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Great Advice from Mom
Happy Mothers Day to all the special women in our lives – mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and friends. In celebration of this day, here are some words of nutritional advice that I learned from my mom Jean:
- Dinner time should be family time.
It’s probably not realistic to expect families to eat together every night, but even a few times a week has been shown to have an positive impact on your health. Start to schedule some family meals maybe beginning with a special dinner tonight. - Eat your vegetables.
Growing up, we always had vegetables at dinner. We didn’t know (and we weren’t told) that they were good for us – they were just there – and to this day, a meal doesn’t feel complete to me without some veggies on my plate. And, of course, the health benefits of eating them are huge. - Eat breakfast.
We know it’s the most important meal of the day – it helps us think better, perform better and also eat less later in the day. As a kid, I never wanted to get up for breakfast, but my mom persisted and always made sure I ate something before school. Sometimes it was stuff I chose, sometimes it was already made and waiting for me at the table – and today, its one of my favourite meals. - Don’t diet.
I don’t think I heard the word diet until I was studying nutrition at school. My mom was a healthy weight, she never appeared to worry about it or talk about it, she ate healthy foods and fed us the same. This healthy relationship with food is such an important thing to give your kids and its never too early to start. Kids learn by example so make sure you are setting good ones. - Enjoy some treats.
It’s never a good idea to make foods forbidden but it’s certainly fine to have certain foods that are eaten at special occasions. As kids, we could have anything we wanted on our birthdays and sometimes at other special days. I always picked a certain cake I loved or a Dairy Queen ice cream sundae. To this day, I feel quite special when I eat them.