Help your whole family shape up and feel great with a get-healthy plan that offers something for everyone.
By Nicci Micco
ALL YOU Magazine
Losing weight and exercising regularly sounds pretty simple - in theory. Chances are you've tried to adopt good habits and instill them in your family. But somehow all your best intentions end up lost in the whirlwind of household comings and goings.
It may be time to take the team approach. Let go of the idea that you're alone in the fight against fat. Rally your whole family to get involved and support each other. You'll direct them - consider yourself the family's newly appointed CEO of health - but everyone will play an active role. In one month, you'll all be leaner and healthier, and you'll stay that way, thanks to the simple changes you'll make along the way.
Week 1: Audit Your Fridge
Your goal this week: Identify "good" and "bad" foods
Call a family meeting and get your kids excited about health. Say "We're going to talk about how eating better can help you make the basketball team."
- Make a chart - Choose a secretary, who will divide a piece of poster board into three columns and label them "Go" (foods you can eat whenever), "Slow" (those you'll eat sometimes) and "Whoa" (special treats).
- Examine your foods - As a family, go through the freezer, refrigerator and pantry and - using the chart as a guide - decide which category each item belongs in and write it on your chart.
- Hang up your chart - Leave it near your refrigerator. Discuss which "go" foods you'll eat more of - and new ones to add - as well as which items from the "whoa" list you can give up. You can help by buying fewer "whoa" foods.
Learn what you can really eat! Make sensible eating choices easy - no diet required. Try picking fresh foods and avoiding processed ones. | | GO Foods Eat these almost any time: They're nutritious! | SLOW Foods Eat these occasionally- at most, a few times a week | WHOA Foods Eat these once in a while or as a special treat | | Vegetables | Fresh, frozen, and canned veggies, without added fat and sauce | Veggies with added fat and sauce Oven baked French Fries Avocado | French Fries and other deep-fried vegetables | | Breads and Cereals | Whole-grain breads, pitas, tortillas and pasta Brown Rice Unsweetened whole-grain cereal | White bread, rice and pasta Taco shells Cornbread Biscuits Granola Waffles Pancakes | Croissants Muffins Doughnuts Sweetened, refined cereal | | Milk and Milk Products | Nonfat or 1% milk Low-fat yogurt Part skim, reduced fat and fat free cheese | 2% Milk Processed cheese spread | Whole milk Full fat cheese Full fat cream cheese Whole milk yogurt | | Meat, Poultry, Eggs, and Beans | Extra lean ground beef, chicken, and turkey without skin Canned tuna in water Baked, steamed or grilled fish Lentils Tofu Egg whites | Lean ground beef Ham Chicken and Turkey with skin Low fat hot dogs Canned tuna in oil Peanut butter Nuts Whole Eggs | Untrimmed beef and pork Ribs Bacon Fried chicken or fish Chicken nuggets or fish sticks Hot dogs Lunch meats Eggs cooked with fat |
Source: Adapted from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For the complete chart, go to www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/and click on "Live It," and then "Good Food that's Good for You." Keep up the good work and stick to your healthy changes. Apply red stickers to the packaging of "whoa" foods. Seeing red will make you reconsider that treat, and it will alert kids that they should check with you before digging in. Copyright © 2007 ALL YOU magazine. All rights reserved. |