She's up on her box again

Other than when we travel, we rarely go fast food. Probably once every 2 months. I confess though, the temptation is greater, now that I'm pregnant & drive past 2 fast food places & see about 4 more just to get on the freeway.

Tonight I finally saw Super Size Me. It has got me thinking! Not that anything new was presented in the movie. The guy ate like 5000 calories a day... high sugar & fat no less. But it has gotten me thinking about what kind of memories and habits I am establishing for my children. I grew up in a home that did not have much candy or junk food around. When we were hungry, I still remember my mom saying, "Go eat an apple!" My parents have a letter I wrote them in elementary school that includes complaints that I did not get to eat all the junk food my friends did. They now have the letter framed. Look at how all of my siblings eat. None of us really like candy or junk food (except maybe Jonathan and his BBQ chips:).

So, even though my determination was wavering before watching the show tonight, I guess I will continue to pack my kids lunches with fruit and whole wheat PBJ's and can fresh fruits and jam all summer. And try and figure out the eternal dilemma of what I am going to cook for dinner.

I see the horrible effects of obesity on kids. It breaks my heart to see some kids come into the Instacare where I work. I can see their parents would do almost anything for their kids, but what the kids REALLY need is to learn healthy eating habits. Not only for their health, but also for self-esteem. I am committed to not let that happen to my kids if I can help it! Really, I don't care if they are thin - I don't want them to focus on being skinny... that is equally unhealthy and dangerous! I just want them to have healthy bodies and make healthy choices (at least most of the time). We Mormons talk about the Word of Wisdom a lot. One of the things is to not drink alcohol, but another equally important part of it is to eat meat sparingly and increase whole grains and vegetables. Think of how many people are addicted to food!

So one other thing that I began over a year ago (thanks to hearing about some big studies from my friend Cindy in NY) is reducing our meat and eating vegetarian about 1-2 times a week. I figure that's at least trying to eat meat sparingly. While none of us will eat veggie-burgers, there are so many great recipes on line that it has been easy to find good meat-free-meals. The other day we had delicious butternut sqaush and apple soup that left our guests asking for the recipe. Easy, too. One interesting blog is Meatlessmealsformeateaters.blogspot.com. Turns out that the writer is a friend of Rob's from Houston.

Sorry I'm standing on my soapbox tonight! I guess it's from post-halloween toxicity. Lately, my son has been asking for candy about 1 hour after breakfast. What? NO!