How to eat healthily (and stick to it!)

Hands up, who has promised themselves that they are going to eat healthier this year? Well this January, you can turn your healthy eating resolutions into reality as we’ve teamed up with Simple Cafe to bring you quick and simple tips to get your whole family eating better together- plus there’s even an easy to follow recipe for Simple Cafe’s tasty smoothie, the Green Machine.

Eat together as a family when you can

It helps children to think of mealtimes as an enjoyable occasion and food as something to be appreciated.

Minimise distractions

That means no TV! Looking at a screen during meal time leads to poor digestion and over eating, as well as hindering social developmental milestones. Instead, put on some music quietly in the background. Let the children choose it to help them feel involved in meal time.

Serve meals “family” style

Children’s tummies are smaller than adults’ of course. Try serving “family” style, putting the dishes in the centre of the table and allowing children to serve each family member the right amount, thinking about everyone’s tummy and how much they need.

Help children to feel engaged with their food

If you are worried that your children aren’t getting a balanced diet because they are picky eaters, it may help to come up with dinner options for the week and then let your child choose what the family will have on what night. That way you are in control overall, but the children will feel more responsible and engaged with their food. Something else to try for picky eaters is to put a few new or often refused food items in the middle of the table and allow your child to choose a small piece of one of the items to try. That way they feel more in control of what they are eating and are more likely to try new foods.

Don’t use food as a reward

Try not to use food as a reward, it may build an unhealthy relationship with food, particularly treat food, into adulthood. Use non-food or non-screen time rewards instead such as choosing the weekend activity or stickers system, for example.

Avoid packaged food

Be careful of packaged food and ready meals. Often, even “healthy” ready meals are high in fat and sugar, plus, most items come in adult-sized portions.

Smoothies are a fun and simple way to get children involved in what they are eating, and a great way to ensure that they consume enough nutrients every day.

The UK government advise children to have one fruit juice (no added sugar) or one smoothie per day. The size should be: 150mls of pure fruit juice or if it is a smoothie with milk or water in it, it can be 250mls for children up to 12 years old and 330mls after that.

Our recipe for The Green Machine includes pears (which can be frozen when ripe and used in the smoothie too) because of their high Vitamin K content and bananas, which contain the electrolyte potassium to help with hydration. A smoothie doesn’t have to just be made up of fruit though, and adding veggies is a great way to make sure that it is packed full of tasty nutrients without any added sugar. Our recipe includes avocados and spinach which are both nutrient-rich superfoods! Avocado has lots of heart-healthy mono unsaturated fats which will keep your child fuller for longer and keep sweet cravings at bay. The spinach adds some additional fibre which helps to keep the digestive system healthy, plus it’s packed full of iron, which plays a central role in the function of red blood cells and produces energy (yes- Popeye was right!).

Ingredients

1 packed cup spinach leaves

1 avocado, chopped

1 large ripe pear, sliced

1 frozen banana, chopped

1 1/4 cup ice

1 1/4 cup (300mls) coconut, oat or rice milk, no added sugar, try to get one with added calcium

Method

Mix together in a blender and serve chilled- easy! This recipe makes 4 x 230ml servings