March is National Nutrition Month…the first thing that comes to my mind as a mother and wife myself is how are other fitness mama’s are feeding their families? My question to you would be are you cooking dinner at night?? Are you shopping and making an? easy, yet nutritious breakfast for your children?
Then there is lunch, are you making a lunch for your children or are you having them buy lunch? These three questions are as important as if I were to ask you when the last time it was that you took your child to the dentist!!!? You see,? as mothers it is our responsibility to do our best with this part of our role in the family. We have a big job here? and yet one that? often is done not wholeheartedly… You see as a Certified? Health Coach & Personal Trainer, I personally get to hear first hand? how rushed moms today are, how busy and how tired they are. They even come to their workouts not having had any breakfast themselves or come in rushed eating a banana or protein bar. I make it a point to make appointments with them and have heart to heart talks with them about this very topic. These questions that I have listed above are? one of the most important things we as mothers we are either doing and not doing. ? As mothers and wives we are the cornerstone of most kitchens and also the cooks. It is important that we shop, cook, plan and create meals that are healthy and nutritious.? Feeding our families three meals & two snacks? a day can sometimes be overwhelming and yet,? at the same time is so important that we do!!! After all we are what we eat and what we don’t eat. In a fast paced world of homework, sports, church, working parents, appointments and many other weekly commitments cooking & planning meals can get shoved onto the back burner. My message to you this month is do offer you some encouragement and desire to not let this be your household. I know personally how easy it is to forget cooking dinner and drive through the nearest fast food restaurant, but DON’T DO IT!!! Not only is it expensive but it is not a healthy habit to get into. Now I will say that maybe bi-monthly this would be ok but anymore than that no. I want to challenge you to not be that Fast Food Fitness Mama and set a good example to your family and shop! Sit down with your family and let them know that you LOVE them so much that you are willing to shop, cook and make your children’s lunches daily! Not only will they love you for it, they will appreciate it and so will their bodies. You will help prevent disease, obesity, and other illnesses by doing this for them! Remember it is just as easy to buy food that is unhealthy and eat out then it is to eat healthy and prepare food at home. Make it a family affair, let everyone get involved with shopping, menu planning, cooking, chopping, setting the table and the clean-up. You will pass on one of the most important lessons & legacy’s? you could teach your children…and they in return can pass it on to your future grand-children…Yes this will take time and effort but isn’t is worth it? I strongly believe so!!!
Visit this website www.choosemyplate.gov ( Visit this site for some great food ideas, exercise tips, recipes and hand outs to help motivate your kids to eat healthy and exercise).
By doing this as a family you can eat some meals together even if it’s only a few day’s a week and it doesn’t have to be dinner. RESEARCH SHOWS that: Children who eat dinner with their families do better in school, are? less likely to drink, smoke, do drugs, or develop eating disorders. Very powerful!
Happy Eating and Healthy Nutrition to you and your family!
StacyRaeOCFitnessMama