From Goals to Habits: Making True Lifestyle Changes
In This Chapter
▶ Differentiating lifestyle changes from traditional diets
▶ Reviewing tactics for making healthy changes you can stick with
▶ Getting your family involved in your new low-glycemic lifestyle
Creating true lifestyle changes is an internal process that takes time, practice, and commitment. This is the one area that can be more challenging than you may have ever thought. Although you may be able to follow some new dietary and exercise guidelines for a short time, doing so gives you purely short-term results, which is one big reason why so many people lose weight only to gain it back again.
The trick to losing weight and keeping it off is to embrace lifestyle changes that get you focused on practicing new behaviors until they become lifelong habits. To stick with a lifestyle change, you have to really want to make the change, which means you must accept that the positive side of, say, walking three days a week before work outweighs the negative aspects (like getting up 40 minutes earlier than you’re used to). Of course, you can’t forget about the external factors. Any new lifestyle change needs to work realistically within all aspects of your life, from work and errand running to family and friends. Clearly making such long-term changes can get complicated, but it’s far from impossible. In this chapter, you explore what it means to make life- style changes and how to achieve those changes for yourself.
Making Lifestyle Changes Rather Than Going on a Diet
I can’t tell you the exact number of people who go on diets each year or the exact number of people who fall off the dieting wagon. What I can tell you is why they fall.
The majority of people tend to get stuck in the “on again, off again” mentality of dieting. This mentality is often a result of trying to follow something rig- idly, be it a strict menu plan or calorie counting. Real weight-loss success is found by taking weight loss one step at a time and developing habits you can live with that support your new goal weight. In other words, losing weight for good requires a commitment to making lifestyle changes.
In the sections that follow, I describe the true differences between lifestyle changes and diets, present the pitfalls of on-again/off-again diet plans, and reveal a simple strategy for making lifestyle changes so you can start off on the right path.
Knowing the difference between lifestyle changes and dieting
Have you noticed that lifestyle change is the hot new phrase these days? You see it in magazines, on television, and in the materials for popular diets.
Plastering this phrase on products and touting it over the airwaves is a great marketing tactic because science shows that long-term weight loss is the result of healthy lifestyle changes. However, just because a diet program uses this phrase doesn’t mean following the diet is equal to making a change in your overall lifestyle. Diet programs that provide you with menus you have to follow strictly often call themselves “lifestyle change programs” when in fact they’re the traditional model of a diet that has been used for the last 50 years. These diet programs haven’t really changed; they’ve just added the phrase lifestyle change to their marketing materials.
The small percentage of people who’ve maintained weight loss over a several- year period have made true lifestyle changes. That’s the key to success, not adherence to fad diets. However, the phrase lifestyle change has gotten so muddy lately that determining whether you’re really creating lifestyle changes has become difficult. Following is a breakdown of what distinguishes true life- style changes from diets:
✓ Lifestyle changes aren’t temporary. If you follow a precise low-glycemic plan, stop for a month, go back to your old habits, and then start up again, you’re not really making changes to your lifestyle. No, you don’t have to be perfect in your efforts to follow a low-glycemic plan (that’s impossible to do for long), but you do have to make the best choices from what you’ve picked up about your body and meal planning — each and every day.
✓ Lifestyle changes are all about balance. Discovering balance is the key to making long-term changes work. Without balance, you can wind up feeling deprived and defeated, or even overwhelmed with the need to be perfect. Know that there’ll be times when flexibility is the name of the game and allow yourself to indulge without losing your focus.
✓ Lifestyle changes become a natural part of your routine. In the beginning, trying to lose weight requires some focus as you find ways to incorporate low-glycemic foods and cut back on the amount of overall calories you consume. Yet eventually the new actions you’re taking (such as diet changes and exercise) turn into a habit.
The most effective way to create a habit is to set goals and take action toward those goals over and over until that action feels like a normal part of your routine. Focus on the areas of your diet and exercise that can use some tuning up, decide what you’re going to change, and then make that change each day. (Note: You may need to switch up your strategies once in a while if your current path isn’t working well in your lifestyle.)
✓ Lifestyle changes must be things you can do on your own. Following someone else’s plan is only a temporary fix. Working as a registered dietitian in the weight-loss industry, I’ve never met someone capable of following a strict meal plan long term. Doing so would be truly difficult due to the loss of personal preference and choice. Figuring out how to plan healthy meals on your own is the more realistic option. When you know how to plan your meals, you can plan healthy eating anytime, any- where, whether you’re on vacation or at the office.
Understanding the downfalls of being on and off a diet plan
A lot of times people approach weight loss looking for an easy out. They want to be told what to eat so they can go home and just follow the plan. This approach is easy, but it’s practically guaranteed to send your weight on a roller coaster ride as you yo-yo on and off the plan.
When you religiously follow a diet plan, you lose weight and get results. I’m not denying that, and I’m sure you’ve experienced this scenario one time or another. However, you probably also know that when you veer from the plan, you usually wind up going right back to your old habits. Depending on how long you’re off the plan, you can regain all that weight you lost when you were on the plan. I promise you this cycle will never feel natural; instead, you’ll always feel like you’re dieting. Who wants to be on a diet for the rest of her life? That doesn’t sound fun in the slightest.
Following are some of the downfalls of treating your dietary changes as on- again/off-again behaviors rather than permanent habits:
✓ The dietary changes become temporary, and you always feel like you’re dieting, not like you’re living a normal life.
✓ The results you see are only temporary. Your weight can rise and fall each time you go on and off the plan.
✓ Because you’re not making healthy behaviors a habit, they’re harder to keep up.
Consider this example: Both Laurie and Beth are using a low-glycemic diet to manage their weight and health. Laurie is sticking strictly to her new diet plan and paying close attention to the foods she shouldn’t have. One Saturday she’s invited to a barbeque at a friend’s house. There, she has the option of eating hamburgers, chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, mixed greens salad, and chips. Laurie’s craving all the high-glycemic foods and thinks, “I’ve been good for a month, so I’ll eat high-glycemic foods today and get back on track tomorrow.” So she goes for the hamburger, potato salad, macaroni salad, and chips; winds up overdoing the high-glycemic foods; and feels guilty on Sunday. She then says to herself, “Well, I blew it yesterday. I’ll just get back on track starting Monday.”
Beth, on the other hand, is using a more balanced, moderate approach. She too goes to the barbeque and knows she can eat what she really wants, but she isn’t having terrible cravings from deprivation. Beth decides to balance her meal by eating the chicken, mixed greens salad, and potato salad (even though it’s high-glycemic, that potato salad just looks too good to pass up). The next day, Beth has no guilt because she ate in moderation and continues to follow a balanced diet.
You can see how Laurie’s approach feels temporary, which leads her to feel guilty about her choices and revert to her old eating habits. In contrast, Beth’s approach feels like she’s making natural choices based on both her new guidelines and what she really wants to eat. No cause for guilt there.
A balanced approach is the difference between making true lifestyle changes and following a diet. Yes, the diet will get you results — possibly even faster than if you were to work toward real lifestyle change — but those results will be achieved at the risk of never really finding long-term weight loss. After healthy behaviors are a part of your day-to-day life, they’re much easier to follow — and you get the motivating benefit of long-term results.
Focusing on what you can eat, not what you can’t
Research has shown that when a person is told not to eat something she tends to fixate on it, have more cravings, and wind up binging on that food item. Focusing on what you can eat rather than what you can’t eat is an important strategy in successfully making lifestyle changes. It’s part of the mental game you need to play to stay on track.
When you hear the word diet, what comes to mind for you? Maybe you think of following a strict plan or of all the foods you aren’t able to eat. So many weight-loss and health goals center on what you can’t have. Limit fat, avoid trans fat, steer clear of high-glycemic foods . . . the list goes on.
If you have a lot of dieting in your past, your mind probably automatically focuses on what you can’t eat rather than what you can. This mindset sets you up for a feeling of deprivation before you’ve even started. Deprivation can set off a pattern of being out of control with the foods you’re supposed to limit.
You may say to yourself, “Well, I was already bad today so I may as well eat all high-glycemic, high-calorie foods and get back on track next week.” This all-or-nothing attitude is all too common, but you can defeat it by turning your thought process around. Why not try telling yourself that no foods are off- limits? How freeing is that? When you shift your thoughts from strict dieting to balancing your choices, you realize that you can have high-glycemic foods. The difference is how often you eat them.
nother great mental shift is to look at all the low-glycemic foods that you love and focus on them. Thinking to yourself “I can eat all the whole-wheat bread, cantaloupe, watermelon, and nuts I want” is more productive than thinking “Well, if I can’t eat white rice, white pasta, or sugary cereal, what in the world am I going to eat?!” Focusing on foods that you not only enjoy but can also have regularly helps you forget about any feelings of deprivation.
Strategies for Stepping into Change
Making lifestyle changes (or any changes really) isn’t something that hap- pens overnight. It’s a bit-by-bit process that requires you to practice and repeat new behaviors until they become part of your normal routine, just like brushing your teeth. Like anything in life, sometimes you’ll face challenges and experience setbacks. That’s okay. How you handle those situations is what determines your future success in maintaining your new way of life.
In the following sections, I share some strategies that make the change pro- cess a little smoother. With this information in mind, you’ll be better pre- pared to deal with challenges when they sneak up on you.
When approaching any part of your life in which you want to change your habits, always give yourself the space and support necessary so you can reach your goals.
Looking for the positives
Finding the positives in your situation is the first step to making long-term changes and a solid way to build support for your goals. Putting your focus on all the benefits of your chosen lifestyle changes helps you stick to those changes because it’s natural to want to do something that feels great.
The biggest problem with dietary changes is that most people don’t inherently dislike the way they eat — they just hate that their chosen foods are causing them to gain weight or have health issues. When they realize that they have to change the foods they eat to see results, they tend to get caught up in negative thoughts such as “I can’t eat pasta ever again” or “I’m going to have troubles eating out.” Letting your mind go to these negative places is easy, but it’s not helpful to your long-term goals.
To conquer negativity surrounding lifestyle changes, start thinking about all the benefits of your new plan. Doing so not only helps you feel better about your choices but also gives you the motivation you need to make real life- style changes you can live with for the long haul. The benefits work as long- term motivators that you can bring out when you need them the most.
Following a low-glycemic diet has many benefits for you to focus on. Here are just a few to get you started:
✓ Weight loss: You probably bought this book because you want to lose weight. Eating a low-glycemic diet can help you do that. It can also help you maintain weight loss long term so you can be free from the dieting roller coaster. If that’s not a major motivator, I don’t know what is.
✓ Improved energy: The low-glycemic plan I encourage throughout this book provides your body with more energy-boosting foods so you can feel great during the day rather than rundown.
✓ Disease prevention: A low-glycemic lifestyle helps decrease your risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer by incorporating more fruits, vegetables, and fiber into your diet.
✓ Feeling better all around: Okay, okay, this one’s a little vague, but it really is true that when you eat healthy foods most of the time, you just feel better. I once had a 24-year-old male client who was doing great with his new diet changes. He then went on a small vacation with his buddies and ate hamburgers and burritos for one day. In just that one day he felt so bad (low energy, bogged down) that he simply thought “I just can’t eat like this anymore.” Like my client, feeling better overall can be a great motivator for long-term change.
Committing to a new approach
Although embracing your new dietary habits may be easy, giving up your old ones often isn’t. That’s what makes commitment such an important part of the change process — it’s another tool for building support for your chosen way of life. One of the biggest reasons I see people struggle with making life- style changes is that they try to follow both their new and old habits, and sometimes the two just don’t mesh.
For example, one client of mine did absolutely great following her low- glycemic diet guidelines in a balanced way. In addition, her meal planning became habitual, and her exercise was consistent. However, she still gave in to her “vice” — eating cookies in front of the television with her husband.
Having some cookies once in a while is no biggie and certainly works within a moderate nutrition plan, but my client and her husband shared a package of cookies five or more nights a week. This old habit interfered with my client’s progress, and because she wasn’t seeing the type of results she wanted, she wound up feeling frustrated.
Committing to a new way of life means really letting go of those things (foods, activities, and so on) that aren’t serving you anymore, no matter how much you may enjoy them. Commitment also comes into play when you face life challenges that get in the way of your goals. When you’re committed to a goal, you find solutions that work for you; when you aren’t committed, you go back to your old habits.
I like to use a visual example of going for a walk to a waterfall. Imagine that along the way a tree falls into your path. You can either find a way around it to achieve your goal of seeing the waterfall, or you can turn around and go home. All obstacles and challenges work this way. You have a choice: Stay committed and conquer the obstacle in your path or just give up.
To help you stay committed to your lifestyle changes, try this exercise: Grab a pen and a sheet of paper. On one side of the paper, write down all the new changes you want to make; on the other side, write down the things you may need to let go of in order to really live your new lifestyle. Sometimes just being conscious of where you’re going and what you have to give up along the way can solidify your commitment to your goals.
When my client and I spoke about her “cookie time,” she was able to declare her commitment and find solutions to her issue. She and her husband came up with a list of better treats they could eat during television hours. This solution was a direct result of my client’s commitment to her new, healthier lifestyle.
Dealing with setbacks
Changing your lifestyle is a process, and setbacks are a natural part of that process. Dietary habits are some of the hardest habits to change, so don’t get discouraged if you slip up now and again as you figure out how to really incorporate your chosen changes into your day-to-day life. (In other words, give yourself some much-needed space!) Reading up on your new low-glycemic diet and how to plan meals is just the first step. The next step is making your low-glycemic diet work in your life, a process that naturally requires some trial and error.
Instead of letting setbacks get you down, use them as an opportunity to dis- cover how you’re going to make this particular challenge work within your new lifestyle. Here are some steps to take when you’re faced with setbacks:
1. Write down the life event leading to the setback.
This life event can take many forms — vacations, holidays, family, work stress, or even boredom.
2. Write down how this event affected your new diet and exercise habits.
As a result of the event, did you not have time to squeeze in exercise or plan your meals? Was all of your focus pointed elsewhere due to the event? How long and to what degree did this life event make you fall off track?
3. Think about ways you can work around this obstacle in the future.
If a vacation sent you for a tailspin, maybe on your next vacation you can balance your food choices and take advantage of fun exercise. If a life crisis hindered your efforts at change by leaving you unable to focus on anything but the situation, that’s okay and entirely understand- able. Just be mindful of how long you’re off track and don’t let that time extend more than a few days, if at all possible.
4. Ask yourself how quickly you can get back on track.
This is probably the most important step in dealing with setbacks. The quicker you can find a solution and get back on track, the less that set- back will interfere with your progress.
To see these steps in action, pretend a major upheaval has occurred at work and you’re the point person. You have people coming at you from all directions. Because you’re constantly tied up in the office, you may find yourself eating pizza and burritos that the staff has picked up for you. Even though this situation may not be a long-term one, it’s still a setback to your goal of following a low-glycemic diet. To get back on track in this scenario, you could tell the staff to pick up a fajita for you rather than a burrito, or you could pack up some low-glycemic frozen foods that you can pop in the microwave.
If you’re unable to work around a particular setback and you get caught back up in your old habits, don’t get angry with yourself. Instead, focus on getting back on track as soon as you can. That’s the most important step in recovering from a setback. A few days of reverting to your old habits won’t hurt you as much as a few weeks or months. Don’t let guilt get the better of you and make you feel defeated.
Determining your personal stage of readiness
James O. Prochaska and his colleagues at the University of Rhode Island discovered that there are various stages of readiness for developing any kind of lifestyle change. According to their transtheoretical model (a model of behavior change that has been the basis for developing effective interventions to promote health behavior change), every person goes through each stage at one time or another when creating any kind of change in his or her life, and each stage is equally important.
To figure out which stage of readiness you’re in right now and to discover some steps you can take during that stage, pick one of the following italicized statements that best describes you.
Others (friends, family, doctors) want me to lose weight or make changes to my diet, but it isn’t that important to me.
You’re in the precontemplation stage . You may not have any interest in making lifestyle changes at this time, but consider exploring why your friends and family have concerns about your health. Plan a time to get some feedback from a close friend or relative who can give you objective information about why she’s concerned. When you’re in this stage, ask yourself the following questions: Why do others want me to make changes? How will I know when it’s the right time for me to make changes toward weight loss and better health?
I want to lose weight, but my life is too busy right now to think about diet and exercise. I just don’t have time to think about it.
You’re in the contemplation stage . You may be considering the possibility that you want to make changes but feel you can’t right at this time. Stay proactive during this stage by continuing to absorb information about weight loss and nutrition. Ask yourself the following questions: What kind of information and support will I need to start making changes to lose weight?
What are the risks and benefits of making life- style changes?
I’ve taken steps such as buying a weight- loss book and/or joining a gym, but I haven’t started yet.
You’re in the preparation stage . You’re pre- paring to take action in the near future. You’re ready to see all the options available so you can take the right steps toward change. When you’re in this stage, ask yourself the following questions: What kind of support do I need to step into action? What types of obstacles are getting in my way?
I’ve recently started taking some sort of action toward change such as walking, going to the gym, or changing my food choices.
You’re in the action stage . The action stage is a very fragile one. You need a great support team to help you through it. Make sure your family and friends are onboard with your weight-loss goals so they can provide you with support and motivation. Ask yourself the following questions: What do I need in place to keep up my new changes? What types of things motivate me now?
I’ve recently incorporated new behaviors into my lifestyle yet occasionally I may have some setbacks.
You’re in the maintenance stage . You’ve made some permanent lifestyle changes that have already resulted in weight loss. You may feel from time to time that you’re experiencing some setbacks. Just remember that setbacks are normal and will happen occasionally. When they occur, take some time to figure out what has gotten in the way of your efforts to be consistent. Then ask yourself the following questions: What types of life events have led up to my setbacks? How can I make different choices in the future to keep me on track? What type of support do I need right now?
Making Change a Family Affair
If you have a family, trust me when I say that incorporating a low-glycemic diet into your life is far easier when you get your spouse and/or children involved. Getting good meals on the table is difficult enough. The last thing you need is your spouse and kids all wanting separate meals. That’s a recipe for disaster that makes it much harder for you to successfully change your lifestyle.
Fortunately, the low-glycemic diet isn’t drastic, which means your family mebers won’t feel like they’re on a “diet.” In the sections that follow, I offer some advice for making your low-glycemic lifestyle something everyone in your family can support and follow — sometimes without them even realizing it!
Transitioning your family to a low-glycemic lifestyle
Lifestyle changes, such as following a low-glycemic diet, don’t affect just you; they affect your whole family. You may think “I don’t want my family to have to make lifestyle changes just because I have to,” but that’s the wrong mentality. Think of your new low-glycemic diet as a way of life that involves moderation instead. A dietary plan that’s moderate rather than strict is easier to incorporate into your family’s life. In some cases, no one even notices the changes.
Case in point: As part of her new lifestyle, one of my clients cleaned up her countertops by getting rid of the cookies and chips that were lingering around and setting out a big bowl of fruit in their place. She said to herself, “This will never work. My kids are going to be screaming at me for the cookies.” Instead, to her delight, her kids came home from school, picked through the fruit bowl, and didn’t say a word about the lack of cookies.
Here are some tips for making your family’s transition to a low-glycemic life- style go a little more smoothly:
✓ Remember that moderation is key. Your family members will most certainly resist your efforts at getting them to eat healthier if you force them to follow a strict diet.
✓ Find low-glycemic snack foods that everyone enjoys. Exchanging is always a better philosophy than eliminating, especially with kids. So instead of stockpiling cookies and potato chips, purchase yogurts, baked tortilla chips, or even popcorn and offer these lower-glycemic foods to your spouse and kids instead.
✓ Allow high-glycemic foods once in a while, but don’t keep them in the cupboards every day. This suggestion is a win-win for everyone. You won’t be tempted as often to wander back to your old habits, and your family members won’t miss out on their high-glycemic favorites. This is a great strategy to put in place when you’re grilling (buy some potato chips as a side) and when you’re eating out (let the kids order their favorites).
✓ Don’t make a big fuss about following a low-glycemic diet. You may be excited about it, but to your family, a deluge of info about the low-glycemic diet will make them feel like they’re following a diet and not just living their lives eating healthy foods. Stick to making healthy choices instead of pointing out everything in the cupboard or refrigerator that’s low-glycemic.
✓ Allow your family to have a voice and be willing to find compromises.
In my experience, families adjust quite well to the eating modifications that come with a low-glycemic diet, but every family is different. Hear what your family members have to say, and when they have issues, try to find solutions that work for everyone.
Talking with your spouse
If you’re married and your spouse has no interest in making changes to his or her diet and lifestyle, then your efforts at making a lifestyle change likely won’t last long because you’ll be scrambling trying to buy and prepare separate foods. I encourage you to sit down with your spouse and explain the basics of the low-glycemic lifestyle. Then work together to find a way to embrace that lifestyle in your household.
Following are descriptions of two common spouse-related challenges to living a low-glycemic lifestyle, along with strategies for overcoming them:
✓ Your spouse brings home high-glycemic treats and/or wants to keep all the high-glycemic foods around. I promise your spouse isn’t trying to purposefully sabotage you. He or she just doesn’t realize or under- stand how difficult it is for you to have high-glycemic foods around. Let your spouse know why having high-glycemic foods in the house is tough for you and try to compromise on some other foods that aren’t as tempting for you but that your spouse still enjoys. I had one client who couldn’t resist the Oreo cookies that her husband loved but could do without peanut butter cookies, which were also among his favorites. This simple swap worked for her family.
✓ Your spouse doesn’t like many of the low-glycemic meals you’re making. This challenge is a particularly tough one because you don’t want to wind up preparing several different meals. Go over the low-glycemic food list with your spouse (you can even use Appendix A to get you started) and get a good understanding of what he or she likes and dislikes. Then find some quick ways to handle the situation without having to cook too much. My husband isn’t a fan of brown rice (a lower- glycemic food). He prefers white rice (a high-glycemic food). Instead of forcing him to eat brown rice or setting myself back by eating white rice, I buy bags of precooked, frozen brown rice and white rice from the gro- cery store and just microwave the two different bags. It’s easy for me, and we’re both happy with our meal in the end.
When you engage in a little open conversation with your spouse, you can usually come up with solutions to challenges that make a low-glycemic diet a better fit in both of your lives. Sure, it may take a little trial and error, but you’ll soon find a groove that works well for your family.
Developing healthy habits for your kids
Your kids develop their eating habits early on from you. When you set them up for making healthy choices at a young age, they won’t have as many weight-loss and health struggles when they’re older. Teaching your kids to eat a variety of foods that include the right balance of the healthy stuff and treats sets them up for success with
✓ Childhood health
✓ A healthy weight for their lifespan
✓ Disease prevention
✓ Better concentration in school
✓ Improved problem-solving abilities in school
✓ Enhanced endurance and energy for activities and sports
✓ Lifelong healthy habits
Although having an open conversation with your spouse about the food changes you’re making is great, don’t overdo the low-glycemic diet talk with your kids. You can certainly educate them on healthy food choices, but the more you focus on diet lingo, the more resistance you’re bound to encounter as your kids start to feel like they’re following a special diet.
A great strategy for getting your kids to embrace a low-glycemic diet is to ask them what kinds of fruits and vegetables they like. Doing so helps them feel like they’re part of the meal-planning process (or at least the grocery-shopping process). Also, almost all fruits and vegetables are low-glycemic, so you’re giving your kids the freedom to choose their favorites while making sure everyone’s sticking to the new low-glycemic lifestyle.
Avoid eliminating foods your kids are used to — unless of course you’re willing to deal with potential temper tantrums (even all the way up to high- school age). A better approach with kids of any age is to come up with some healthier, low-glycemic options they may enjoy so you can make a child- approved swap.
Don’t forget moderation when it comes to the higher-glycemic foods and treats your children enjoy. Finding that perfect balance will make your new lifestyle changes go over smoothly and help your kids develop healthy habits for a lifetime.
Tips for getting your kids to eat healthier foods
Parents really can help their kids eat better — whether they’re following a low-glycemic diet or not — and the process doesn’t have to be unpleasant. In fact, it can actually be a blast for you and your kids. Following are some tips for increasing your children’s interest in healthy foods in a fun way:
✓ Bring your kids grocery shopping occasionally . I know this idea may sound like a nightmare, but it can be beneficial at times. While you’re in the produce section, let your kids pick out a new fruit or vegetable to try. Kids are more interested in trying new foods when they get to pick them out.
✓ Prepare meals together . Let your children be a part of the meal-preparation process.
Whether they mix something in a bowl or pour a sauce, they’ll be happier to eat and more willing to try a meal when they played a part in making it.
✓ Incorporate “fun foods .” Kids are drawn to foods that have different shapes and bright colors. Many fruits, including kiwi and star fruit, fall into this category. If you have a creative side, let it loose! Instead of handing your child a whole orange, break it up into pieces and make a smiley face on the plate. You’ll be amazed what some simple creativity can do.
✓ Make desserts healthy . Believe it or not, you can have dessert and make it healthy too. Instead of depending on store-bought cookies and candy (which provide minimal nutrients), try serving fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate sauce, a fruit smoothie, or a berry cobbler. These lower-glycemic choices may have some sugar, but they also contain nutrients. Everything is healthy in moderation.
✓ Allow candy occasionally and in moderation . Candy should be a once-in-a-while treat, not a go-to snack. When your child really wants candy, forgo giving her a whole candy bar and try sprinkling a few M&M’s in 1 ounce of trail mix instead. Also, avoid using candy and other sweets as rewards for good behavior; playtime in the park and fun family outings are better, more active reward alternatives.
Remember: Be a role model for your children. If you eat healthy and engage in physical activity you enjoy, your children will likely do the same. Encouraging physical activity and healthy food choices during childhood helps build these habits for a lifetime.
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