I recently taught a lesson to kids aged 7-12 years of
age. In my lesson I was teaching about
everything from Diabetes to exercise to hydration (and the sugar content of
different beverages). After the lesson
a couple of kids came up to me and told me what part they liked the best. Others came up to me with their PowerAdes and
decided to drink them right in front of me (to show me that they just didn’t care). Sure you could say they were just being kids
and that’s what kids do. But I started
to think, “Am I the only one that cares about their health?” “Am I too passionate and just need to loosen
up a bit?” “Am I fighting the good fight
that no one wants to fight with me?” I
went back to the key points from my lesson and began to reflect and see if I
was being too extreme. Here are some of
my tips/suggestions:
1. Chow down
on good for you food. Sounds easy
enough, right? Well, the opposite is
actually happening. People are eating junk
and every now and then they’re eating something good for them. We’re a society that lives in the present
moment and doesn’t think to the future when it concerns their health. We need to start changing this around. The majority of the food we eat NEEDS to be
good for us. When I ask the kids what
cereal is better for them, Cheerios or Froot Loops, they know the answer. But when it comes down to the time to decide,
most times they’re choosing the unhealthy one.
The same goes for adults, we know what’s healthy for us but we continue
to choose the foods that aren’t healthy for us.
Health problems, i.e. high blood pressure, high cholesterol, they don’t happen
overnight. Slowly but surely we are
making ourselves sick. Start changing things one at a time. Little by little you’ll improve your health.
2. Limit
fast food. When I was a kid growing
up, eating out was a treat (it was maybe one time a month). The opposite has started to take place –
eating out, whether it’s at a fast food restaurant or an actual sit-down
restaurant, is now the norm. I get it
all the time, “who has time to cook?” and “I’m too tired after work to have to
go home and cook dinner for the family.”
Guess what, I get it. But I’m
here to tell you that if we don’t start changing this around and begin to have
healthier meals at our fingertips, this obesity pandemic is only going to get
worse. There was a segment on the Today
show the other morning when I was at the dentist office showing fast foods that
would be the “better choice” when you eat out.
The last thing Carson Daly said before they broke to commercial was, “okay
so the lesson here is that fast food isn’t bad.” Wrong, wrong, and WRONG! The dietitian on that segment simply was
telling you what you wanted to hear. Now
if they had called the segment, “what to eat at a fast food restaurant if you
HAVE to eat there” I would’ve been okay with that. But the way they made it seem was that it was
completely okay to eat fast food. It’s
not. I know it’s not what you maybe
wanted to hear, but remember I want you to be healthy and fast food isn’t part
of that plan. I often joke to my friends that I’m Rachel Ray (aka Raquel
Rayo) and while I don’t think she’d find it amusing, her concept of 30 minute
meals is genius. Who wouldn’t want to prepare a meal for their
family in that amount of time? It can be
done; it just takes a little bit of planning and teamwork.
3. Exercise
– Just do it! Nike’s famous motto or Amy’s
advice to clients when they try and tell me all the excuses in the book. Exercise has too many benefits to NOT be doing
it. What I always tell kids when I’m
teaching them is to find what it is that they love and then they’ll want to do
it (not to mention the time will fly). I
used to be one of those people who never used to exercise. I started doing a sand volleyball class and
the rest is history. Again, find what
you love – zumba, hiking, swimming, biking – the sky really is the limit. Exercise will give you more energy and even
helps to put you in a good mood. 2
benefits we all could use!
4. Limit sugary
drinks. This one is real simple
advice, “drink water”. It has no
calories, no crazy colors AND it quenches your thirst. Again, not what you wanted to hear, but it
really is just that simple. I’ll even
go as far to say that drinking juice is as bad as drinking a soda – that’s
right, while it may have some vitamins, it still has the same amount of
sugar. Sugar is sugar and no one needs
that much in a beverage. Eat the fruit
and get some fiber while you’re at it! Limit
those empty calories that we sometimes forget to include in our total calories
for the day. And as for all the sugar
substitutes that are out there – while they may not contribute to extra
calories that you take in during the day know they’re not good for you. I know that we all have a vice and for me
mine is coffee. So maybe for you yours
is diet soda. My advice: start limiting those diet beverages and start
drinking more water!
That’s just a handful of simple tips/suggestions to get
people started to a healthier way of life.
I don’t think it’s extreme nor do I think that it’s impossible to
do. Just think of me as your number one
advocate to being healthy – I’m here to help, especially when it comes to the
kids. If we start them at a young age
odds are they’ll continue to make healthy choices throughout their life.
