Thinking about trying a "locavore" diet....does anyone do this?

[Wifezilla]

Ok...

Kids will want to do stupid things. Given. HELPING them do stupid things is an entirely different issue. Don't help them do dumb things as kids. If they choose to do dumb things as adults, they will pay the consequences and, hopefully, learn from that. It's the natural order of things. Because your kid might do shots as a 19 year old in college does that mean you give them shots as a 13 year old? I vote no.

The thing MOST LIKELY to cause an eating disorder is restricting calories and inappropriate macronutrient composition , not restricting harmful foods. And yes, sugar IS inherently harmfu l...kind of like alcohol. No, one drink or one snack isn't going to kill them, but it does do damage. The body can repair occasional instances. But every day, every meal...it adds up.

 

[tinkarooni]

A while back, I caught my 9-year-old son hiding in the basement eating caramel corn. I never really thought we were being that restrictive on the junkfood, so it was an eye opener. Trying to completely eliminate junkfood can backfire!

This has happened to us recently. I noticed DS12 sneaking candy from the freezer. We do have some treats in there for well, treats.

We have always followed a pretty healthy diet. I cook most from scratch, bake bread, can sauce, peaches, jellies, green beans etc. We don't buy much processed foods, maybe frozen French fries that I will bake or Bell and Evans baked chicken tenders for our quick "junky" meal once in a while. We haven't eaten at a fast food restaurant in years, except for maybe Subway when we are on the run. So none of this will be a complete shock to anyone's system. It is very hard with what goes on around them. For example, bring a treat for Halloween, everyone brings junk, bring money for lunch on a field trip, they stop at Wendys so on and so forth.

I'm not making excuses just considering reality. I also am worried about pushing them the other way as some have discussed.....DH and I talked about it today and totally think each person could have their exception, I love the idea to let them change it every month. I was also thinking about making one night Desert Night, maybe Saturday we could take turns making a treat, the kids love to bake.....hmmmm...still thinking abount how to handle.

 

[tinkarooni]

My oldest is heading to junior high next fall. This is what I dread. He has taken lunch to school almost every day of his life. I know they don't have lockers everything stays in his backpack..

I am going to need to think of nutrient dense snack, lunch stuff for him as well.

tink, do you mind if I ask about your daughters reflux? Do you know what triggers it?

g

We finally had to see a gastroenterologist and after tests she dx DD10 with reflux. DD has always had a sensitive stomach but over the winter it was really really bad. She would vomit in her sleep.....well it turns out I was practically killing her with my healthy diet. clementines was what was making her so bad, they were on sale and she loves them so she was eating crates of them....

She's on a pretty restrictive diet now, no citrus, tomatoes, fried food, spicy food, fatty things, cream pies, desserts etc. She can have treats in moderation, one small homemade brownie for example. She loves zuke bread which I make with walnuts and applesauce so I do a lot of homemade stuff for her. Than this weekend we had two birthday parties, a double header, and she drank soda and ate chips and a hot dog, she was sick as a dog all night, I'm going to have to start taking her something when we go out or making sure she eats before we go. This was a tough day because we were out all day.

As for my son this is his first year of jr high and I wasn't sure what would happen, so I left the choice up to him about his lunch. He prefers to pack. He is not a particularly picky eater, after all he eats all kinds of foods, fruits and veggies, he just doesn't like the food at school. We agreed that he could buy once a week if he wanted to, sometimes he does, usually not. Sometimes he'll buy an extra or an ice cream for desert. They use an account to pay and I put $25 in it months ago and he still hasn't run out. The big thing we decided was to leave it up to him, I figured if I told him I wanted him to pack, he wouldn't. Whether he knows it or not he's spoiled with good food, when I have let them pick out a frozen tv dinner or something like a lunch able, they haven't even liked it, too much spice, salt and fat I'm guessing, they just don't like the taste of it.

 

[big brown horse]

Here is what I do. I make a healthy treat that tastes just like junk food. For example, butternut squash brownies--no flour and sweetened with local honey. Or raw cream ice cream (from a local dairy) sweetened with local honey. Then if they have a craving, or if they (in my case "she") eat(s) more than one serving I don't worry.

I also don't limit the amount of what she eats. I only keep food here that is healthy. I try to stock the fridge with yummy things that she can snack on like: raw "zucchini" hummus, cut up veggies, greek olives, nuts, cheeses and nitrate free lunch meats, leftovers--right now it is guacamole and boiled shrimp, and some waldorf chicken salad.

I keep 'fluffy coconut flour pancakes' in a ziplock in the fridge for quick breakfasts...just pop them in the toaster oven and add grass fed butter and local honey...YUM. (This week I made the pancakes with some cocoa powder, so chocolate coconut flour pancakes it is!)

Tonight's menu:
grilled grass fed (and local) ribeye steak salad
homemade blue cheese dressing

dessert: chocolate bar, divided (ingredients: chocolate liquor, evaporated cane sugar, cocoa butter.)

 

[tinkarooni]

Here is what I do. I make a healthy treat that tastes just like junk food. For example, butternut squash brownies--no flour and sweetened with local honey. Or raw cream ice cream (from a local dairy) sweetened with local honey. Then if they have a craving, or if they (in my case "she") eat(s) more than one serving I don't worry.

I also don't limit the amount of what she eats. I only keep food here that is healthy. I try to stock the fridge with yummy things that she can snack on like: raw "zucchini" hummus, cut up veggies, greek olives, nuts, cheeses and nitrate free lunch meats, leftovers--right now it is guacamole and boiled shrimp, and some waldorf chicken salad.

I keep 'fluffy coconut flour pancakes' in a ziplock in the fridge for quick breakfasts...just pop them in the toaster oven and add grass fed butter and local honey...YUM. (This week I made the pancakes with some cocoa powder, so chocolate coconut flour pancakes it is!)

Tonight's menu:
grilled grass fed (and local) ribeye steak salad
homemade blue cheese dressing

dessert: chocolate bar, divided (ingredients: chocolate liquor, evaporated cane sugar, cocoa butter.)

Can I have the butternut squash recipe please?

 

[Farmfresh]

I think we are definitely responsible for restricting the junk food intake orf our children ... whether they like it or not. Not total elimination, but a treat should be a rare enough occurrence that it is a treat.

When I was a kid my mom put Coke in my bottles!! I was fed all of the candy, chips, and crud that I could ever want. My crazy (and that is not name calling) mom used to limit the amount of MILK I drank. My nutrition came from school lunches and the blessing of having my Grandma Nettie who fixed me a farm breakfast every morning and a decent supper a couple of times a week. I was in junior high before I truly discovered vegetables other than green beans. That was because of my best friend at the time. She was kid #6 in her family and her whole family gardened (close to 2 acres) and her mom was a canning guru.

So .. how did that work? Well as a kid I had a whole mouth full of rotten teeth - 7 capped teeth and one so bad it was pulled and a spacer placed in. I STILL have problems craving junk, and especially soda.

I made different choice with my kids. They were given water, milk or juice to drink. If we ever got a soda it was split between the three of them. They were served a wholesome diet, not as good as I could now do but the best I could do with my knowledge at the time. They still had candy, chips etc ... but not a lot because we couldn't afford it.

Results ... No cavities until the youngest one got one in high school. BOTH girls are still healthy eaters and only seldom drink soda. The baby boy? Well... as he got more able to make his own choices his diet caved in. He is picky now about what he eats and unless it is sold by a clown or a person in a talking box he seldom eats it. You win-some and you lose-some.

FORGOT to say ... I had horrible acid reflux that even required prescription meds to control it. Now it is completely GONE. I found out that I have Celiac disorder and am allergic to wheat and gluten. I would get the blood test for your daughter - just in case.

 

[tinkarooni]

Farm fresh: Thank you for your advice, we have had the blood test for celiacs already, negative. I enjoy hearing your story, see your outcome, that's what I wonder about....we are going to do something radical around here, just working out in my head how radical to go. For example we could go extremely healthy and not have to go local, I think local is a choice I might like to educate my kids on though.

 

[~gd]

I am not going comment on most of this thread under the spirit if you can't say something nice, say nothing. But does "locavore"really have anything to do with 'junk food'?

 

[Wifezilla]

You can end up eating a lot of junk locally just like you can doing all your shopping at a Whole Foods. The danger is thinking you are eating healthy when you are not.

 

[Farmfresh]

Perhaps the whole "eat local thing" could really help teach the children how to more properly eat. If it is presented as more of an Earth activist thing than a "you can't eat garbage" thing.

I think a GIANT factor in me eating better and better these days is that with the Celiac I am forced to read each and every label on prepackaged foods before I eat the food. There is something about reading the words: Contains High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sucrose, Mono ----, Di ----, Propylene Glycol, (and other additives) over and over that starts to make that food more creepy and far less desirable.

If you really want to teach your kids HOW to eat better, have them keep a notebook and just list the ingredients of each food they eat. It is way easier to write "banana" down, than to list the ingredients in a fruit roll up.