Family Talk: Balancing Food + Fitness
A lot of parents ask me 1. What do your kids eat? and 2. How can I get my kids to eat healthier foods? I can answer these questions together because they are part of the same story. My approach to feeding my kids in part helped form what they eat.
First, my kids (who are now 17, 15, 12, and 10 years old} eat well in terms of proportion and variety. There are a few reasons for this. First off, I started them early in introducing them to a variety of homemade vegetable and protein (usually chicken) purees.
Secondly, as the kids got older they ate whatever the adults ate. We didn't really do separate meals. If there was a food that my kids didn't want to try I would just ask them to take a bite first. If they still didn't like it I would ask them why. Their reasons would help me understand what their likes and dislikes are. In turn that would help me to make more informed decisions in preparing food for the family as a whole. It's important to keep family meal time enjoyable for everyone. I never subscribed to the philosophy of making your kids eat everything on their plate. Overall there's not much my kids won't eat. My daughter Reina and son Ace are especially adventurous in trying new foods.
My oldest kids, Reina and King, are really good eaters. They eat salads, sushi, just about anything you put in front of them. Their eating behavior probably had a positive influence on my younger sons.
And as they get older, their tastes change too. For instance my youngest son, Jack, currently does not eat certain seafood like sushi and shrimp. These are typical mainstays in our diets so I am not sure what happened! I'll have to investigate...
Of course, the kids get influenced by pop culture and their peers so occasionally I cave and make things like the mac and cheese, yes out of the box! This way they can have "what everyone else has". Even though my fluffy pancake recipe is awesome, my daughter still prefers mix from a box. Go figure.
Third, I take my kids to farmers markets and farms and highly recommend other parents to do the same. This way the kids got to see fresh produce in it's abundance and beauty. When visiting farms they learn more about the growing process and get to engage with people in food production who are inspiring. It helps to create a connection to where our food comes from, and also how important sourcing is, rather than just thinking of food as something that appears on the table.
Fourth, in general it's important to me that our family eats as few processed foods as possible and that our produce is organic. Of course my kids love chips {takis feugo in particular} and I keep those kinds of snacks for them. But I also keep fresh fruits and veggies prepared and ready to snack on and encourage this choice.
Lastly, food should always be balanced with physical activity. We see food as fuel to keep the body strong and active. Since my divorce I see the kids less frequently {I live in NYC and they live in Seattle}. The time we spend together always involves physical activity.
Some of our favorites are reasonable hikes, bowling, park time {my sons love ultimate frisbee}, and believe it or not we love going to the gym together {actually the kids beg me for gym time!}. In NYC we walk to dinner, walk to the farmers market, and spend time at the beach. Recently, Reina has started giving me dance lessons. I am fluent in flossing, orange justice, and shoot {my use of fluent is definitely tongue in cheek}. We have a great time dancing together and all the kids get in on it.
In addition to physical activity being healthy it's a great way to interact and bond and make the most of our time together.
To conclude, here's a fun throwback to a spot I did with my four kids on King 5 Seattle {just click link}. Gives you some additional tips on getting kids to engage with food and eat well!
So, I hope that this post is helpful for some of you! I'm curious to know, what are your eating/feeding philosophies? Please share in the comments below.
Until next time….
