WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS
"The choices we make matter." -- Nancy Heinrich
How many times have you said, “I wish I knew this 20 years ago?” or “Why did I ever start (fill in the bad habit)?” When I was a kid growing up in Sacramento, California I ate lots of vegetables but I never ate asparagus, brussels sprouts, and kale. Now, I love them and can’t get enough of them!
How many times have you said, “I wish I knew this 20 years ago?” or “Why did I ever start (fill in the bad habit)?” When I was a kid growing up in Sacramento, California I ate lots of vegetables but I never ate asparagus, brussels sprouts, and kale. Now, I love them and can’t get enough of them!
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| BRUSSELS SPROUTS!!! |
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| VEGETABLES AND FRUITS FOR JUICING at a recent GHK program! |
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| JAMMING SALMON CAKES FROM A RECENT GHK KIDS IN THE KITCHEN PROGRAM! |
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| Demonstration of MINDFUL FUN at a recent GHK Kids in the Kitchen program at Gifford Youth Activity Center, Vero Beach, FL) (yours truly in the background overseeing the fun!) |
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| Mindful fun at a recent GHK event at Boys and Girls Clubs of Indian River County, FL |
The choices we make
every day matter. What we learn impacts
our decisions. How much we know about a
subject influences the choices we make. Our mind is the most powerful tool in our
health tool kit. That’s what mindful
health is all about. Be mindful, be
healthy!
The Growing Healthy Kids (GHK) movement specializes in
mindful fun as the vehicle to arrive at our destination of mindful health. Kids in the GHK education programs learn
about foods firsthand that create health because they talk with the farmers, then
they become the farmers, the chefs, and the nutritionists. We love celebrating each child who makes the
mindful health transformation from “I don’t eat that” to “Can I have seconds?” and “Can I take some of that home to my
parents?” after attending a GHK Kids in the
Kitchen program.
Mindfulness is simply a direct, conscious choice to make a
deliberate decision. Think of mindfulness as a strategy for bringing one’s complete
attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis. It is a state of mind that creates
prosperity. I believe that to be healthy
is to be prosperous. By being mindful
of what we choose to eat and drink, we make the choice to stay in balance. Think about what you are eating and why you
are eating. I often ask clients to keep
a journal of their emotions ("how were you feeling when you ate this meal/snack/binge food item") when they are seeking solutions for helping their children
and themselves get to healthier weights.
They are given the assignment of recording what they eat for one week
and also noting how they were feeling at each meal or snack. What emerges is self-evident: “I was worried about getting written up at
work,” "I was bored,” or “I just had a fight with my boyfriend”.
Overeating is not productive and does not result in
prosperity. Overindulging in desserts
and refined sugars leads to inflammation within the body and weight gain. Why is this important? The body is not designed to carry around an
extra 50 or 100 pounds. If you need
inspiration, check out CNN’s FitNation series of interviews with people who
have made the effort to shed the weight and have gotten the results. Your attitude can affect your decisions. Think about what you want and think about why
you want it. Then go write in down. Be
specific with the “why”. Use what we
call SMART goals:
Specific-Measureable-Achievable-Realistic-Time-Specific.
Parents, this message is for you: Use mindfulness and get yourself fit.
Be a better role model for your children.
The world does not need more overweight children or children with
diabetes. It also does not need parents who are overweight. Be mindful of what you
eat. Eat with the intention of being
healthy every day. As we like to say in
the Growing Healthy Kids movement, “eat rainbows”. Engage in mindful fun, or as my friend, Ronnie Hewitt, former CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Indian River County, used to say, "Fun with a purpose!" Twenty years from now your kids will thank
you! Heck, they just might be partial to
asparagus, brussels sprouts and kale.
In gratitude,
Nancy Heinrich
Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.
