The KMDM activity we drew last week was about the stuff we drink:
Stop the pop! And drink more water. Flavour it with lemon or a sprig of mint. Cola adds extra calories to our diets. Studies show that drinking large amounts of cola may contribute to obesity.
I was struck by the word “may” in this one, because I am fairly certain it was a foregone conclusion.
Water is good. Here is a glass which has been decorated by a slice of lemon. There will be no scurvy in this house. No sir. There will only be lemony goodness.
As I mentioned last week, Emma handed this tip to me with a smile and a big declaration of how EASY this was going to be. After all, we aren’t big pop drinkers.
That very night we went to see Toy Story in 3D (I recommend it!) and found ourselves happily settled into our seats with both popcorn … and pop. We totally forgot. It was as if KMDM didn’t exist. Woody and Buzz Lightyear erased our brains completely.
Other than that minor setback, we did just fine – as we always do – with milk, water, juice (in the mornings) and coffee (for me). In fact, we had a very hot and sticky family outing in the middle of the week (more on that later) and fought the urge to hydrate ourselves with cold caffeinated beverages (for Mark and I) and a cold sugary treat for the girls. We bought 1.5 litres of water instead. And felt better for it.
I feel like this particular challenge was a bit of a cheat because we drink pop so infrequently. I’d be interested in knowing (and am not sure how I would find this out) where and how most of the purchased pop gets consumed. (Because good lord, it’s so cheap. Every time I turn around there’s a twofour of pop on sale, or two litres for 99 cents.) Where does it happen? At the dinner table? In front of the TV? Regardless, it’s liquid dessert, and it’s a huge reason why our society is battling obesity right now. If someone wanted to lose weight I bet they’d go a long way just by cutting out sugary drinks (I’m lumping things like Koolaid and fruit drinks in here too).
ETA: check out this article in the Globe and Mail about iced coffees and juice smoothies.
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This post is part of the Know More Do More initiative which was spearheaded by the Champlain Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Network. KMDM is about empowering parents and inspiring them to take charge of their children’s health by taking easy steps to increase activity levels and improve eating habits. I’m one of two champion families who has been asked to take this challenge. You can join too. Check out the official website for more information. If you’re blogging about your participation, please let me know so we can cheer each other on! You can read all of my past weekly challenges here.
p.s. i’m no longer tweeting for KMDM. If it is kept up you will be able to follow along here.
