Posts tagged parenting

Nathan’s lunch yesterday:

Grilled chicken
Baked asparagus
1/4 an apple
12 grapes
A piece of Monterrey Jack Cheese
3 reduced-fat club crackers

Nathan’s favorite foods (what Nathan typically eats on a daily or near-daily basis):

Reduced-sugar oatmeal for breakfast
Cheerios (whole grain)
Strawberries
Bananas
Grapes
Apples
Broccoli
Asparagus
Cauliflower
Cheese
Reduced-fat crackers
Steak (yes, we totally feed our kid steak!)
Chicken (although sometimes if he’s in a bad mood, he won’t eat it)
Lean meats
Corn
Sweet Peas
Green Beans
Pizza and bread sticks (maybe 2x a month)
French fries (only given when at a restaurant that doesn’t offer fruits or veggies on the kids menu)
Pineapple
Honey Dew
Cantaloupe
Tangelos
Pretty much any fruit or vegetable

Not a bad list for a kid who’s picky. This kid eats well. In fact, most toddlers I know don’t like the same foods he does. And he doesn’t like most foods other kids his age eat. For instance, when I pick Nathan up from Paul’s grandmother’s house after working out on Tuesdays, she likes to send some sweets home with him. I try to feed Nathan a little bite, but he just spits it out. I can understand, why though. I’ve worked so hard to get him to like eating his fruits and vegetables, and he’s had very little processed sugar in his young life. So to him, it’s unfamiliar, and right now, he’s going through a picky phase where he only eats certain things. Fortunately for me, because I’ve never given him the option of eating unhealthy, his favorite foods consist of fruits, veggies, cheese, lean meats, and whole grains. Which is perfect here at home. Going out to eat is another story because, as you parents might already know, it’s hard to find a restaurant that serves healthy food for kids.

I hope he keeps this trend up, though. You can’t go wrong with all those nutrients and antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables. It boosts his immune system, brain function, helps him grow into a healthy adult, etc. But yeah, I’ve found that not giving him the option to gorge on processed/unhealthy foods has really helped keep him on the right track. If it’s not in the house, not offered to him, he can’t eat it. Therefore, he eats what he knows, and what he knows is eating healthy. Not too bad, huh?