, has had huge health benefits where we see no signs of past illnesses, and even wanted them on his birthday as we said he could eat whatever he wanted! I won't say it was easy, because it wasn't. But not everything in life is supposed to be easy. If you want to be a great athlete, you don't get to just sit on the couch.....it is not any different with having a culture of health in your home. You need to work at it!