Sunday, June 2, 2013

Traffic Light Eating ~ with Heidi Phillips

Traffic Light Eating

GO!  SLOW!  STOP!  
Teaching Your Kids Traffic Light Eating
Dr. Bill Sears, nationally renowned pediatrician and author of “Eat Healthy, Feel Great” children’s book, helps us teach our kids from a very young age how to easily identify foods growing bodies and brains need.  Using the concept of a traffic light and the colors green, yellow, and red we can create a classroom at the dinner table, the grocery store, or even during play- time with our plastic food bins! 
Green Light Foods are all fruits and veggies and GREEN means eat as much as you want.  Yellow Light Foods can be healthy foods, but things that when eaten in too large a quantity become unhealthy- these are our lean proteins, whole grains, and some high quality (hormone free) dairy products (for those who eat dairy).  YELLOW means caution- watch your portions, but we DO  need to have them as part of our healthy plate. 
Red Light Foods are those foods should be eaten in very small portions if at all such as cookies, cakes, and all other processed foods.  These are to be considered “treats” and as RED Light Foods, we want to STOP and think about how often we are having them and can we make a better choice.  Obviously, we will be having Red Light Foods on a weekly or perhaps monthly basis (not daily!), however creating awareness from a young age is the best way to teach healthy habits.
As moms of young and even not so young children it’s so easy to fall into the trap of just wanting to fill their bellies so the kitchen can be “closed” for a few hours time, however we can teach them to make better choices and then have those “green light and yellow light” options available.  Children will not starve themselves (even though we worry when they skimp or skip for a meal) so not making a battle out of it and rest in the fact that they will eat if they are hungry enough.  Try to NOT become emotional with food as then you are setting yourself up for food battles.  The ONLY thing children have any control over is what they will put into their mouths, so creating a learning environment, staying calm and letting them pick some of their own foods and portion sizes will help them feel that they do have some control over meal times and a much better option than the mac and cheese only for dinner or chicken fingers, etc.
Remember we are the ones buying the groceries so they can only choose what we have already purchased when eating at home.  Getting kids involved choosing one meal a week and even helping with a dish in the kitchen will go a long way to getting your kids on your “team” in the healthier eating department.  Make the grocery store a learning experience by challenging them to pick 1 fruit or veggie from every color, to pick out a new fruit or veggie to try, or keeping a chart on the door of the refrigerator and seeing who can eat the most colors or number of different fruits and veggies each week. ;-)
Happy Traffic Light Eating!
Heidi Phillips is a health professional with a huge passion for helping individuals and families adopt healthier lifestyles.  After graduating with honors and a marketing degree from the University of Georgia, she quickly realized the corporate world was not a good fit and pursued her passion for health and fitness.  Heidi began competing in triathlons to maintain her own fitness while juggling motherhood and personal training.  Heidi also worked as the Wellness Director at the largest metropolitan YMCA in Atlanta, GA and was certified as a USA Triathlon and swim coach before she began educating families and facilitating classes as a certified coach for the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute.  

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