I’ve been travelling for work as well as with the family, and KMDM has had to take a back seat for a couple of weeks.
I think we’ve been doing okay in terms of being mindful of our habits, but I will say that the healthy eating part of things took a bit of a nosedive during our camping holiday. But you know what? I’m ok with that. I think it’s worth addressing here as part of KMDM, because I have been thinking a lot about foods and the wisdom of Total Denial. I’d like to hear your thoughts about this.
We have a group which I’ll call Never Ever foods because I just never buy them and the girls know they shouldn’t even bother asking. These include most individually-wrapped snacks, almost all cookies, pudding and jello cups, microwave popcorn, anything with “helper” in the name of the product, and brightly coloured food products such as fruit-by-the-foot etc.
We also have a Sometimes category, these are not-so-healthy foods we buy occasionally – maybe once every 4-6 weeks – like hot dogs, factory-made frozen dessert products, chips, fast food.
It seems almost arbitrary, doesn’t it? But if I’m totally honest with myself, it’s because I like the taste of the Sometimes foods more than the Never Ever foods (which are therefore easier to pass them by).
Pop also falls into the Sometimes category. For some families it falls into the Never Ever category.
The girls both had birthday parties at the house in the Spring. Both times we served some kind of pop at their meal. We have pop with a meal at home about once in a blue moon. It’s never anything caffinated, just sweet. I’ve made it very clear that it’s nothing but liquid sugar. And we skip dessert that night. They understand that it’s not part of a healthy meal. Birthdays are an exception and they’re happy to get something fizzy to drink. (I figure pop is akin to cake. Both taste good, neither are something you have every day. Or every week for that matter.)
ANYWAY, I was surprised to see that at both parties (keep in mind these are kids 11 and 9) there were kids who refused the pop we were serving. The reasons were varied. I remember one child didn’t like “the fizzy feeling” and another asked for milk. (Yay!) But there were at least two in the bunch who said they’ve never had pop before.
I honestly believe that pop – with it’s totally empty calories and heaps of sugar – has a lot to do with skyrocketing rates of obesity. And it’s cheap too – not as cheap as water that comes out of the tap – but it’s probably the next cheapest thing for people to drink.
I wonder if our treatment of pop as a “treat” is a tactical error. In terms of establishing healthy eating habits in young children, is it better to not buy the stuff at all or have it every once in awhile?
Same with sweet cereals. We never buy it, but I know the girls feels as if they’re missing out. I decided to take a different tactic for our annual camping trip this year. In the past I have always bought a package of “mini boxes” to bring with us. The girls like them because you cut open the box and pour the milk right in, but they also like the fact that one day they’re getting Frosted Flakes and the next day they’re getting Corn Pops. This year I asked them to pick one small box of cereal – any one – and added the proviso that I’d only buy it once a year for camping. They picked Lucky Charms. (Hey, I would have too if I was their age.)
They ate it. The box was gone by the end of the week and they seem happy with the fact that they won’t see it again until the next time we go camping.
I tried some too. It was sweet, just like how I remembered it. It is like having dessert for breakfast.
Anyway, we are all junked out and are climbing back on board the healthy eating train. Here’s the tip for this coming week:
Prepare supper together, there’s a job for everyone. Eating patterns at home translate into what students choose at home.
I have a feeling we’ve done this one already. Oh well. But it’s rather appropriate given what’s been on my mind.
Anyway, as I bring this to a close I have to say that I’m feeling a bit alone in these weekly outpourings right now. I know at least one person out there believes I’m a total kook and thinks that healthy living – at least the kind I’m undertaking here – is totally crazy. This person has caught me at a low point because normally it wouldn’t bug me (38 is great, remember?). I ask you, what is so crazy about eating whole foods? And getting some exercise? And wanting my family (myself included!) to live long and healthy lives?
I am confident I’m doing good things here, but am also feeling like I’m on my own little island, waving madly at an ocean liner full of “normal” people eating spray cheese without a care in the world while their ship is sinking. YOUR SHIP IS SINKING. I’m tossing out life preservers as fast as I can but they can’t hear me over the crinkle of their chip bags and the whoosing sound of aerosol cheese being portioned out on hydrogenated crackers. You know what I mean?
