I watched Oprah last week about "The Silent Killer -- Diabetes". Dr. Oz and Bob Green talked about preventing diabetes and becoming "healthified" by cutting out the whites -- white rice, white flour, white potatoes, white sugar . . . pretty much anything and everything that I love!
I was shocked that Aaron decided to join me on the couch for a little "Oprah" time. After the show, Aaron looked at me and said, "We are doing this! No more whites!" We came up with a plan for how to get the kids involved and excited about our new, NO WHITES eating plan. Our solution: BRIBERY!!
We sat down and told the kids about our new eating plan the next day. These were the rules:
1) No sugar during the week. Saturday is our FREE day when they can have treats.
2) No more white bread, white rice, or white sugar during the week.
3) Kids get to help plan healthy, nutritous meals -- and help cook them.
4) A monetary monthly settlement for whoever completes the goal. (The kids all need $ for sports, summer trips, clothes so it is a Win/Win situation.)
There was a wide variety of reactions from the kids:
Cali: "I've always wanted to do this. Our family just eats junky, so I've never been able to do it on my own." (Wow! Says a little bit about my cooking, huh?!)
Ian: "Sounds fun! But do I really have to eat wheat bread?"
Nyah: "Sure. But when do I get the money?!"
Carson: "Oh, I'm going to miss my candy. Can I eat it all on Saturday?"
We started the "diet" on Monday and these are the results so far:
1) The kids are packing healthy lunches instead of eating school lunch.
2) Everyone is eating more fruits/veggies/whole grains without complaint.
3) I never realized how many cookies, cakes, and sweets we were eating each week. Our freezer is literally stuffed with goodies that we have to wait until Saturday to eat.
4) The kids are excited about cooking! Who knew?!
5) Everyone is extremely regular. (You know what I mean?!)
6) I am extremely bloated.
7) Our food bill doubled.
8) The snacking in our house has been cut in half.
9) One of the kids brought a b-day donut home from school with tears in her eyes and said, "Do I have to stick this in the freezer?"
10) Other parents/teachers probably think we are abusing our children by sticking skinny kids on a "diet."
We'll see if the success continues. After all, Valentine's celebrations are today, tomorrow and Sunday!
I'm going to post the recipes we've been eating on my "Tasty Niblets" blog in case any of you are interested in how we torture our children at dinnertime.
Happy Eating!
4 comments:
I think it's a great thing to start! I was just telling Brian yesterday that we eat way too many sweets. I think the kids have candy everyday... something we need to stop. What a great idea. :)
I'll keep in mind to only bring you chocolate chip cookies on Saturday. :)
You need to get the Food Network! That's the only way I found out that there are recipes out there that do not include Cream of Mushroom soup as one of the ingredients!
Diabetes is a horrible disease. My Grandmother went blind from it in her 60s, had strokes in her 80s, and passed away pretty much an invalid in her 90s. Anything that can be done now to avoid its onset later is definately worth the effort! The food bill does increase, but it may also decrease from not buying snackish junk food items. More fiber is in! If you figure out what to do about the gas, let me know! (Beano??) Welcome to my world! :)
Hi Vanessa.
I stumbled on this through Christine's blog. I hope you don't mind.
I know you're not trying to loose weight, but I had gestational diabetes with Daniel and with the diabetes diet they put me on I lost 34+ pounds DURING my pregnancy. Even with all the baby weight. I was just simply getting healthy. I felt so much better. last year I lost about the same on the south beach diet which is basically the same concept. Low carbs, little or no sugar, and lots of veggies and lean proteins. Traveling has been hard this way and now I need to get my act together again!! Good luck.
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