The #1 most important health goal you can make in 2025

The #1 most important health goal you can make in 2025 is to prioritize sitting down to eat with your kids.

That's it.

Seem to simple to be helpful?

It's been my experience in counseling patients over the past 15 years that almost everyone who DOESN'T eat family meals will struggle with the following problems:

• kids who are picky eaters

• kids who won't eat meals

• kids who eat too much

• kids who don't eat enough

• parents who don't feel good about their eating choices

My first recommendation is ALWAYS to sit down and eat MEALS together.

As soon as families start eating meals together, their kids start eating better.

Parents start feeding themselves better too.

Of course, there's a few additional rules required to make this successful (quid pro quo's thank you genie from Aladdin).

RULE #1: CHANGE HOW YOU SNACK

• This doesn't mean you can't have snacks: you just need to treat snacks like a meal. Have a set time for snacks, gather the food you want for snack and sit down to eat it at the kitchen table (or in a set spot on the floor if you have no table).

• Don't let your child graze.

• Stop giving snacks as a way to entertain your child in the car, at stores, at church, in the stroller, or at times when they need to wait.

Have consistent meal and snack times sitting down in the same spot.

RULE #2: BE CONSISTENT

• Try to eat at around the same times every day.

• Kids need to eat every 2-4 hours.

• Eat breakfast when you wake up and eat a meal or snack at the table (or in a set spot on the floor if you don't have a table) again about every 3 hours until bedtime.

Make mealtime screen free time

RULE #3: NO SCREENS

• no phones while eating

• no TV while eating

• no tablets while eating

• no toys, books or other distractions

• kid won't sit long enough to eat? They probably aren't hungry. Try again in 2-3 hours.

• don't try to distract your child into eating

• avoiding screens also prevents adults from overeating

Don't force kids to eat. They'll eat when they are hungry!

RULE #4: DON'T PRESSURE ANYONE TO EAT

• Offer food

• If your child chooses not to eat, don't make them eat

• If your child eats a lot, it's okay, maybe they are growing. They'll probably eat less later.

• You'll be offering a meal or snack again in 3 hours, they can eat at the next meal or snack if they aren't going to eat right now!

That's it.

Did you notice how I didn't say anything about WHAT to eat?

How you eat is even more important than what you eat. That is partially because it's very difficult to eat well if you aren't planning and cooking meals.

Get the meal habit down.

Stop grazing all day.

Then you can add in healthier foods.

I'll show you what that looks like next week.

thanks for reading!!

Healthy Holiday Breakfast Ideas

As a child, I loved filling every pocket of a Belgian waffle with maple syrup. On special mornings, like Christmas, I would top the little syrup swimming pools with tiny twisted-star- swirls of Redi-whip. There was something so magical about the way the syrup and whipped cream slowly melted into the walls of the waffle, creating a tender sugary breakfast delight.

I still love waffles, I still love filling the pockets with syrup and I still save the Redi-whip for special occasions, like Christmas morning.

Being a dietitian, I do try to make things a little more nutritious, even at Christmas time.

The easiest way to make any baking recipe more nutritious is to use whole wheat flour.

Whole wheat flour is healthier for two reasons:

1. It has more fiber

2. It has more nutrients

The extra fiber slows down digestion, which prevents blood sugar spikes and feeds the good bacteria in your gut.

Whole wheat waffles are just as yummy when you make them with whole wheat flour.

Here's my go-to whole wheat waffle recipe from King Arthur Flour: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/whole-wheat-waffles-recipe

I always use canola oil because it's healthier than butter, and a lot less expensive.

image source: King Arthur Flour (link above)

I'm always on the lookout for other whole wheat recipes that taste just as good as the white flour version. One of my favorite nutrition bloggers makes these whole wheat crepes for her family every Christmas: https://www.realmomnutrition.com/recipe-whole-wheat-crepes/

The recipe is also a hit at my house, no one will ever guess that they are whole wheat.

image source: Real Mom Nutrition (link above)

Lately my husband has been really into making cinnamon rolls for our family. He will probably make some for Christmas morning. It's hard to make healthy ones taste good, but this recipe looks promising, I think we will give it a try! https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/whole-wheat-30-minute-mini-cinnamon-buns-and-they-are-healthy/

Image source: Half Baked Harvest (link above)

Last I'm going to share a favorite recipe that I make all the time, but could be special for your family if you've never had it before: https://www.ddinutrition.com/recipes-2/baked-oatmeal

My kids lovingly refer to this as "oatmeal cake." The walnuts on top really make it delicious IMO. I always make it with canned pears because fresh are just too hard to get ripe.

Image source: DDInutrition.com

That's all I have for healthy breakfast recipe ideas today! I hope you time off to make some yummy breakfast recipes for your family!

See you in January!

Vanilla Milk: Hot Coco's Healthier Cousin

Did you know that the sugar in a cup of hot coco often exceeds a child's sugar limit for the day?

Look at the added sugars in this container of coco: 19g added sugars

If you add 5-6 marshmallows, the sugar content will total about 25 grams.

Remember that the limit for kids is 25 grams added sugar PER DAY.

I'm not saying that you can never have hot coco.

I love hot coco, especially with marshmallows!

What I would like you to consider is that maybe hot coco should be saved for special occasions, and should not be a daily addition to breakfast or afterschool snacks.

So what warm sweet drink can you have instead?

Vanilla milk!

My son is drinking vanilla milk in this photo. Vanilla milk is the go-to hot drink at our house, I call it coco's healthier cousin.

Vanilla milk meets that need for warmth without all the added sugar.

Here's how you make it:

1. Microwave a mug full of milk until warm.

2. Stir in vanilla extract and a tiny bit of almond extract (just a drop).

3. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon sugar.

Stir and enjoy.

If you start out serving this when your kids are young, they will come to love vanilla milk and enjoy it all their days. If you've only ever served hot coco, vanilla milk might taste bland to them.

Give it time.

My older kids warmed up to vanilla milk after I stopped buying hot coco. Now hot coco is something I save for special occasions!

Let me know what you think if you try it!

Happy Holidays!