One of my daughters first words was MORE, and it quickly became one of her favorite words as well. She was a good eater from the start, which I did not take for granted, I knew that was a gift. And I still do and feel fortunate. But I do know the need to teach limits from the start.
I know some of you are rolling your eyes and questioning my sanity at this moment. But one of the biggest problems in our society is knowing limits when it comes to food.
Its not the ice cream chocolate cake desert that makes one overweight, but the double, triple, quadruple serving of it. So its important to start young, because kids from a very early age start to learn that the more the better concept.
So I imposed a rule in my house, I will give my daughter a small serving of something that I know she will ask for more, and then to avoid tentrums and fights, when she does ask for more, I will give her another small serving and say: Now this is it, no more. (One more acabo - famous frase in my household, mix of portuguese with english :)
Since we started using this method from the start it works. You have to stick to it. Never break the rules, kids are driven by predictability.
So if I give her vanilla ice frozen yogurt for desert - her most favorite desert which we have on Sundays - I tell her: One more and you're done. Sometimes she will fight me on that, but since she knows I always stick to my rules, she often gives up in less than 2-3 minutes.
If I think she trully is still hungry or wants something else, I will often offer an alternative. A fruit or something else.
Little by little teaching her to have limits and be able to self control when it comes to food. It is something that requires lots of training... after all, to this day.. if there is a pint of Ben and Jerry's in my freezer I have to exercise my self control not to eat it all at once :)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Juice - healthy or just caloric?
One of the first things most moms introduce to their babies is juice. Juice has had a long term rap as a great nutritious bevarage to offer our children. And I'm not going to argue that it isn't full of vitamins, but lets really pay attention to what we are offering in that one cup of juice.
For example, one cup of orange juice has:
110 calories, 21g of sugar, 2-3g of protein, 0g of fat.
It does have lots of Vitamin C (120%), Folic acid and some thiamin.
A lot of people like to compare it to a can of coke: 140 calories, 39g of sugar.
The juice is a much better choice when given the two. But the argument here is that it does have a lot of sugar, no fiber and you can drink up a glass of orange juice rather quickly.
What we try to promote as dietitians is for everyone to take advantages of the fruit instead of juice. Because with the actual fruit you will get some fiber with it, more vitamins, and are less likely to consume too much sugar in a few minutes gulping it down.
Lets talk on the mom's perspective here: giving kids juice is a good way to get some extra vitamins in them. They like juice, they enjoy it and have fun drinking it. So we should include the juice, but to avoid giving our little ones two tablespoons of sugar in one glass (one glass of orange juice has about the equivalent of 2 tablespoons of sugar!). The best thing to do is to dilute with water, half water. And limit the amount to 2 glasses per day. They should get the rest of their liquids from water and milk.
I can not tell you how many times I've watched mother's put soda in a baby's bottle, or in sippy cups.. yikes! My husband has to hold me back at restaurants and food courts not to go have a little talk with those mothers. Why would you do that to your child! But I digress.. this is another topic all together. For now, just take this message: No soda for kids, even if it is diet! Just no soda, that simple. No gatorade, no crazy waters with extra vitamins, no diet juices. Keep it simple: milk, water and diluted all natural (no sugar added!) juice. When choosing your juice make sure you read the ingredients, it should read: water and the fruit only. Nothing else! (sometimes they add some extra vitamin C, that's ok, just no sugars or syrups).
That was just kids, now for the kids above age of 10-12 and adults. You should really use juice as a once in a while treat. The best thing to do is eat the fruit. That way you are taking advantage of all the vitamins and minerals and also the fiber the fruit has to offer.
The comercials featuring a large glass of OJ with breakfast would do us all a favor if it would just substitute that for 2 oranges instead.
By no means I'm against orange juice, how can I be, Lima is my middle name :). But I like to endorse the fruit instead of juice.
Hint: great summer fun is popsicles! My 2 year old is obssessed with them right now. We make them ourselves to avoid the additives in the store bought ones. Just dilute half juice with water and fill up the molds. Works great and she loves it! For more fun I started dropping a couple of blueberries in the mold too, that way it is 2 flavors in one and she's actually eating the whole fruit while enjoying the popsicle. You may try other fruits too, just cut them up small, strawberries and grapes freeze really well.
Note- juice should not be introduced until the child is at least 6 months old. Before that the only thing they need is breastmilk/formula.
For example, one cup of orange juice has:
110 calories, 21g of sugar, 2-3g of protein, 0g of fat.
It does have lots of Vitamin C (120%), Folic acid and some thiamin.
A lot of people like to compare it to a can of coke: 140 calories, 39g of sugar.
The juice is a much better choice when given the two. But the argument here is that it does have a lot of sugar, no fiber and you can drink up a glass of orange juice rather quickly.
What we try to promote as dietitians is for everyone to take advantages of the fruit instead of juice. Because with the actual fruit you will get some fiber with it, more vitamins, and are less likely to consume too much sugar in a few minutes gulping it down.
Lets talk on the mom's perspective here: giving kids juice is a good way to get some extra vitamins in them. They like juice, they enjoy it and have fun drinking it. So we should include the juice, but to avoid giving our little ones two tablespoons of sugar in one glass (one glass of orange juice has about the equivalent of 2 tablespoons of sugar!). The best thing to do is to dilute with water, half water. And limit the amount to 2 glasses per day. They should get the rest of their liquids from water and milk.
I can not tell you how many times I've watched mother's put soda in a baby's bottle, or in sippy cups.. yikes! My husband has to hold me back at restaurants and food courts not to go have a little talk with those mothers. Why would you do that to your child! But I digress.. this is another topic all together. For now, just take this message: No soda for kids, even if it is diet! Just no soda, that simple. No gatorade, no crazy waters with extra vitamins, no diet juices. Keep it simple: milk, water and diluted all natural (no sugar added!) juice. When choosing your juice make sure you read the ingredients, it should read: water and the fruit only. Nothing else! (sometimes they add some extra vitamin C, that's ok, just no sugars or syrups).
That was just kids, now for the kids above age of 10-12 and adults. You should really use juice as a once in a while treat. The best thing to do is eat the fruit. That way you are taking advantage of all the vitamins and minerals and also the fiber the fruit has to offer.
The comercials featuring a large glass of OJ with breakfast would do us all a favor if it would just substitute that for 2 oranges instead.
By no means I'm against orange juice, how can I be, Lima is my middle name :). But I like to endorse the fruit instead of juice.
Hint: great summer fun is popsicles! My 2 year old is obssessed with them right now. We make them ourselves to avoid the additives in the store bought ones. Just dilute half juice with water and fill up the molds. Works great and she loves it! For more fun I started dropping a couple of blueberries in the mold too, that way it is 2 flavors in one and she's actually eating the whole fruit while enjoying the popsicle. You may try other fruits too, just cut them up small, strawberries and grapes freeze really well.
Note- juice should not be introduced until the child is at least 6 months old. Before that the only thing they need is breastmilk/formula.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Everyone told me this day would come...
Today dropping my daughter off at school was the hardest thing to do! Worse than the first day actually. Why? well, today they were having an "Ice Cream Party" to celebrate the end of school. Okay, call me crazy, neurotic, overboard protective, silly.. whatever you want. But the truth is that I have not introduced my 2 1/2 year old to sugar yet.
I believe in introducing sweets and treats in moderation, to slowly teach your child about these things and hope that they can grow balanced and as excited about fruits as they are about candy. My goal, and recommendation with children is to slowly add treats to their diet, and try to make them as healthy as possible. Why? why not! This is their foundation to their food choices for their lives. So if you can teach them now that you can have your cake and eat it too, isn't that better.
When introducing ice cream, add some sliced bananas, blueberries and strawberries instead of sprinkles, fudge and M&Ms. It is a good opportunity to get some extra fruit intake and make them just as fun as the ice cream itself. There is nothing wrong with a child eating ice cream, the problem is usually on the additives and the portion sizes.
So yes, I was the annoying mother who had to go and ask the teacher to please give my child just one serving of vanilla ice cream, and please add some banana slices and hold off on any other toppings. The teacher looked at me and said:
WHY? is she allergic or something...
No, she is just a healthy child, with a mother concernced about her health and teaching her child how to eat sweets and treats in moderation.
Sure enough the party today will be fun, teacher told me there will be lots of ice cream, fudge, sprinkles, chocolate, and whipped cream. But my little monkey will be having bananas with her ice cream, and I am happy about it!
We worry so much about which lessons they are learning at school, how the teacher was educated, which educational toys they have available, what the curriculum is like.. but we don't seem to pay too much attention to what they are feeding our kids at school.
I would like to think that today at the ice cream party all of the kids would be having fruit toppings with their ice cream instead of suggary toppings.. but that would require some "Food Revolution" to happen... and I will be the first one at the line of battle if that revolution ever gets here!
Power to all the moms who try their best to control what their kids eat! It is part of our jobs as parents :)
I believe in introducing sweets and treats in moderation, to slowly teach your child about these things and hope that they can grow balanced and as excited about fruits as they are about candy. My goal, and recommendation with children is to slowly add treats to their diet, and try to make them as healthy as possible. Why? why not! This is their foundation to their food choices for their lives. So if you can teach them now that you can have your cake and eat it too, isn't that better.
When introducing ice cream, add some sliced bananas, blueberries and strawberries instead of sprinkles, fudge and M&Ms. It is a good opportunity to get some extra fruit intake and make them just as fun as the ice cream itself. There is nothing wrong with a child eating ice cream, the problem is usually on the additives and the portion sizes.
So yes, I was the annoying mother who had to go and ask the teacher to please give my child just one serving of vanilla ice cream, and please add some banana slices and hold off on any other toppings. The teacher looked at me and said:
WHY? is she allergic or something...
No, she is just a healthy child, with a mother concernced about her health and teaching her child how to eat sweets and treats in moderation.
Sure enough the party today will be fun, teacher told me there will be lots of ice cream, fudge, sprinkles, chocolate, and whipped cream. But my little monkey will be having bananas with her ice cream, and I am happy about it!
We worry so much about which lessons they are learning at school, how the teacher was educated, which educational toys they have available, what the curriculum is like.. but we don't seem to pay too much attention to what they are feeding our kids at school.
I would like to think that today at the ice cream party all of the kids would be having fruit toppings with their ice cream instead of suggary toppings.. but that would require some "Food Revolution" to happen... and I will be the first one at the line of battle if that revolution ever gets here!
Power to all the moms who try their best to control what their kids eat! It is part of our jobs as parents :)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Recipe: Turkey Meatloaf - Fer style :)
First of all I have to ask permission to my awesome sister-in-law to let me post this recipe. She was the one who gave it to me, the original recipe, which is delicious. But of course, as a dietitian and a mom looking for different ways to expand my daily menu I twicked it a little. It is a house favorite now, and you can change it up a bit and get great results!
1 lb of ground turkey (use at least 93% fat free)
1 package of dry onion soup mix (they have it in low sodium now)
1 egg (you may also use just the white, I alternate)
2 tbsp of ground flax seeds
2 tbsp of wheat germ ground
Spinach
Mix ground turkey with egg first, then add all other ingredients. The spinach should be cut up or ground. I found that using the frozen kind and putting it in the food processor for grinding really works. Once you have your meat "dough", put it in a baking dish making it into a meatloaf shape. Cook for 30-45 min at 375F.
My daughter enjoyed it and so did my husband! And of course you can vary the veggie. I have tried it with broccolli and cauliflower as well.
The recipe is a good source of lean protein, it is low fat and high in fiber and omega fatty acids.
Enjoy! And share with us if you changed something or added something else to the recipe, get creative.
1 lb of ground turkey (use at least 93% fat free)
1 package of dry onion soup mix (they have it in low sodium now)
1 egg (you may also use just the white, I alternate)
2 tbsp of ground flax seeds
2 tbsp of wheat germ ground
Spinach
Mix ground turkey with egg first, then add all other ingredients. The spinach should be cut up or ground. I found that using the frozen kind and putting it in the food processor for grinding really works. Once you have your meat "dough", put it in a baking dish making it into a meatloaf shape. Cook for 30-45 min at 375F.
My daughter enjoyed it and so did my husband! And of course you can vary the veggie. I have tried it with broccolli and cauliflower as well.
The recipe is a good source of lean protein, it is low fat and high in fiber and omega fatty acids.
Enjoy! And share with us if you changed something or added something else to the recipe, get creative.
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