Monday, February 5, 2018

Choices and eating right

So... just so you don't think it is all sunshine and roses with Tim and I (keeping it real here), sometimes we do have a difference of opinion.  I don't want you to think, after reading this blog, that I'm a vegan, granola, diet fanatic.  I'm truly not.  But making better choices is always something that is the forefront of my mind and something that I do research.  I'm also lucky to have a friend that has done so much personal research she borders on a nutritionist.  She puts up with my endless questions and always gives invaluable advice. 

This weekend we had all the kids home and around for breakfast Sunday morning, so I made French toast.  French toast, the way I make it, already isn't the best thing for you.  Eggs are good, milk is good, bread is okay, but I also add a little and .... wait for it... cinnamon sugar.  I know, I know.  Sugar = bad.  I haven't even watched the sugar documentary and I know this.  In fact, I think the whole world knows it, they just choose not to listen.  So I'm making French toast and the family is eating.  I look at the table and see the canister of sugar out.  I ask who got it out and guess who sheepishly raises his hand?  My husband.  Yes.  I know that maple syrup isn't sugar free, but my amazing husband hasn't used maple syrup.  Instead he has coated his French toast with a few heaping tablespoons of white sugar.  Sigh. 

This is not new.  This is not the first time we have had this discussion.  Again, this is not new.  I watched him put sugar on his Raisin Bran one morning, which led to his daughter thinking it was okay to put sugar on FROSTED Flakes.   His defense is, "but this is how I've always eaten it.  This is how I ate it as a kid." And then I watched as both of my stepkids proceeded to add sugar to their French toast on their plates that already had maple syrup.  Sugar on sugar.  *shudder*  Of course I put on my evil stepmother hat and nagging wife t-shirt and remind them to make better choices.  I reminded them the dangers of too much sugar.  I reminded them that we were having BREAKFAST, not a dessert.  Of course they laughed at me and did it more, because what do I know?  This led to me telling them I didn't really find it funny.  And I don't, because honestly it really terrifies me. 

I don't want to hear, my mom did it or my grandpa did it.  Truth is, they made a lot of horrible health choices.  Truth is, I make a lot of horrible health related choices.  But I also TRY and we have to do a better job of trying.  We have to do a better job of not choosing candy and sweets.  We have to do a better job of eating our veggies.  We have to do a better job of watching our oils and fats.  And we have to do a better job of drinking water.  We cannot just get by with "that's the way I was raised" and then set the example for our kids to be raised making the same bad choices.

I could make the choices I was raised with too.  My mom was a Diet Pepsi fanatic.  I remember the old glass bottles and returning them by the door of the IGA to grab another couple of 6 packs.  Then it moved to cans and plastic bottles.  I fell into that trap myself, only my drink of choice was Diet Mountain Dew, definitely not an improvement.  Thanks to the example set by Tim, who never drinks any kind of pop or alcohol (see - unicorn status reinstated), I've given up pop myself.  It wasn't easy, it still sounds really good and if there was one in front of me it would take some kind of super power not to drink it.  I cannot lie and say, "I don't even miss it."  Sugar addictions are a very real and powerful thing.  To help combat poor choices, we don't have any pop in our house.  The kids' drink choices are water or milk, with the occasional pitcher of lemonade.  So we are trying. 

I'm all about treats.  Sometimes when we go to a game we will get concessions and they will get a pop, or when we go out to eat.  I even bought pop for them last night for the Super Bowl dinner.  But we, as parents and adults, have to keep making those kinds of things a treat, not a regular menu item.  I get it, it sucks.  Sugar and sugary treats are yummy.  I love them as much as the next guy - I'm a baker for Pete's sake.  But guess what else - diabetes sucks.  And heart disease.  And cancer.  And obesity.  And all the other diseases and health issues that are directly related to making poor diet choices. 

I'm not saying you have to cut sugar completely out of your diet.  I've known people who do and it never ceases to amaze me; a little like voodoo magic.  I'll admit I'm not out researching how to make cookies without sugar (or real butter), or pie crust without lard.  To me, it's about balance.  Sugar is a treat, not a breakfast condiment.  Sugar is a once in a while, not a daily necessity.  Sugar needs to be a "sometimes" food, not an "everyday" one.  I need to remind my kids that having Skittles for breakfast and french fries for lunch is all fun and games when you 13 - 18 years old.  Just wait until that metabolism slows down and those Skittles become inches and those fries become thighs.  If we teach them to eat right now, what tastes good as adults will be so much better for them and their choices will become easier.  And yes, Sophie, I'm going to keep telling you to "eat like an athlete if you want to be one". 

Come on folks - help me out here.  There have to be more "bad moms" out there fighting this fight.  Feel free to share a healthy recipe or just tell me that I am not alone.  Even if I am, I'm going to keep right on nagging my kids and husband because I love them.  And heck - they can't stop me. 


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