New Healthy Eating!

With school starting, mom's are busy getting school supplies, new cloths for their kids, and new schedules.  However, another important thing to consider are new healthy meals!  For years, the reference has been my pyramid, but as of this year a new logo and guideline has been created.  It's always good to review the new eating guidelines and incorporated them into your daily lifestyle.


Below are the new suggestions.  Stay tune for some fun kid meal ideas!  Remember, a positive attitude about health is important to show your children.  Eating healthy and being active should be viewed as fun and enjoyable.   Check out choosemyplate for more information!


Eating Right

1- Make half your grains whole. Choose whole-grain foods, such
as whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, and low-fat popcorn, more often.

2- Vary your veggies. Go dark green and orange with your
vegetables—eat spinach, broccoli, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

3- Focus on fruits. Eat them at meals, and at snack time, too.
Choose fresh, frozen, canned, or dried, and go easy on the fruit juice.

4- Get your calcium-rich foods. To build strong bones serve
lowfat and fat-free milk and other milk products several times a day.

5- Go lean with protein. Eat lean or lowfat meat, chicken, turkey,
and fish. Also, change your tune with more dry beans and peas. Add
chick peas, nuts, or seeds to a salad; pinto beans to a burrito; or kidney beans to soup.

6- Change your oil. We all need oil. Get yours from fish, nuts, and liquid oils such as corn, soybean, canola, and olive oil.

7- Don’t sugarcoat it. Choose foods and beverages that do not have sugar and caloric sweeteners as one of the first ingredients. Added sugars contribute calories with few, if any, nutrients.

Getting active

1- Set a good example. Be active and get your family to join you.
Have fun together. Play with the kids or pets. Go for a walk, tumble in the leaves, or play catch. 

2- Take the President’s Challenge as a family. Track your
individual physical activities together and earn awards for active lifestyles at www.presidentschallenge.org.

3- Establish a routine. Set aside time each day as activity time—
walk, jog, skate, cycle, or swim. Adults need at least 30 minutes of
physical activity most days of the week; children 60 minutes everyday or most days.

4- Have an activity party. Make the next birthday party centered
on physical activity. Try backyard Olympics, or relay races. Have a bowling or skating party.

5- Set up a home gym. Use household items, such as canned foods, as weights. Stairs can substitute for stair machines.

6- Move it! Instead of sitting through TV commercials, get up and
move. When you talk on the phone, lift weights or walk around. Remember to limit TV watching and computer time.

7-Give gifts that encourage physical activity—active games or sporting equipment.