When I was pregnant a friend told me “Do you realize that you are growing a baby from scratch? ”Wow – so powerful, everything that I ate or did to my body had a direct affect to the foundational health of this amazing miracle of life. The same friend came back once my son was born and said “Now do you realize that you are growing an adult from scratch?” We all recognize the psychological affects that came from actions of our parents, but to think that our adult health comes from them too is mind-blowing.

Children are our most prized possession, yet we opt for fast or convenient foods to provide the foundational health that they will carry for the rest of their lives. If you wouldn’t serve “mac and cheese” to your most esteemed guests, why do you serve it to your most prized creations?? Immune Function, brain development, and health are closely related to our food choices. Sugar has the ability to suppress immune function for up to 4 hours, yet teachers pass out candy as a reward. Quality proteins and fats have the ability to keep a person satiated for long periods of time, yet we opt for cereal and milk to sustain our little ones at school with razor sharp focus for hours on end.

For years I have worked closely with parents and schools to help educate them on the proper ways for feeding their children for development and growth. I am constantly amazed at the lack of importance that most adults place on their food choices, let alone the school district. Our young will be our leaders and ideally we would want to unleash well educated, healthy, secure individuals into this amazing world of ours. There is plenty of information hidden within the web but it needs to be placed in the forefront of every school, a place where children spend up to 8 hours or more a day, 5 days a week.

So what is my point with all of this? Take a look at your children and view them as the most incredible masterpiece you have ever seen, take a good look, and make it count. Now, recognize how you are feeding them, are you giving them plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables each and every day? Are you making sure that every meal and snack has quality protein and fats to sustain them? Remember you can always change their pallet. It typically takes 4-6 tries for them to accept a new food, don’t give in and settle for junk simply to get them fed. You are creating their foundational health, what you feed them today can either enhance or deteriorate their adult health, so what is it going to be?

When you start to re-evaluate your current family food plan there are a few things to keep in mind. Carbohydrates provide immediate energy and ideally they should come from fresh fruits and vegetables. Next up, quality proteins are what I call “cruise control”, they help you keep the energy from your carbohydrates for a longer period of time. And lastly, quality fats are great as an energy reserve or “backup power”. They stay in your system long enough that if you run out of the other stuff “you still have some juice left in you”. So when planning meals take into consideration the time between meals and the activity levels. With children, if they eat breakfast at 7am and school serves lunch at 12pm, breakfast needs to be higher in quality proteins and fats so they can stay focused and fuller longer.

Here is some of my favorite food choices for kids, give it a try!

Breakfast – Eggs, with a side of fruit or a small bowl of oatmeal

Lunch – Chicken with sliced avocado and quinoa

Dinner – Cooked Salmon with broccoli

Now I realize some of you are reading this laughing hysterically because you know your kids wouldn’t touch any of this. You have created their pallet, but you can also change it one step at a time. I start out making sure we add in some form of fruit or vegetable to each meal, and honestly they can choose any fruit or vegetable they like. You may not like the combination, but if they do let them enjoy. Next, start adding in more and more protein with each meal, somehow some way. Once we can get these things in we can start refining and choosing higher quality items to replace the lower quality ones. I have dealt with some of the worst cases, but it can be done, you simply need patients and a bit of time. It’s funny, but as adults we forget that we are the ones who create our children’s wants and desires. We teach them that you collect candy during Halloween and that candy is a reward for a deed well done. We serve them certain foods for breakfast and we refer to the other foods as lunch or dinner. These are all habits that we, as the parent, have instilled. Well guess what, you have the SuperPower to change that as well. It might not be easy but it is a task worth working at when you realize the health implications that you may be causing for years to come. These are your prized creations, treat them as such and give them the foundation to live, grow, and learn for a lifetime of success!

In Peace, Love, and Health,

Adita

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©Copyright 2017, Adita Lang

Adita Lang works with individuals and groups to maximize their health through exercise and nutrition, both through Coaching and Public Speaking. Feel free to email me: Adita@NutritionalBrilliance.com

For past Livets®, recipes, and more visit me at www.MyLivet.com or www.AditaLang.com