Overweight in children is usually the consequence of both anxiety
and poor eating habits. Did you know you can embrace these “Weight Loss” challenge
from a completely different perspective that will benefit your whole family
without hurting your child’s self-esteem?
The best approach to deal with overweight is to keep in mind
that anxiety is the real problem here, while “Forbidden
things are always Tempting”. So if you just “ban” certain type of food, you
may see some results as long as you are watching and I assure you: your child
will find a way to cheat on you.
Try these 7 Tips for 3 months, you will all feel a lot
better:
1) Relax. Anxiety triggers the “craving” and that “urgent
need” for a sweet or fatty treat at night.
Make dinner a pleasant moment for all of you, without letting phones, TV or
Tablets getting on the way. If your child is focused on “chewing slowly” in a
relaxed situation, his or her brain will be ready to let the whole body know it
is “enough food” already: “I am full”.
This means the more relaxed your child is, and the more positive is the climate
at home, the less your child will eat. I also suggest you work on your
CONNECTION with your child so that you can start working together on the other
potential causes for his or her anxiety.
2) Increase physical activity. Take your child to
the playground, if it is too hot or too cold or too wet, try dancing together 30 minutes a day using your child’s
favorite songs. You will need to increase the physical activity little by little so that you both enjoy the new healthy habits.
For example, you can add swimming on the weekend if you can not afford to have
a swim during weekdays.
3) Replace all drinks at home (soft drinks, bottled
or packed juice and teas) with water. Avoid even fresh fruit juice. The so-called “Liquid Calories” don’t help at all.
It is really the act of chewing the one that triggers that desired reaction
from your brain: “I am full”. The
pure act of swallowing only adds unwanted calories. If you are in public
spaces, like a birthday party or a restaurant, and your child wants a soft drink,
let him or she have it. The anxiety
created by the message: “You can not have
that because you have to lose weight” is 100% negative. An occasional
sugar-added drink won’t hurt, but you need to make sure those drinks don’t
exist at home.
4) Buy a lot of fresh fruit. Any kind. Including
grapes and bananas. The sugar coming from fruits is easily burned-out. So there
really is no reason to worry about having too much fruit. You can get affordable fresh fruit from your grocery
store, just get the one that is already peeled and chopped so that you have it “ready”
in your fridge. Stay away from granola bars and whole wheat cookies, neither of
them help. You can have plenty of
unsalted nuts (except peanuts) if you are not allergic. Through away the junk food you’ve got at home, in your pantry, fridge
and also in your private hideouts. This applies
to all your cookies, chips, candies, chocolates,
ding-dongs and any other sweet treats. Pop Corn can fit in your healthy lifestyle only
if you get it fat-free.
5) Don’t let your child feel hungry. Let your child
eat anytime he or she wants. Let your child choose: “Are you going to have
fruit or nuts?” “Are you having strawberry-pineapple or kiwi-cantaloupe?”. Fruits
will give him or her just the right Vitamins and Nuts are a great source for
the Essential Oils your child’s brain needs. I personally recommend adding bee
honey to the fruit because it is good for their body and it makes the
transition easier.
6) Reinvent Dinner. Have Chicken Noodle Soup and Chinese Stir Fry a lot more frequently. Omelets are an awesome alternative as well. Try
to stay away from frozen food and carbs. Chinese recipes make it a lot easier
to help you child eat a bunch of colorful
vegetables while it is really easy and
fast to cook. Add Sesame Oil to enhance the taste and to make it even more nutritious. Try to avoid cornstarch and flour when you
cook (they absorb a lot of oil).
7) Embrace resistance to change without fear:
- The message has to be: “We are doing this as a family because we want to be healthy all the time”. The message must not be: “We are doing this because you need to lose weight”.
- If your child refuses to eat whatever you have for dinner, offer him or her a fruit salad or whichever fruit your child chooses. And if your child still refuses to eat, let it be. Children eat when they are hungry.
- If your child is craving for pizza, make it at home together. Use Turkey Ham, bell peppers, tomatoes, basil and olive oil.
- Let your child choose ONE meal during the week. If your child asks you to take him of her to McDonalds for a Happy Meal, please do it. “Forbidden things are always Tempting”.
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