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Change is never easy

A Rainbow of Food
For months now my family have been focusing on eating healthy.  We had improved what foods we were eating, but the serving size pretty much stayed the same.  It was mostly evident after a visit with the pediatric dietitian last month.  She seemed impressed with the changes we had made up to that point, but there was still progress to be made.  She had little plastic toy food that she used as serving size demos.  She'd show us how much of each food Christian should be eating and question us on his intake. We were going way over the serving sizes by double and sometimes triple. Oh my!  And after reviewing Christian's typical daily meals she pointed out that Christian was eating too many grains.  By lunch time he had already consumed more than his recommended daily grain allowance!  Canada's Food Guide recommend that a child between the age of 4 & 8 have a total of 4 grains per day.  I knew this already, but wasn't following through.       

It is nearly a month since our dietitian visit and I am finally following the rules.  I am taking full advantage of my measuring cups and instead of pouring a full big bowl of cereal I am now measuring 3/4 cups into a small kid-sized bowl.  I am serving a 1/2 bagel instead of a full bagel and I am providing more fruit mid-morning snacks as opposed to a grain product.  Change is never easy though, especially for a child.  Christian is not impressed with the smaller portion sizes and especially does not like the smaller portion of cereal.  I am sure that it will all get easier as it becomes our routine.

Along with eating right we are also trying to be more active.  Christian plays soccer twice a week and we now try to also make the optional 2 hour 'skills & drills' practice on Friday's.  We are attempting to fit in more family walks and yard work/gardening.  Christian has been splashing around in our little pool and we have plans for him to get in swimming lessons in the fall of the year.  This is a whole lifestyle change for us and I am proud of our success so far.
First soccer game in June
Walking at the Park

Comments

  1. Melissa CarrJuly 22, 2010 at 6:14 PM

    Congrats! Tell Christian to hang in there! I gradually overhauled our diets too. Things we once loved, we find we don't really care for anymore...like soda! It gets easier and the results you start seeing will be well worth it! I want to thank you for sharing this expierience and you should should take pride in what you are doing because it's not an easy task.
    On another note, Dan reported the other day that the last post season trip left...so that means no more trips until February. We're pretty bumbed, but now we have time to save and plan for next season.

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