Firstly i need to tell you that i'm not a foodie, a fitness fanatic or a nutritionist. Anything that i share i have either researched myself using books, the internet (and yes sometimes google is wrong) or i have learned from other people. I have my own opinions but believe others are entitled to theirs because of this i would like for you to take the parts of what i'm sharing with you that fit comfortably with who you are and your goals in life and then just discard the rest. That doesn't seem daunting, does it?
Making better choices is a concept that i learned from the prep teacher last year and it's a phrase i use a lot with my children now. It relates very well to selecting what to put in children's lunch boxes. There are everyday choices and then there are better choices. Some of your everyday choices might be great and maybe just need to be packaged a different way (if you are following me down the litter free path) but some you might be feeling a little twinge of internal debate about whether you could be putting something with a bit more nutritional value in instead.
I wanted to share my food philosophy with you, it's an oldy but a goody and its just tweaked slightly to suit my views. It is this:
"Eat everything in moderation: except for those things that have no nutritional value, eat very little if any of these and follow the 80/20 rule"
To break it down.
Part One:" Eat everything in moderation"
Pretty self explanatory, i believe that portion control is a major issue for a lot of people so if we can work out how to self moderate with our food we are already a step closer to our goals. We as parents are also responsible for what we feed our children and how much of these foods they have access to so keep this in mind.
Part Two: "except for those things that have no nutritional value, eat very little of these"
The only thing that we consume that has no nutritional value is added sugars. They have absolutely no benefits to our bodies and, in fact, we don't have an automatic shut off with sugar as we do with every other food. When we eat sugar our brain tells us that we want more and more. Our bodies also have no clue what to do with these sugars as we burn what we can off in energy but the huge excess is just turned into fat. In cave man days sugar (in the form of berries etc.) was harder to come across so they binged on it to get them through harsher times. Sugar is a sometimes-if ever treat. I eat sugar (in the very first post i did mention i'm not a martyr), sometimes a woman needs a chocolate bar but i make a very conscious decision about how much i have and how often i have it. Feel free to research more into this if you like, my suggestion is start with Sarah Wilson's 'I Quit Sugar' books or blog.
Part Three: "and follow the 80/20 rule"
This is a pretty new concept to me personally, i'm guessing it has been around for a while but it's pretty straight forward. If you are making the better choices, as explained above, 80% of the time then the other 20% of the time you can allow yourself a little bit more freedom. For example, if for the whole school week you have filled your children's lunch boxes with fresh fruit and veggies, homemade (sugar-free) goodies and minimal processed/packaged items then i say go ahead and give them chips from a packet on the weekend or a takeaway lunch treat. We have movie night every Friday night and I let my boys pick one thing to share with the rest of the family as a 'movie night treat'. I still believe we need to moderate but we can relax a little on the weekends.
My ideas are never harsh and i don't believe that they are suggested without good reasoning. I would never frown upon anyone who doesn't make the same choices as i do, i would rather use gentle encouragement and education to see if becoming more aware can inspire better choices. I'm flattered if you are still interested and are still reading this blog and i hope that you might be getting something good out of it. I lead by example with my children and i would never expect for them to live any differently to the way that i do. Writing this just fuels the fire and cements my goals, keeping me on this path to a (hopefully) long and healthy life. Always remember: Fuel Smart, Fuel Strong.
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| Here's a picture of some funny carrots that we 'grew' ☺ |
