10 Easy Ways to a ‘Healthy-Diet’ for Kids

Creating a nutritionally healthy home is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the health of your child. To start, make smart food choices, and help your child develop a positive relationship with healthy food. Your children will learn their food smarts from your example.
Creating a Healthy Home can be easier than you think.

Creating a nutritionally healthy home is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the health of your child. To start, make smart food choices, and help your child develop a positive relationship with healthy food. Your children will learn their food smarts from your example.

Here are the top 10 tips for getting children to eat healthy food:

1. Do not restrict food. Restricting food increases the risk your child may develop eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia later in life. It can also have a negative effect on growth and development.   Also by restricting food you will actually increase the risk of overeating later in the day which will cause weight gain.

2. Keep healthy food at hand. Children will eat what's readily available. Keep fruit in a bowl on the counter, not buried in the crisper section of your fridge. Remember, your child can only choose foods that you stock in the house, by limiting ‘junk food’ you will, by default, teach your child how to choose healthier foods.

3. Don't label foods as "good" or "bad." Instead, tie foods to the things your child cares about, such as sports, academics and hobbies. Let your child know that lean protein such as turkey and calcium in dairy products give strength to their sports and academic performance, the antioxidants in fruits and vegetables add luster to skin and hair and the carbs in whole grains will give them energy to play.

4. Praise healthy choices. Give your children a proud smile and tell them how smart they are when they choose healthy foods. Kids thrive on positive reinforcement!

5. Don't nag about unhealthy choices. If your child chooses unhealthy foods infrequently, ignore it. However, if your child always wants fatty, fried food, redirect the choice. You might try roasting potato sticks in the oven (tossed in just a bit of oil) instead of buying french fries. Or, if your child wants candy, you might make fresh strawberries dipped in a little chocolate sauce. Too busy? Then keep naturally sweet dried fruit at home for quick snacks.  With consistent effort taste buds change and soon your child will be craving healthy foods.

6. Never use food as a reward. This could create weight problems in later life. Instead, reward your children with something physical and fun -- perhaps a trip to the park or a quick game of catch.

7. Sit down to family dinners at night. If this isn't a tradition in your home, it should be. Research shows that children who eat dinners at the table with their parents have better nutrition and are less likely to get in serious trouble as teenagers. Start with one night a week, and then work up to three or four, to gradually build the habit.

8. Prepare plates in the kitchen. There you can put healthy portions of each item on everyone's dinner plate. Your children will learn to recognize correct portion sizes.  Too often people go for seconds and even thirds just because the food is right there.  You might notice that you need less food to feel full!

9. Give the kids some control. Ask your children to take three bites of all the foods on their plate and give it a grade, such as A, B, C, D, or F. When healthy foods - especially certain vegetables -- get high marks, serve them more often. Offer the items your children don't like less frequently. This lets your children participate in decision making. After all, dining is a family affair!

1. Consult your pediatrician. Always talk with your child's doctor before putting your child on a diet, trying to help your child gain weight, or making any significant changes in the type of foods your child eats. Never diagnose your child as too heavy, or too thin, by yourself.  If weight change is recommended seek the help of a Dietitian.

7 Tips to Health and Weight Loss 4 Kids

Try these 7 easy tips to promote health and weight loss for your kids.

1 Role Model –Your heath and weight directly effect your child’s health and weight.  Children with just one overweight parent have a 25% risk of becoming an overweight or obese adult.  If both parents are overweight the risk of becoming an overweight adult jumps to 50%.

2 Be Positive- No one enjoys receiving negative feedback.  Talk to your child with compassion and encouragement. Instead of saying, 'Lose weight', say, 'Let's be healthy and start taking care of our bodies'.  Focus on the foods you can eat, not the ones that you cannot. Say, 'Let's go pick out fruits and make a fruit salad,' not 'Don't eat that.'

3 Make healthy eating a family affair - A family that eats together, eats better, according to a recent study in the journal Archives of Family Medicine. Children who report frequent family dinners have healthier diets than their peers who don't, the study showed. Also fill your refrigerator and cabinets with fresh fruits, nuts, low-fat cheese, and things for everyone to snack on.

4 Eat Breakfast – A breakfast that consists of protein, starch and fat will keep your children more alert during school.  Studies have shown that weight loss is much more difficult in people who skip breakfast.

5 Make time for physical activity - Make physical activity a family activity. Every night after dinner in the summer, go for a half-hour walk and make it an activity that kids look forward to. If you can afford it, enroll your kids in dancing or a sporting activity that they enjoy because they need to enjoy it to keep doing it. Or just turn on some dance music and have a dance party around the house.

6 Don't say diet - Put your child on any diet and you are setting them up for an eating disorder - whether binge eating or closet eating or another type of disorder.  Lifestyle changes have proven to be the most effective to lose weight and keep it off.

7 Avoid portion distortion - When serving the food try to portion out meal on dishes and avoid buffet-type or family-style eating.  When exposed to so much food it is easy for your eyes to be bigger than your stomach.  Resist the first temptation to have seconds then check in with yourself to see if you are really hungry.

7 Tips to Help Your Kid Develop a Positive Self-Image

The adolescent and teenage years is often considered the most difficult years in life, especially for an overweight teen.  Many peers of overweight children do not accept them further fostering negative self-perception.  Research shows that parents who nurture a positive attitude and actively show their children qualities of resilience and optimism make dramatic differences that continue into successful healthy adult years.
Try these 7 tips to foster optimism and resilience in your overweight child:

1) Believe in your Children.  Assure your children that you are on their side and that you expect then to be the best person that they can be, although you don’t expect them to be the best at anything.  No one is perfect.

2) Find other adults who believe in your children.  Teachers, aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends can help you make a positive difference for you overweight child.  Other adults that can see beyond the weight and also believe in your child can help your child take control of their lives.

3) Encourage your children to stay interested in activities.  Let them know that their interests are valuable and deserve to be developed, whatever it is.

4) Celebrate your children’s winning experiences and help them to accept defeats graciously.    Let your child know that you appreciate their efforts and positive attitude win or lose.  Positive attitude and effort is for more important than victory.

5) Encourage upbeat conversations about the future.  Assume they are going to college and thinking about good careers.  Let your child know that you believe they are capable.

6) Be a role model for perseverance.  Be sure your children hear you say that some tasks are difficult, but that you are not a quitter.

7) Facilitate family fun and laughter.  A family that can joke, laugh, and lighten up their day’s with humor can help to prevent negativity and tension.

Fasting: The “Fastest” Way to Lose Weight

In this day and age when we all want to be slim or slimmer as the case may be, one sure-fire method to attaining this universal goal along with the added benefits of physical fitness and virility, mental alertness and internal cleanliness will be the tried and true practice of a Fast.

The author of the acclaimed “Mucusless Diet Healing System”, Prof Arnold Ehret once said “If one way is true...it is the way of Nature!” It will be an understatement to say he was and is so correct.

In this day and age when everyone desires to be slim or slimmer as the case may be, only very few people know that one sure-fire, all natural, method can lead to a slimmer and more importantly healthier person.

This method is as old as the mountains and is known as Fasting.

It is by far a greater cure of our ills-both physical and mental-than all of the drugs of the medical fraternity combined and when combined with an exclusive mucus-binding (alkaline forming) diet of mainly fruits, leafy and root vegetables (raw and cooked) and even basic exercises that involve the use of one’s own body weight for resistance such as Yoga, Calisthenics and Pilates, a well conducted fast can reap untold benefits for those seeking to lose weight.

There are several types of fasts that can be beneficial for weight loss.

1.The complete water fast: This, admittedly, should be conducted with extreme caution or in a specialized sanitarium if undertaken more than 3 days.

2.The Juice Fast: This is much easier for the general populace and can be undergone as long as you feel like it.

3. The Fruit Fast: This, well, is really not a fast per se…but when one lives exclusively on SEASONAL ORGANIC fruits for days on end…meaning mono meals (2 at the most ) of only one kind of fruit say Apples in Fall, Melons in summer for a week plus, you will be bound to see the benefits.

4. The Dry Fast: This is another camouflaged fast where one consumes ONLY dry fruits such as dates; figs etc for 3 days or thereabout and then breaks the fast with a laxative. Though highly praised in some quarters, it’s not so common.

The second and third choices are by far my personal recommendations for those seeking to lose weight.  A friend of mine tried the second choice after months of badgering and was able to eventually see the awesome cuts in his abdominal cavities. You should have heard him exclaim on the phone to me: “Foras…I got a six-pack man…and I didn’t even do no sit-ups…!” Moreover, his supposed hereditary red-eyes cleared up after several eye-doctors had told him it was just a genetic trait…yeah, right!

Being radical in nature, it must be undertaken with care and although I have covered it in chapter 17 of my e-book “fitness: inside and out”, do feel free to do some research before undertaking a fast or a restricted fruit diet.

Here are a few tips:

1. Prepare yourself for a fast by gradually tapering off of acid-forming aka “junk foods and commence to consuming raw and cooked fruits and veggies to begin a milder cleansing process as these items are the best intestinal brooms for the colon.

2. Every now and again, 3 hours after supper and say an hour or so before retiring to sleep, drink an herbal tea laxative such as “Smooth Move Herbal Tea” during this preparatory stage.

3. Drink 1-2 quarts of unflavored lemonade in the mornings to balance the chemical reactions within the body and to restore it to an alkaline state.

4. Be mentally prepared for the task ahead of fasting.

5. Take things a little easier while fasting or on a mono-diet of fruit.

6. Avoid using microwaves at all costs. I touched on this subject in the free section on controlling acne in my site.

Though not a conclusive list of the dos and don’ts of fasting be well informed that when undertaken properly, you’d not only lose the undesired weight, but you’d be well on your way to a cleaner and better you in no time.

For weight loss, Fasting, my friends is the ‘fastest’ way to improved health!

Eating Wisely and Weight Loss

Want to know how when you eat wisely , helps you lose weight? Read this!
Please note that I am not a dietitian or physician, and my opinions are those of a Yoga teacher and life long student of Ayurveda. Always consult your family doctor before changing your diet.

It may be generally agreed that eating wisely and weight loss do not often have . Just look back that the parade of " fad diets " that does not seem to work in the long term and , in retrospect, were not wise from the beginning.

This article will be a "union" of ideas , Ayurvedic principles, concepts of modern physics and global strategies to improve health.

Needless to say that a vegetarian diet is healthy . Ten years ago , there were many reservations , local physicians in New England, with respect to this concept. How rapidly knowledge , ideas and opinions change .

Mary, my wife, exposed me to the vegetarian diet. Before that , I ate what is now called the "Mediterranean diet." Diet I eat , to date, is a combination of both. The combination of these two programs, " classic" , it is easy for me to live with and is not an effort at all to me .

This is the biggest obstacle for most people . Many of us take on a radical regime change that we can not live . Most of us can not afford to make a few small changes at a time, instead of changing everything at once - unless you are dieting under the guidance of your doctor or dietitian.

Therefore, I propose a few small changes in your eating habits that make sense. You do not have to change them all at once.

Sit down and focus on eating their food.

Avoid television , reading, heated conversations , etc.

Chew your food at a slower pace and not put more food in your mouth until you have swallowed the previous bite.

Be aware of what you are hungry before dinner .

Try to avoid too long between meals , as this leads to over consumption and your stomach should never be more than three quarters , after a meal .

Exercise tip : Some of the practice of yoga and understand the many benefits of Sun Salutations , but have you ever tried weight resistance ?

Strength training increases energy expenditure during a workout weight resistance . High intensity strength training indicates a high utilization of carbohydrates during training session rates .

During the recovery period post - exercise, energy expenditure is elevated for a period of between two to fifteen hours ( 1). Rising energy demand are obtained by burning more calories, and a good portion of the calories from fat reserves .

Reference ( 1) - Melby C , Scholl C , Edwards G , R. Bullough Effect of acute resistance exercise on energy expenditure in post exercise and basal metabolic rate. Journal of Applied Physiology 75 ( 4) : 1847-1853 , 1993 .

Even if you work each body part once a week , this method of cross training will burn calories effectively . When combined with any aerobic activity , has a powerful combination. Rowing and cycling are good substitute forms of resistance too.

Strategies results : Get help from a qualified personal trainer , dietician, or a life coach . You can do it yourself, but how long must " turn the wheels. " Without progress ? These services exist for those who do not want to waste time and want solutions now.

Eating carbohydrates actually leads to weight loss and health

Carbohydrates are the most important food you can eat.
This statement will probably be against everything you've heard , so I 'll explain .
If you do not believe me , take this little test . Think of a carb !
If you are like most Americans , bread , pasta , soft drinks , chips , sugar, and similar foods probably flew into your mind. Yes , these foods are carbs - highly processed and refined .

And if these are the types of carbohydrates you consume on a regular basi ...
Carbohydrates are the most important food you can eat.

This statement will probably be against everything you've heard , so I 'll explain .

If you do not believe me , take this little test . Think of a carb !
If you are like most Americans , bread , pasta , soft drinks , chips , sugar, and similar foods probably flew into your mind. Yes , these foods are carbs - highly processed and refined .

And if these are the types of carbohydrates you consume on a regular basis , let me warn you , ( unless you regularly run marathons ) , you're probably overweight or on the road to weight gain .

You can love , you can consider " comfort food" , which perhaps might not be as bad as they are so predominant in our current diet think . But the conclusion is that biological humans have not evolved to metabolize these types of carbohydrates.

It slows your metabolism and contributes to each of the major diseases associated with aging , such as diabetes , heart disease , dementia and cancer.

In most cases , they are also "empty " calorie foods - the worst combination - Foods high in calories, low in nutrients. Deprive you of essential and charge your body with the task of digesting food molecules that are not giving you everything you need nutrients.

They ( especially in excess) Eating is a recipe for weight gain. But they are not the end of history in carbohydrates. If you're like most people , you may not realize that the wide world of carbs is actually much , much bigger than this limited crowd of processed carbs .

By contrast , natural carbohydrates, which come to your table as Mother Nature made ​​them, contain many essential nutrients and specialized chemicals that turn up your metabolism with chemicals newly discovered plants called phytonutrients .

So you have a choice : use phytonutrients to spark your metabolism into action, or metabolism of carbohydrates and low in digestible nutrients drown .

Our genetic nutritional template goes back 20,000 years. Our ancestors ate wild foods such as wild berries , herbs , roots and mushrooms to find life-giving phytonutrients that all humans are designed by nature to eat .

On a recent trip , I found myself in a sea of ​​phytonutrients in the wild islands of Southeast Alaska. I was looking for food for grizzly bears in the swamps with cranberries , blueberries, nagoonberries , raspberries and strawberries. These delicious berries , full of phytonutrients, were smaller, rich in colors and flavors (and lower in sugar ) than their domestic cousins ​​bays.

Here's a tip: The greater variety and color of plant foods they eat, the higher the concentration of phytonutrients them. The key is to know which foods are dense phytonutrients can help prevent disease and promote weight loss.

Want to be able phytonutrients ?

Here is a small sample of the many superfoods that contain these powerful phytonutrients : (Yes , chocolate) isoflavones in soy foods , lignans in flax seeds , catechins in green tea, cocoa polyphenols , glucosinolates in broccoli, carnosol in rosemary , and resveratrol in red wine .

And there are hundreds of other people who can help you unlock the secret to natural weight loss . All these compounds - and dozens more - will help fight disease and obesity. These special compounds literally communicate with your genes and turn on messages of health and weight loss. They are the key to success of people experience weight loss program that I developed during my 20 years of practicing medicine , called Ultrametabolism .

Before reaching that Cinnabon , know that phytonutrients only occur in , unrefined whole foods processed . All vegetables and fruits ) ( high score in phytonutrients , while processed foods like bread and pasta carbohydrates , have virtually no food .

Here's a shortcut to distinguish between the metabolism boosters and the processed carbs that weigh :

All that has been packaged or processed by a machine ( such as a potato chip ) . Everything that comes directly from the earth is natural ( like a plum ) .

Do not let all the terminology - high fat , low fat , high carb , low carb , high glycemic index , low glycemic index, complex carbs and simple carbs - confuse you. The key is to eat whole , real, unprocessed, food found as close to nature as possible . Now you know why your grandmother always told you to eat your vegetables!

Folk wisdom passed down from generations showed how to give the body what it needs . At the turn of the century, that wisdom is confirmed in the main scientific research . Therefore, you can follow these recommendations I offer with total confidence that the latest medical science backs them up .

This new science reveals why you should never do what some ill-advised diets suggest : cut out all carbohydrates. Not a good idea as it also cut all the phytonutrients (and the fiber) that only comes from whole plant foods .
Chemicals with their fight against obesity , vitamins and minerals to accelerate your metabolism, most whole carbohydrates are filled with healthy plant fiber to slow the absorption of blood sugar carbon .

And losing weight too fast, you'll want to eat foods rich in fiber special "super" that I use as my secret weapon of many patients who have had trouble losing weight. Once incorporated into your diet, you will feel full , live a constant energy , and never be tempted to overeat.

Here's a guarantee: If you have been consuming highly processed foods like soda , chips, and cookies , and you decide to increase your intake of powerful phytonutrients that I've reviewed the food , which is the first step to recovery programming your body for automatic weight loss and health.

My dirty little secret as a doctor is to never call someone specifically to lose weight , I just helped get healthy using these and other techniques and the weight automatically .

So remember, eat carbs , but make good carbs !