Tips For Getting Your Child To Eat Healthy
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As parents we have all faced that difficult time when we are trying to get our child to eat healthy foods and they refuse. That broccoli just won’t go down no matter how long the child sits there. We know how important the right foods can be to their growing little bodies, but getting them to eat these foods is another matter. Here are some tips to get your child to eat the right foods.
- One of the best ways in getting your child to eat healthy is to start young. Introduce them to all the types of vegetables available when they are babies, and not just the sweet ones. If they become accustomed to eating the right foods at an early age, they are more likely to continue to eat them later on.
- Lead by example. Children love to mimic their parents and will watch what you eat. Are you pushing that broccoli to the side of your own plate? Are you eating the greens that you are forcing them to eat? Be a model for your child to emulate.
- Make food fun. Every parent knows the ‘airplane’ trick with the spoon, but there are other ways to make children eat food that is fun. Display it in fun ways on their plates. Make a face on the plate using vegetables and tell them to eat the nose which may be a cherry tomato. Use bright colored foods and cut them into various shapes. Radishes and cucumbers can be cut into flowers. Carrots and celery can be cut into thin strings. Make pancakes with smiley faces on them.
- Get the kids involved in the food preparation. If they help to prepare the food, they are more likely to eat it. Even very young children can help, even if it is just arranging the food on their plate. Encourage them to make a happy face of vegetables for Dad. They will be proud of what they can do, and if you make it fun for them it can help you in dealing with kitchen chores when they are older.
- Teach your children the value of foods, and what the ingredients are in the foods that they eat. Show them the healthy ones and discuss why others may be bad for them. If they are shown the right foods to eat in the beginning, chances are they will be able to make more meaningful choices for themselves later.
- Combine their treats with healthy foods. If they must have chips, why not serve it with a mild salsa which contains many healthy vegetables. If they want cake, why not serve them carrot cake or a zucchini bread? If they don’t like to eat meat or fruit, how about a tofu banana or strawberry milkshake?
- Use cheese, dips or sauces to mask certain flavors that children tend to dislike. They may be more apt to eat the cauliflower when it is covered with cheese. They may like raw vegetables served with a creamy dip. Sauces can contain healthy ingredients that may make certain dishes more appealing to children. A healthy meat dish served with a tomato sauce may eliminate the need for other vegetables at that meal.
- Encourage children to take at least one bite of anything that is served. Even if they don’t like that particular thing they may discover that they like another that you may not have considered but is equal in nutritional value.
- Let your child have one thing that they positively don’t like and don’t have to eat. Everyone dislikes something, whether it be brussel sprouts or asparagus. It will give the children a feeling of having some control over what they eat, and they may be more inclined to eat the rest. Children want to have choices too, and to have some control over their own lives. Let them choose vegetables and healthy foods that they do like and there are sure to be at least a few and serve them often.
- Remember what is in your own cupboard. Make healthy snacks available to your children and don’t just stock your pantry with junk food. Send healthy snacks like fruits, raisins and carrot sticks in your child’s lunch box instead of chips and chocolate bars.
Those are just a few tips that may get your child to eat healthier. Remember to be tolerant but firm. Their growing little bodies need the vitamins and nutrients to help them grow, and it is our job as parents to make sure that our children get them.
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And am giving you the distinct opportunity of becoming part of something very special.
That statement is truly at the core of my thoughts today.
“Being part of something special”
As Trainers and Coaches, we are used to the basic realities of life in our industry; College Degree, Certification, Long Hours, Unstable Financial Future, Day Off or Vacation = No Income
And while we all gain degrees of satisfaction when helping clients succeed, we tend to be a little empty inside.
How do we take our careers to the next level?
How do we positively impact the lives of more people without having to work even more hours?
How do we really become the ‘go to’ expert we’ve always wanted to be?
Countless resources have shown two things about the world of fitness and sport training:
1. It is consistently considered one of the most expanding industry’s on the planet
2. It has one of the highest attrition rates in any industry
Don’t those seem like contradictory terms? Well, they are. But that’s because most people don’t understand how to read between the lines.
Yes… This is a $100 billion a year market in the United States alone. So opportunity really is everywhere.
But how do you go about creating a career in such a vast marketplace when trading your time for an hourly rate is about all you are positioned to do?
You charge $60 an hour. And if you’re lucky, you have a daily client load that looks something like this:
5:00 - 6:00am = Client 1
6:00 - 7:00am = Client 2
7:00 - 8:00am = Client 3
12:00 - 1:00pm = Client 4
3:00 - 4:00pm = Client 5
5:00 - 6:00pm = Client 6
6:00 - 7:00pm = Client 7
7 clients a day at $60 per session isn’t bad, right?
That’s roughly $100,000 a year.
Now here’s the thing…
… Do you really make $100,000 a year?
I don’t know many Trainers who do. And even if you do, that’s based on:
:: A 14 hour day
:: No days off
:: No vacations
How do you live a healthy and full life outside of your work schedule?
When do you have time to learn more?
When do you have time to create a business plan that allows you to gain leverage and take control of your schedule?
When do you have time to create a marketing platform on which to become that ‘go to’ expert you know you can be?
The reality is you can’t. Now, I say all that to illustrate a point.
Smart professionals in every field know how to look objectively at the industry within which they work and consider the future. Where the market is going. And when you take the time to assess that information, you can take advantage of a market shift at the beginning of its change.
Those smart and fortunate few become ‘The First’. And with anything else in life, being ‘The First’ comes with a staggering list of benefits and opportunities.
This is YOUR opportunity…
It is no secret and I have made no bones about the fact that the Youth Fitness and Youth Sports Training niches are THE next big thing in this industry.
:: More than $4 billion are spent annually in the U.S. alone
:: ‘Opportunity-oriented industry’ according to Entrepreneur
:: Over 1 million youths hired a Trainer last year alone
Through the IYCA, I have opened the door to this market surge for you. A new ‘Gold Standard’ of credentials that is already branded.
Free 3-month access to a wealth of business information guaranteed to enhance the success of your career.
An international network and family of professionals working towards a common goal.
An organization who has high profile partners and endorsers the world over.
This is your opportunity to become ‘part’ of something special.
But you need to be one of the ‘First 500′ to do it.
Somewhere around 1 million fitness professionals worldwide will be exposed to this opportunity today.
But only 500 will be allowed access. At 501, the doors close. Below is the link I want you to click on. And even if you don’t want to read the website, do me one favor.
Watch the short videos and listen to the audio I’ve placed there just for you.
These are real fitness professionals just like you. They also worked long hours and lived the very difficult life of a fitness professional. Watch and listen to what they say. Hear the passion in their voices. Understand what becoming part of my mission has done for their careers and their lives.
And then decide if you want to be part of my exclusive ‘First 500′.
Here’s that link -
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One more thing…
Read this quote from Donovan Owens, a recent new member of the IYCA:
“The content contained within the IYCA certification materials provides the most technical, practical and applicable education that I have EVER experienced. The IYCA is REAL PEOPLE taking EXTRAORDINARY actions to change the face of youth fitness and sport training around the world. I couldn’t be more honored to be involved in spreading that vision”
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Here’s your ‘First 500′ link one more time -
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It’s time to take action.
Pre-Game Meal | Pre-Practice Snacks
What healthy snacks or meals should I eat before a game or practice?
We hear this question - but perhaps not often enough. Having coached youth sports I see more bad habits than I would like; candy bars, high sugar content drinks and other “not so good” food choices.
Here are some general rules of thumb to foll for pre-game meals, pre-practice snacks:
- One meal is not going to make up for a generally poor eating habits. But for the most part, like most things in life, you need to strive for balance in your everyday diet. This is easier said then done with youth players. The greater effect on performance is really what you ate leading up to the game or practice - not what you eat or drink right before a game.
- The idea that most people think of when considering what to eat before a practice or a game is to eat in order to provide “energy”. Ideally you want to eat so you have energy to carry you through the game, but you don’t want to eat so that you feel too full and/or experience discomfort.
- Generally, a snack taken before an activity will help fuel you for that practice or game (depending on how long the sport lasts), and also help you from becoming over hungry after the workout.
- It usually takes our bodies about 3 or 4 hours to digest a moderate sized meal and about one or two hours to process a light snack (these numbers depend a lot on the type of food you’re eating, not to mention your very own metabolic rate). It’s a good idea to allow some time for digestion prior to any strenuous activity.
- If you have practice or a game late in the afternoon, eat breakfast and lunch. Include plenty of complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain cereals, fruit, and vegetables. These replace muscle glycogen (our bodies’ storage form of carbohydrates), and are important, especially if you exercise every day. Without replacing glycogen, your muscles will feel weak and performance may suffer.
- Hydration is critical to performance - generally speaking youth athletes are not properly hydrated throughout the day and when you add n a practice or game it tips the scales even further. Keep in mind, our muscles are approximately 70 percent water. So it should go without saying that you need to keep the muscles hydrated in order to perform. Dehydrated muscles don’t do so well, are dangerous and often times lead to cramps. The key is to drink water throughout the day (we send our son into school with a water bottle that he sips throughut the day).
- Eat healthy snacks or energy providing foods between larger meals. Try not to go longer than 4 hours without eating - professional athletes often times eat 5-6 smaller meals a day.
- Healthy foods and pre-game or pre-practice snacks:
- fruit (e.g., bananas, oranges, apples, or grapes)
- fruit juices (watered down, use half water half fruit juice)
- unsalted crackers
- graham crackers
- plain bagels (no topping ie., butter, cream cheese…)
- non- or low-fat yogurt
- pretzels (preferably with little or no salt)
- low-fat soup, such as vegetable - Avoid foods high in fat, protein, and fiber. These types of foods typically take longer to digest.
- Avoid trying out a new food before a competitive event… You never know what effect it might have on you, instead experiment before practices, where there might be less at stake.
Youth Weightlifting
Youth weightlifting has become a true trend these days, being very often seen in association with a developing personality, and there are not few the ones who have seen the business opportunities of such modern preoccupations with the body. There has been a real boom for the businesses that provide all sorts of facilities for youth weightlifting: from clubs and special training programs to free tips and personal trainers. Why does youth weightlifting seem so appealing? Lots of reasons come to one’s mind when trying to explain youth weightlifting. First of all, great muscles increase self esteem, impress friends and represent a challenge.
Then, some teenagers see youth weightlifting as a means of being active and healthy; for them body building is a pass time and a way to be with friends. From this point of view youth weightlifting is definitely an alternative to other sports. Though some people claim that there are no age limitations for youth weightlifting, there are, nevertheless, professional opinions that say otherwise. According to experts, teen body building should not start before the completion of the growing process, since the bones have not yet achieved their final stage of development. Thus, the strenuous exercises specific to youth weightlifting would negatively influence the proper body formation.
Youth weightlifting is definitely about lots of determination; what may first start as a regular visit to the gym once or twice a week, could actually become a hobby or a life-long commitment. Proper training will definitely require a correct nutrition, most teenagers that start lifting weights should seek the advice of professional trainers in order to develop the right skills and come to master the techniques of youth weightlifting without risking to get ligament or muscle injuries. Youth weightlifting is often associated with music, as the rhythm very often keeps the body and the mind alert allowing for the easier formation of a routine.
Manufacturers have launched a large number of nutritional supplements aiming at the younger generations that are into weightlifting. Nevertheless, the choice of a supplement is an important issue for youth weightlifting, and one should always ask for professional advice before starting to use such a product. A doctor would be the person to tell one what sort of super food to use and whether it is the case to use it at all. Working out a dietary plan that would include enough protein, carbohydrates and fibers is often more useful than supplementing the normal diet with all sorts of stimulating compounds.