Breakfast and the rest of the meals

A big part of eating nutritiously is making sure you don't skip meals and that you make sure to eat breakfast. In Beyond the Bend Nancy Schmieder says it so eloquently with the following:

"It often amazes me how people take better care of their cars than their bodies. I have yet to meet a person who said, “God has a plan as to when my car should ‘die’ and I do not need to worry about it. I don’t need to check or change the oil, or perform any routine maintenance. And I don’t need to worry about the type of gasoline I use.” We recognize the necessity of proper care to get the longest life and best performance out of our automobiles. When will we realize that proper care also gives our bodies the longest life and best performance? "

Did you know that those who skip breakfast have slower reaction times and are more accident-prone. And if you are doing it to control your weight, you're actually countering your actions as those who skip breakfast are actually more prone to gain weight. On top of this, children who skip breakfast have greater hyperactivity, irritability, and anxiety, tend to be more disruptive classroom behavior, have higher rates of tardiness and have a decreased ability to concentrate and solve problems.

Some ideas/ways that we can remember to eat breakfast include:

• Start Small. If your not a breakfast eater, begin with whole wheat toast and/or a piece of fruit. In a few days, add more food.

• Choose Fruit for Breakfast. Fruit gives you fiber. Fresh fruit is the best choice. There are many to choose from: oranges, grapefruits, apples, bananas, grapes, kiwis, mangos, melons, berries. Eat two servings of fruit every morning. Canned fruit packed in juice is also a good choice. Add dried fruit to your cereal.

• Eat High Fiber Hot Cereal. Hot cereal is the best choice, but there are several brands of cold cereal on the market that are high in fiber and low in sugar. Oatmeal is a favorite hot cereal. Try a seven grain cereal and experiment with different grains such as millet, brown rice, quinoa, corn grits for a variety. Try cooking grains in a crock pot overnight and it’s already the next morning. Or cook up a large batch and re-heat the next day. Make your own granola. Add a high fiber cereal to your favorite low fiber cereal. Gradually increase the amount of the high fiber cereal and decrease the amount of the low fiber cereal. For example, if you like cornflakes, add Wheat Chex to the cornflakes. Each morning add a little more Wheat Chex and a little less Cornflakes.

• Choose Whole Grain Bread. Eat two slices of toast in the morning or a whole grain bagel. Spread with fruit spread or applesauce or your favorite nut butter.

• Make Healthy Pancakes or Waffles. Have you ever considered topping your pancakes or waffles with fruit?

• Instead of scramble eggs try scrambled tofu. You’re in for a great surprise.

• The sky’s the limit. The only limitation is your imagination. Make it a priority. Eat breakfast.

It doesn't taste good

If you have any small children, you know that trying to get them to eat their vegetables can be like pulling teeth. My sister has two young children: one will eat meat and cheese while the other prefers solely a candy diet, but will sometimes break down and eat a few items on her dinner plate.

So how do you get kids, or even yourself, to eat healthy?

Snacks! Children get about 1/4 of their nutrition a day from snacks and instead of giving them sugar and fat filled treats, try making some delicious, yet nutritious fun snacks. Family Fun.com has a lot of great treat ideas, a couple of my favorites are:


ARCTIC ORANGES

4 oranges
4 cups orange juice
4 cherries

Cut the tops off the oranges in a zigzag pattern. Hollow out the insides, remove the seeds and combine in a blender with the juice. Set the rinds in a muffin tin and fill with the mixture. Drop a cherry inside each orange. Freeze for 2 to 3 hours. Soften the treats for 5 minutes, then serve. Makes 4.

BAGGY BUGS

Place a graham cracker in a plastic baggy, seal it shut and crush the crackers into a fine sand using a large spoon.

Add a few raisins to the bag and have the kids dig for bugs in the sand. Experiment with other tasty critters--dried cranberry "ladybugs," carob chip "ants" and fruit snack "worms."