Dinner time/Family time

How often do you sit down with your family and enjoy dinner without the TV on in the background? How many days a week do you and your family cook dinner together?

Enjoying food without a TV on, savoring the food your are eating, enjoying good conversation with your family over a meal are all good healthy habits to establish.

If at the very least... turn the TV off during meal times. Pay attention to what you are eating, how much you are eating, whether or not you are full or still hungry.

When we mindlessly eat our food, while watching TV or returning emails on the computer, we tend to consume on average 228 calories MORE in a sitting.

Meal time is a great time to catch up with your kids on their day, talk to your spouse about work, kids, hobbies, or really anything.

Involve your kids or spouse in cooking... assign a job or specfic food to everyone, not only does it help you out, but it is also a great opportunity to talk to your family, have fun with them and teach your children about food and cooking.

Take time to enjoy your food, whether you are in the company of your family or all on your own.

Happy Thursday!

Daily Exercise

What is your daily exercise and how many days a week do you do it?

I think that in order to stay healthy, exercise is mandatory in one form or another at least 4 days a week.

I personally aim to work out about 5-6 days a week, depending on how busy of a week I have going. I try to mix my workouts up a bit from day to day. I don't have access to a gym and I spend all day with my youngest (3 years old)... so I have to do all of my workouts either with him, or when he is napping. I have several workout videos, P90X (which is my favorite), Jillian Michael's Shred, and Charlene Johnson's Turbo Jam. I also own a very basic treadmill that I try to run on at least 3 times a week. I also put my son in his stroller and walk or run with him.
So there are ways to workout if you cannot get to a gym. I am in better shape now, than I was when I did have a gym membership.

Keep in mind that it is about 70% nutrition/diet and 30% exercise in order to lose weight, maintain weight loss and stay healthy.

Happy Wednesday!

Kids meals vs. parents meals

I know a lot of parents that make separate "kid" food for their kids everyday, then go and make a meal for them and their spouse. I have a friend that used to separate dinner time meals, into kid food and parent food. It prompted me to ask her, what exactly the difference was in the two meals she prepared. The kid food in her house was hot dogs with macaroni and cheese or tuna casserole. The adult food were things like; chicken breasts, brown rice and salad or turkey burgers on a whole wheat bun with baked homemade sweet potato fries and a salad.
This confused me... why would you make a separate meal? Why can't kids eat the healthy and wonderful foods that you cook for yourself?
There should be no reason that a parent makes a separate meal, especially one filled with processed junk food, for their children. Yes, kids are picky but the more we cater to their pickiness, the more likely it is that they will not only have a weight issues at some point in their lives but it is also more likely that they will grow up to be picky adults too.

Happy Monday!