Introducing our new Real Food Challenge!

We have heard over and over again, "I really need to cut back on processed foods!" Well, we are excited to tell you about a new program to help you do just that - our REAL FOOD CHALLENGE!

We wanted to make our challenge something that is very achievable, but that would kick start some major health changes - forcing you to kick the sugar habit and get used to more fruits and vegetables. To this end, we have THREE SUPER SIMPLE RULES:

1. ONLY WHOLE GRAINS.* All of your grains (including wheat, corn, rice, pasta, bread, etc.) should be 100% whole. That means brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread (as long as it complies with the other rules), 100% whole wheat pasta.  

2. NO REFINED SUGARS.* This part will be trickier than you think. No corn syrup, sugar, "cane solids." We'll go ahead and forbid "raw" and organic sugar, as well. If you absolutely must sweeten something, you may use honey or pure maple syrup.  

3. NO PROCESSED FOODS. For our purposes, we will define "processed" as having more than five ingredients. 

* Optional "level up" rules:
A) Cut out all grains, or even just gluten. This will be similar to Paleo or Whole30 diets, and can be helpful for short periods. I don't recommend eliminating grains long term. 

B) Cut out all added sugars, including natural sweeteners like honey. If you have a mean sweet tooth, this might be helpful because it cuts out the habit of "sweets" and forces you to find other things and break the addiction. A great option is to use these "level up" rules for the first two weeks and then start working grains and some natural sweeteners back in. 

So what are you left with? You'll end up eating lots more vegetables, that's for sure! Shoot for having half your meals be fruits and vegetables. You can still eat beans, meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, along with whole grains. 

How long will this last? That is up to you! I'd recommend a month, but if that is too intimidating, you can see a big result after a couple of weeks, as well. 

How do I get started? I'm so glad you asked! It is as easy as these 3 steps:

1. Head over and join our Facebook group. This is a great resource for us to share ideas and encouragement, get recipes, and find support when it gets tricky. Ask your questions, share your successes, and make some friends! 

2. There is a pinned post at the top of the page. Just add a comment to that post telling us the day you plan to start, how long you will be doing the challenge, and any extra rules/habits you are adding (Whole30, vegetarian, or any of our "level up" rules).  

3. We will periodically have get-togethers in the Montgomery/Bucks County area to share and try new recipes, connect with others, and really just have a party where all the food is fair game! :) Stay tuned for dates and join us if you can! 

You can do this! We're here to help - come talk to others in Bucks County who are doing it, too!

"Sneaking" veggies into foods

I recently bought a cookbook at a used bookstore - Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld. I took it home and it has tons of ideas about how to make typical kid fare healthy without kids even knowing it. She uses a number of different purees, and there are ideas like this all over Pinterest, from substituting applesauce for oil or adding carrots and spinach to muffins, to using butternut squash and cauliflower to "healthify" pasta sauces.

All of these can be great ways to boost nutrient content in our kids' food, and can be an easy way to add vegetables, which are often lacking. I add things to food I make all the time! I have also been known to completely puree certain soups so that my kids won't see the dreaded onions (or beans, or celery, or whatever is "dreaded" at the time). However, before you start filling up your freezer with beet and spinach purees, consider the following three points about being "sneaky:" 

1. Kids need fat. 

The fat requirement for children is a much higher proportion of their intake than it is for adults. Even if you feel like you need to cut back on fat and oil, using "low fat" or "lite" options, your kids most likely don't. Now this doesn't mean that a diet of deep fried chicken and French fries is healthy, but it does mean if your child has a generally healthy diet, constantly trying to eliminate fats and oils may do more harm than good for their growing bodies. 

2. The trust between you and your child regarding feeding is hard-earned and even harder to win back.

If your child refuses to eat broccoli and they catch you trying to sneak it into a snack, they will be even less likely to try it on their own, and they will suspect every food you put in front of them. The whole feeding relationship is built on trust - your child trusts you to provide regular, healthy meals and snacks, and you trust that your child will eat what they need. When you try and "sneak" them foods they are scared of, it is a breach of that trust, and they will respond by shutting down. So what do you do? By all means, still put that broccoli into a muffin, or avocados into chocolate pudding, but if your child asks, be open about it! And then, of course, give them the option of whether or not to eat it. You don't necessarily have to announce "THIS IS A BEET-CARROT-BRUSSELS SPROUT COOKIE" - that might send anyone running! But you don't want to seem to your child to be going behind their back. Many kids, if they truly sense you aren't trying to push them, will be open to trying new ways of eating. Try saying, "I know you haven't liked steamed spinach, but maybe you'll like it in this smoothie. Want to give it a try?"

3. Still present whole vegetables

Even if your child eats enough pureed vegetables to meet their needs for a week, you still want to give them the option a few times a day to eat whole vegetables, raw or cooked. They may love spinach in a smoothie, but if you eventually want them to eat a salad, you will have to allow them to see spinach leaves on their plate - to smell and taste and handle them in their original form. 

So, in summary, please continue (or start!) bulking up your meals with vegetables - Americans are dreadfully low on veggie intake - but while you do, don't forget to not overdo fat elimination, maintain that trusting relationship above all else, and make opportunities to give them whole produce, as well. 

Happy blending!

Preventing Picky Eaters - workshop 2

Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend with their families. We are excited to clear out all the sugar craziness around here!

Last week was our second installment of the Feeding Healthy Kids workshop series. Here is a quick rundown of tips for preventing picky eaters, based on age. Remember to lean on that Division of Responsibility!

Newborn

• Feed on demand - parents decide what (breastmilk or formula), baby decides when, where, how much

6 Months

• Offer food, but don't force or trick them to eat it. Distracting them will work in the short-term, but will sabotage you later!
• If baby rejects the food 3 times in one sitting, put it away and try it again at another meal.
• Babies still get most of their calories and nutrients from breastmilk or formula for the first year, so the biggest goal in feeding solids is to expose them to foods and help them be physically and psychologically ready to eat solids.
• Expect messes! They are not only inevitable, but important for development.
• Playing with food and other "messy" things (sand, play dough, etc.) helps kids accept textures in their food. Find ways to expose your baby to playful situations with textures.
• This should be fun! Think of it as a conversation, and allow yourself to enjoy your baby during feeding.

Toddlers

• A normal toddler is a picky eater. Most pickiness is normal in this stage, and you can generally just look past it!
• Ignore some silliness - most things they will just grow out of. Save your energy and pick your battles!
• You can accommodate some preferences (broken crackers, cup color, food cooked a certain way) but cut it off when it starts becoming a burden
• Be kind but firm - no short order cooking. Some tantrums will happen :)
• Give some choices (do you want a banana or an apple?)
• Give small portions

Preschoolers

• Get them involved with their food! Have them help cook, pick things out at the store, look through cookbooks, etc.
• Start talking about hunger/fullness, nutrition in a non-threatening way

When to seek help

• Child starts losing weight
• List of "acceptable foods" keeps getting smaller and smaller
• Severe emotional or physical reactions to foods
• If you think it may be due to immature oral skills or sensory issues
• An occupational or physical therapist can help your child develop skills needed to be able to eat food with confidence

This is just the bare bones of what we talked about this week! Let me know if you have any questions! And please join us next time, April 16, for our final workshop! 

"Fruit Salad"

                                                             

One of the most difficult things if you are just starting to implement the Division of Responsibility in the feeding relationship is to get a good picture of what it actually looks like. We had a good example of this today at our house, so I'll give you a glimpse!

My oldest, H (six), has been in a rather picky phase lately. He hasn't liked a whole lot of fruit, but will eat a little if that is what is served. It was 2:30 and snack time - everyone was wandering into the kitchen asking what snack was. I usually try to beat them to it and at least know what snack is before they ask - it helps a TON to cut back on complaining and asking for alternatives if you have it ready!

Today was not that day and after a quick survey of the kitchen I settled on apples and nut butter. Most of the kids happily ate it, but H whined for something else (note, I know that apples is something he complains about but will eat and sometimes likes).

H: Mom, what ELSE can I have?
Me: Well, bananas go well with nut butter, too. You may have apples or bananas.
H: (Groaning) Ugh, but what ELSE can I have? I don't like those!
Me: I'm sorry. That is what we're having. You don't have to eat the nut butter. You don't have to eat any of it, but that is what you may eat now.

I turned to help someone else. We might have had another exchange or two that were pretty similar. But then I turned around and he was grabbing a bowl. I stopped him, thinking he was trying to get something else to eat.

Me: What are you doing?
H: Fruit salad!
Me: What?
H: I'm making fruit salad with apples and bananas and butter!

And he did. He cut up bananas and had sliced apples and then I helped him drizzle his nut butter over the top. And he ate it all. It looked really good, too! I never would have thought to do it that way!

Things to note: It does not always go this smoothly. Sometimes kids simply won't eat it. Or they'll complain the whole time (although you can outlaw complaining about the food). Or they might cry. Hopefully if you are offering at least one item that you know they usually accept, though, the meltdowns will be at a minimum.

This gives a good example of a balance between the parent setting the boundaries and allowing the child some freedom to choose how to execute it. (Note: we are not always perfect at this!) For this particular child, HIS ideas are super important to him, so giving him some say and allowing him to follow through with his ideas within reason is very helpful.

I hope this helps! If I notice any other good learning moments, I'll let you know! Leave your own successes (or challenges) in the comments!

The Feeding Relationship

Did you miss our first workshop on Feeding Healthy Kids? Well, luckily there are two left which will be equally as awesome! Our next is on April 2 and is called "End the Dinner War" - all about preventing and dealing with picky eating. We will be going through the different stages, from newborn through preschoolers (and a little beyond), and discussing how to implement the principles we learned about last week to give your kids the best shot at enjoying a variety of foods.

What are those principles, you say? Glad you asked! Here's a recap of last week:

Self-Regulation
Study after study has shown that children (when left to themselves) have extremely good self-regulation. This means they eat generally according to their internal cues of hunger and fulness, and if they overeat one day, they will compensate on another day. It is important to note that kids regulate over a space of a couple of weeks, not in a single day, so don't be surprised if there are days (or even two or three) when your child eats like a bird and then has three sandwiches for lunch a few days later.

Kids also want to be grown ups. They WANT to eat a variety of foods like you and be mature about their eating! They have a few things holding them back, though. We sometimes forget that this whole eating thing is new for them. They went from eating nothing but breast milk to having to chew and swallow strange tastes and textures like spinach, broccoli, and meat. Some will readily jump in, but others are more timid. It really can take 8-15 tries for kids to accept a food, but most children will eventually eat like their parents.

We see children run into problems usually when well-meaning parents, well, get in the way. When we over-police our kids' eating, whether by bribing, counting bites, or in any other way pressuring our kids to eat a certain way, the kids get stressed out and don't regulate as well, which stresses the parents out, so they police the food even more, and the cycle continues. Pretty soon nobody is happy and mealtime is miserable!

Ellyn Satter's Division of Responsibility
So what do we do? Luckily, back in the 70's, a dietitian named Ellyn Satter came up with a method of feeding kids that takes care of a vast majority of these problems. Her method, called the "Division of Responsibility," is still the gold standard today, and is advocated by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Basically, as parents, we decide the what, when, and where of eating, and our kids decide how much, if any, they eat. As long as we each stay on our side of the line, we can keep most problems at bay. The wonderful thing? Once you have prepared the meal and sat down at the table, your job is effectively done. You can relax and enjoy the meal and not have to engage in power struggles anymore!

What

• Food should be developmentally appropriate
• Generally healthy
• Multiple options (3+ for meals, and at least 2-3 for a snack, usually covering a range of food groups)
• At least one acceptable food (even if it is just fruit or bread)

When

• 3 meals, 2-3 snacks, usually every 2-3 hours 
• No grazing between meals and designated snacks

Where

• At the table whenever possible
• Eat with your child 
• Enforce manners, but not amount eaten

Kids' Job: How much

• Give small portions and encourage them to ask for more 
• Some mess and waste are going to happen
• No pressuring, but light encouragement is okay...unless it feels like pressure :)
• Manage time at the table - it's okay to say "you need to stay at the table for at least 5, 10, 15 minutes." Kids don't need long. Too long a meal is usually a sign you are working too hard!

I hope this helps! If you have any questions, shoot us an email and/or come to our next session! If you would like more reading about the Division of Responsibility, here are some of my favorite resources:

Real Mom Nutrition - love, love, love this blog! She is funny and real and has great insight!

www.realmomnutrition.com

Ellyn Satter's website

www.ellynsatterinstitute.org

WHAT to feed your kids, or HOW?

Most parents are somewhat familiar with WHAT to feed their kids. Doctors give advice about choking hazards. Pinterest gives advice about everything else. Most parents at least have some idea that kids need to eat three meals and a few snacks, fruits and vegetables are good, and processed foods should be limited.

What we are much less familiar with is HOW to feed them. Nobody really tells us that the way we approach feeding our kids can be the biggest determinant of them being a healthy weight, eating a variety of foods, and overall being intuitive eaters. Too often we sabotage our kids' eating because we are trying so hard to get them to eat the way we think they should.

Here are some ways we inadvertently sabotage our kids' internal regulators:

1. Bite counting - When we count bites, we are getting our kids to focus on an external reason to eat (mom or dad's random number of bites) instead of their own hunger and fullness. They get used to overriding and ignoring those cues and eventually can't hear them anymore. Instead, try giving small portions consistently, and allowing your child to choose whether or not to eat it. It takes a lot of trust in our kids, but if you can trust that they want to grow up with regards to their eating, eventually they will!

2. Withholding dessert - "You can only have your dessert if you eat your vegetables!" When we do this, we very obviously set up one food as desirable - a reward - and the other food as a chore. It leads kids to have an unhealthy minset of "this is good for me but I don't want it, that is bad for me and I crave it." Does that sound familiar? It's often the way we think, as adults, and it is harmful even for us! Instead, if you are going to have dessert, either simply offer it after dinner regardless of how much dinner was eaten, or offer a small portion along with the dinner.

3. Short-order cooking - When we give in to demands for something else when the child has already had a few good options (that are part of the meal), we set ourselves up for major frustrations! The child will begin demanding something else more and more, you will get frustrated, and mealtimes will become a time of stress. The child will also be less likely to even try what is on the table, leading to very picky eating and poor diets. Instead, offer 3-4 items at each meal (2-3 for snack), trying to have at least one "acceptable" food (even if it is simply bread or fruit), and then allowing your child to eat as much or as little of what is offered as they want. If you are offering food every few hours, they will not starve, and they will feel like they have the freedom to grow.

4. Eating with distractions - Sometimes you've got to eat in the car. I'm totally there with you. We are busy and it happens...sometimes a lot! Whether it's on the go or in front of the TV, when we allow our kids to be distracted while they eat, they are less likely to pay attention to their own internal cues and either over- or under-eat. Instead, as often as you can, try having sit-down meals at the table. If at all possible, eat with your kids - the more they see you eat appropriately, the more they will want to, too. Your example makes more of a difference than you think!

There are many more examples, but those are some to get you started! We have lots more information to come on keeping your kids healthy, so stay tuned, and if you are in the area, join us this Thursday for our free workshop!

Final Weight Loss Workshop: Nutrition

Well, we have come to the end of our first Weight Loss Workshop Series of the year. I hope you got a lot out of these classes! We will be sending out a survey via email to get some feedback for future sessions, so keep an eye out for that. Also, keep checking the blog and Facebook - we will have more workshop series in the future and will most likely revisit the weight loss series again, so stay tuned! Here is a rundown of our last session:

Goals: Where are you going from here?
We went around the room and shared what everyone's focus was going to be - what goals they have and what areas they are currently working on.

Nutrition Overview
The most basic principles of nutrition are Balance, Variety, and Moderation/Adequacy. Balance means eating food in appropriate proportions. Basic guidelines are as follows:

10-35% of your calories should come from PROTEIN
20-35% of your calories should come from FAT
45-65% of your calories should come from CARBOHYDRATE

You don't have to count calories - please don't! - just be aware that there needs to be a balance, and any diet or program that has you cut any one of the three too extremely is asking for trouble (paleo, anyone?).

Variety is pretty self explanatory - eat a variety. Of pretty much everything. A variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, protein sources, etc. If you do, you'll be covering your bases, likely won't need any supplements, and will have a healthy diet, as long as balance and moderation are used. I tend to laugh whenever a new "super food" is in vogue - there are tons of great foods! If you eat a variety, you will get all the benefit you need from different "super foods" without needing to go crazy!

**Fish Oil supplements** We had a question about fish oil supplements. These are one of the few supplements that it seems are worth taking, since most people aren't able to eat the two servings of fish recommended. Here is a good resource for finding a supplement: http://www.evelyntribole.com/resources/inflammation/omega-3


Nutrition Q&A
We talked about a number of things! You all had some great questions, some of which I (and the scientific community) don't have solid answers for yet. Here are some of the highlights:

Organic food: science hasn't found any solid evidence that organic is better. Eat fruits and vegetables, even if they are not organic, but if you can afford it, feel free to eat organic - there may be a benefit.

HMO food: hotly debated topic. Genetically modifying isn't necessarily a bad thing. The foods in question are those that have been genetically modified to be "roundup ready" - to enable pesticide spraying. Again, scientific evidence is murky. Most evidence says they're safe. Anti-GMO proponents point to a handful of studies that are not very strong.

Additives: Here is the chart of additives that I mentioned in class. It's very helpful and pretty interesting! http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

Emotional Eating
We didn't have time for a lot of talk about emotional eating - just enough to discuss the proper way to emotionally eat! Basically, if you are going to do it, RECOGNIZE that you are doing it, and then enjoy it! Do it mindfully! Here is one of my favorite articles that sums up everything I said, only much better: http://www.fatnutritionist.com/index.php/lesson-four-emotional-eating/

Be sure to join us on March 19 for our Feeding Healthy Kids Workshop!