What have you done this month (Feb) to help your family be healthier?

[westcliffemom]

I thought maybe we could start a thread where we give each other ideas of what changes we've made or little things we've done this month to make ourselves & our families healthier. It can also help us see how far we've come in becoming healthier. If people like it, we could make it a monthly thread!

I can start:

I've added shredded carrots to spaghetti sauce to have us eat more veggies.

I've made celery & Better n Peanut Butter sticks for DH who's veggie challenged twice so far. At least he's getting healthy fats & some green stuff!

My hair gel finally ran out, so I could go to Natural Grocer's and get some natural hair gel without all the chemicals in it.

 

[pjlla]

I LOVE this idea!

What I am doing (I'll include January stuff, since Feb. just started) lately to help my family be healthier....

I am using the "free" detergents to hopefully help DS's skin issues.

I am trying HARD to be sure that DS has two portions of fruit/veggies per day (he is a TERRIBLE eater).

I am trying to help EVERYONE in the family make smarter food choices by making sure that we have plenty of healthy stuff in the house to choose from (and avoiding buying junk!).

That's all I can think of for now.............P

 

[daisy2jae]

I'm not buying frozen waffles this month. We're replacing cold cereal and frozen waffles for breakfast with fresh fruit and yogurt. Not a big deal but trying to make them have better things to eat before heading out to school. Now if I could just get them to eat oatmeal like me for breakfast. I also cut back on chocolate milk since that's the only thing my 2 year old will drink. Trying to get him to drink more milk. My husband and I are working on getting to bed 30 minutes earlier every night since we only get 6-7 hrs of sleep.

 

[happysmyly]

It's just me and DH at home--and this weekend I noticed, when we were at the store together, that when he was looking at 'treats' he put several back because he too has started to read the calories and other info on the labels of foods... so I guess my occasional remarks about calories and such have started to rub off of him I know this will help him and me to be healthier in the long run--since he tends to bring home lots of junk food when he does the shopping

 

[pjlla]

DH took a trip to Costco a few times this month and I made sure that he stocked up on plenty of fruit. DS ate pineapple a few times and DH, DD, and myself enjoyed pineapple, strawberries, and other stuff. We still have a 15 lb. bag of grapefruit waiting.... just started on that tonight.

DS rode his bike with me for about a half mile when I went for a run today... biking outside in NH in February is actually an accomplishment. DD ran 3 miles on the TM the other day when I was finished on it. She is a swimmer and get plenty of exercise during swim season, but she doesn't usually do a lot of "weight bearing" exercise, so this was a good addition to her usual workout.

I served dinner tonight without a hot carbohydrate side dish. I served fish with roasted cauliflower and roasted asparagus. I did allow DS to have a dinner roll (leftover from last night) when he finished at least a portion of his meal, but I didn't "SERVE" a carbohydrate. Just trying to retrain their thinking away from believing that EVERY dinner has to include potato/bread/pasta/rice.

That said, I gave the "OK" for DH to take DS and his best friend to McDonalds for dinner tomorrow night after they go to the movies. It is a novelty for DS's friend, as his family doesn't really "do" that sort of thing... and I have been really limiting it for us (actually, DS and DH are the only ones who eat it... DD and I don't eat it any more). So much for the healthy eating!! .................P

 

[leslie@dvcstore]

i too am trying to buy less junk and buy more fruits and veggies, my 2 year old is also stuck on the chocolate milk thing as well only time i can get him to drink regular milk is when he eats cereal in the morning other than that it's chocolate milk! although in the parenting magazine they mentioned that the chocolate milk was ok for them! i will say i am fortunate that he does like to eat veggies. anyways thanks for alot of great advice on this thread!

 

[rubato]

I've been working over the last year to change my familys habits. We walk to school. We walk home from school. My son runs a mile every morning on the TM. He is in sports and the running club.

For our diet, we eat a lot of fruits and veggies now. I cook breakfast every morning or we eat oatmeal. Fish has been added and my son will at least eat tilapia. I too have taken bread away from most meals and will, sometimes, have 2 veggies, a fruit and a meat for dinner with no starch. I took away all my sons snacks. He now is hungry at his meals and will eat the veggies. I only allow him 1 glass of skim milk a day (he eats yogurt and cottage cheese and cheese, so he gets plenty of calcium).

My 10 year old has lost 15 lbs and gone from overweight to within a very healthy range. He is actually a size smaller than he was last year and is so much happier.

 

[Andreja]

I was trying to prepare regular meals for me and brother but I failed at that very often so we ate 2 times per day

 

[pjlla]

I've been working over the last year to change my familys habits. We walk to school. We walk home from school. My son runs a mile every morning on the TM. He is in sports and the running club.

For our diet, we eat a lot of fruits and veggies now. I cook breakfast every morning or we eat oatmeal. Fish has been added and my son will at least eat tilapia. I too have taken bread away from most meals and will, sometimes, have 2 veggies, a fruit and a meat for dinner with no starch. I took away all my sons snacks. He now is hungry at his meals and will eat the veggies. I only allow him 1 glass of skim milk a day (he eats yogurt and cottage cheese and cheese, so he gets plenty of calcium).

My 10 year old has lost 15 lbs and gone from overweight to within a very healthy range. He is actually a size smaller than he was last year and is so much happier.

That is a huge accomplishment that you got your DS down to a healthy weight! He will thank you for it later in life! Way to go Mom!

Glad someone is trying to revive this thread. It is such an important thing!

DS and I were trying to feed him an "allergen free" diet for the past two weeks. It has been a tremendous struggle. He is SO picky and would rather go hungry than eat something he doesn't like... even if it is one of the few non-allergy foods he can have! He has pretty much survived the last two weeks on pb&j on whole wheat, rice milk/tofu smoothies, bacon, soy crackers, and a few assorted handfuls of rice chex and raisins. Sad but true. And after all that I am not even sure that eliminating the allergens has had any positive effect.

DD has been packing her lunches (with my help) for school over the past few weeks instead of buying lunch. I'm SURE that the turkey and spinach on whole wheat is a WHOLE lot healthier than anything she could be buying! And she is okay with spinach instead of lettuce on her sandwich (maybe she doesn't realize it is spinach? I'm not gonna tell her!!).

Today's breakfast was nice and healthy for all. Fat free organic vanilla yogurt and fruit parfaits for the adults, fruit/yogurt smoothie for DD, and rice milk and tofu smoothie for DS. Not sure lunch will be quite so healthy, as there is a bit of leftover pizza in the house. I'm SURE that DH will be looking for that! I will try to steer the kids elsewhere for lunch though.

Dinner tonight (for DH, DD, and myself) will be something made with the all-natural chicken sausage I have defrosting. Probably some sort of pasta and veggie dish. Not sure what DS will have, as he is allergic to the chicken sausage. Maybe I'll set aside a portion of the pasta and veggies before I add the sausage. Then I'll put cheese with it and give that to DS. Sounds like a plan!................P


Wanted to add... I made the veggie/pasta/chicken sausage dish for lunch and DD and DH loved it. DS did eat his portion (without the sausage, but with bacon and mozzarella), but only tolerated it. It was really good and healthy, but next time I will make it with whole wheat pasta. Trying to use up the last of the white pasta I have in the house. For veggies I used fresh green beans, red bell pepper, onion, and mushroom. No sauce, but mozzarella on the table to be used as desired.

 

[joy@disney]

This is a great thread. Thanks for all the tips. I have tried numerous times, but with no sucess, to not keep soda in the house. Do any of you have soda addicted families and have you ever tried this?