How To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthier!

So today I want to give you some tips on how to get your kids to eat a little bit healthier, and teach them why we do the things that we do.

So the first thing is protein, we all know that we struggle to get our protein in. Most of our diets are high in fats and carbs, which is okay to have those foods. It's okay to eat fats and carbs. But we want to get enough protein in, we want to have, lean strong muscles. We want to have strong bones and getting that protein in is really going to help that so we want to teach our kids about protein, teach them what foods have protein.

So how do we do this?  Instead of giving them the option of chicken or french fries, let's give them the option of grilled chicken or chicken nuggets and not give them an option to not eat protein. So make sure there are two different kinds of proteins, it's okay for them to have the french fries. So if your child picks the chicken nuggets and french fries, that's totally great. So we're going to explain to them that the chicken nuggets are their protein, and we want to eat that first. So teach them to consume the protein first so that way, we're not filling up on the carbs- french fry first, we need to let them know why protein is important to get. We want to have strong muscles, you want to have strong bones, and that way they can understand why they're getting that protein and why they need that protein.

So focus on getting three whole meals with veggies. This will teach them to understand the concept of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner and having two snacks throughout the day. That's something that's really important to keep their blood sugar levels, even throughout the day just like yours.

So we will have three meals and two snacks and really incorporate protein into all of those meals. So then let them choose their carb and try to give them two options of a veggie just like with the protein. So don't give them the option to not pick a veggie, but give them the option to pick out of two different kinds of vegetables. We really want to keep them from having just a million snacks throughout the day. That's why we want to have the three meals and two snacks so they're still getting their snacks or getting in the foods that they want and they enjoy, but they're not just snacking all day and then getting full on that and not eating their whole meals.

Something I really like to do with younger kids is rewarding them with maybe $1 or a star on their chart for drinking water. So getting in water with all of those meals and snacks and then extra water you can give them rewards for having extra water throughout the day.

Also, Something I really like to do with my kids is do little fun quizzes on what's on their plate, have them tell me what's a protein, what's a fat and what's a carb and make sure that we have something in those groups on their plate at all times.

So they have a balanced plate. We're not restricting anything. We're not taking out any fun foods. We're teaching why we need protein, why we need veggies, why we need fruits in our diet, they're still allowed to have their french fries and their fun foods, their cookies and things like that. We're definitely not restricting their diet, but giving them the good whole foods that are going to keep them growing and keep them strong as they get older. And it's also going to teach them as they get older. The importance of having protein, veggies, fruit, and having a well-balanced diet. Because what happens is, is when we're young and we eat a lot of carbs and fats and a lot of snacks, as we get older, we carry that with us. So it's really hard as we get older to learn that We need to eat protein, and have vegetables and fruit in our diet. We say we don't necessarily like those things. But it isn't really that we don't like them that we're just not used to or not customed to eating those things as we were younger. So it's hard to change those habits as we get older.

So that's why with your kids right now, by you setting a great example of having a healthier diet and teaching them that have balanced and be flexible with their diet, they're still able to have fun foods, but we still want to get in our protein and our veggies and our fruit. That's our top priority in our day of eating, teaching them that and showing them by example, they're really going to learn and be able to carry that with them as an adult, and it'll be easier for them to have a healthier lifestyle as an adult if we incorporate those things where they're younger.

And again, I'm definitely not saying to restrict your child's diet in any way. If anything, I'm saying give them more because they're probably not getting enough protein.

Give them two options of a protein, two options of a veggie. If they're saying they don't like fruits, two options of fruits, don't give them the option to not pick a food group, give them two different options in that food group. And they'll pick one because they're going to pick one or the other. They're not going to say I don't want anything, kids are smart, they still know that they need to eat, they still know that they're hungry. And if you give them the option to not pick a protein, they will not pick it, so give them two options of their protein and they'll pick one of them.

 I hope these tips helped you a little bit to help incorporate healthier eating within your family, whether they're young kids or older kids. It's a great time to start right now especially since you are working on your health and you are setting a good example. It's a great time for you to start talking about food with your kids and really getting them to learn what foods are and it will help them throughout their life as they become a young adult and into an adult and be able to pick healthy foods that fuel their life in their body.

Please let me know your thoughts!