Nutrition

Nutrition has always been a fascinating subject for me. I want to feed my children so that they are getting all the nutrients they need and have a healthy balanced diet. I want to be a good example for them, and I want my husband to look and feel healthy too. But how do you accomplish this balance with one person who’s trying to lose weight, another who’s trying to put weight on plus little growing bodies?

Proper nutrition is one thing many of us struggle with, and as the mother; you are generally the designated family nutritionist. You are the one required to decide all of the meals for the family. That is a big responsibility.

And it’s not always easy to prepare meals that everyone likes and is healthy. When I started cooking for my husband it was a huge transition for both of us. He was used to living off of cereal and peanut butter sandwiches and I didn’t eat meat. We’ve had to find a happy middle, although he still will not touch a salad unless it’s drenched in ranch dressing.

We’ve all heard how to divide up the dinner plate, half the plate of veggies a quarter with meat and the remaining quarter with your starch or grains, but how many of us know why? And if we follow this rule of thumb with dinner, why do we not hold to it for the other meals in the day?

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, in every meal our bodies require carbohydrates and protein. (What? You thought you needed to eliminate carbs from your daily diet!?… umm… no.) Our brain requires glucose to function, but it only needs a certain amount every 4 hours, not just any carbs, however, our body craves complex carbs. Our body also requires amino acids to help slow the absorption of glucose. The key to good nutrition and a fast metabolism is stable blood sugar. Stable blood sugar is achieved through the proper combination of glucose and amino acids that is delivered to our body when it needs it- which is every 4 hours.

What is the proper combination?... well that brings us back to the dinner plate. The guidelines set forth by the USDA have switched from the food pyramid to the food plate. Although this set-up is a good way of regulating your plate proportions, plates come in all shapes and sizes (I have rectangular plates), but certainly my children don’t require the same amount of protein and veggies and whole grains that I require? So here I offer you an additional method of portion control-

Look at the palm of your hand- that’s the amount of lean protein you require. Now, make a fist and take your other hand and place it over the closed fist- that’s the amount of carbohydrates you require- roughly twice the amount of protein.  Side note- whole grains= brown rice, not white. So in your meal’s calorie composition, you should see about 25% of your calories as protein and 55% your carbohydrates plus 15-20% fats. Your veggies that are carb packed would fall under carbs, but those low in carbohydrates would fall on your second half of the plate- your veggies, and are so low in calories we needn’t put it in the basic equation (unless you’re cooking your veggies with tons of fat, which I do not recommend, then it would take up those calories). Does that make sense?

I know this is a lot of information for a short post, but hopefully this will at least get you thinking a little about what exactly you’re putting into your body. I’m not professing to know everything on this subject, because I don’t, but I am constantly learning and have read a few great books on nutrition that has developed my understanding as to what is healthy and what isn’t. Obviously I can’t write a book about it in one blog post, so I’ll just try to throw out a few tips here and there. I can also direct you to some great sources of information. Here are a few of my favorites: choosemyplate.gov, eatright.org, and a book called Skinny Chicks Don’t Eat Salads by Christine Avanti- She singlehandedly reshaped my view on food (a few tips posted here are also borrowed from her guidelines.)

So good luck Moms! Let's feed the family what they need to stay healthy!