What A 6-Month Old Can Teach Us About Our Eating Habits
By Melanie R. Jordan
Author of "Have Your Cheeseburger And Keep Your Health Too!"
Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing my 6-month old niece
Rianna in Las Vegas. She has just started eating "real" baby
food beyond the formula in her bottle, and I got a kick out of
feeding her one of her meals of squash. Okay, so not all of it
got in her mouth, but she was pretty cooperative overall.
I was curious as to what else she was eating, and my sister-in-
law showed me an assortment of baby food jars containing green
beans, carrots, bananas and a variety of other fruits and
vegetables.
It was at this moment the following thought hit me. When we come
into this world we are "NMP" (a healthy eating style) and then
some! We don't start off eating meat, poultry and the various
other junk food we become accustomed to later on. The craving for
these items is something we learn. And if we can learn it, we
can also "unlearn" it. That's what I did when I used my unique
Fallback Methods to make the easy, gradual transition to my
healthy "NMP" eating style. By the way, I coined the acronym
"NMP" for my book "Have Your Cheeseburger And Keep Your Health
Too!" to describe my healthy eating style. It stands for "no
meat or poultry", but unlike vegetarian diets, includes fish,
and its emphasis on converting favorite comfort foods we all
grew up on and like to eat out, into more healthful meatless
forms.
You can do your children a huge favor by bringing them up "NMP",
or at least as "NMP" as possible, and letting them continue with
the non-meat/poultry diet they naturally started when they first
were introduced to solid food. You can also help the other
children in your life--grandchildren and nieces and nephews by
teaching them when you have time with them that good food choices
are their friends.
There is an epidemic of overweight and obese kids in the United
States due to poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle (too much
television, video games and computer time). So diseases like Type
II diabetes which are supposed to be "adult onset" are starting
to show up even in teenagers. Researchers have shown that arteries
can begin being clogged by poor diet from the early years of
childhood on. It's never too soon to adopt healthy eating habits
that can put a child in the best possible position to have a very
long and healthy life.
So does this mean that as your kids grow they cannot have all the
"traditional" kid fare that all of us love like hot dogs,
hamburgers and chicken nuggets? Not at all! There are healthy and
delicious non-meat/poultry versions of all of these foods that you
can use, and feel good about giving your child. So your kids can
definitely "have their cheeseburger and keep their health too!"
There's even one company, Yves, that has introduced a line of
"lunchable"-type meals that mimic those incredibly unhealthy,
heavily-advertised meals that kids are often sent off to school
with.
And, just because you're not a kid (at least in numeric age)
anymore yourself, it doesn't mean that you can't easily "unlearn"
and improve upon your current eating habits. "NMP" eating is
designed to allow you to eat healthfully, yet still have all your
favorite comfort foods. "NMP" also teaches you to avoid hidden
food dangers. It's the unique combination of the two that gives
you the best of all possible worlds when it comes to diet and
your health. So why not make "NMP" the healthy eating style of
choice in your household? It's never too early and it's never
too late!
Note: Please check with your pediatrician or other healthcare
professionals to determine the best way to incorporate healthy
"NMP" eating in your child's diet and it's applicability to his
or her particular needs.
(c) Copyright 2002 By Sun Lover Publishing
About The Author
Melanie is the author of "Have Your Cheeseburger And Keep Your
Health Too!" This Booklocker.com print best seller uniquely
shows how healthy eating achieved with favorite comfort foods
is deliciously possible! Melanie also publishes a free monthly
e-zine called "Have Your Cheeseburger And Keep Your Health Too!
Update" (subscribe by e-mail to
healthycoach@...). Visit
her web site Healthy Eating Coach's Corner at
http://www.healthyeatingcoach.com.
