This is a lunchbox I am proud of. It’s a lunchbox I believe is growing healthy kids the right way. Right now you’re might be saying “What!!” That’s a snack box with a lunch order for sausage rolls, how can that possibly be growing healthy kids the right way? I haven’t lost my mind, please stay with me and you will see there is method to my madness.
One of the mum’s who is a graduate of The 5 Minute Healthy Lunchbox System™ eCourse posted this photo of her son’s lunchbox to the closed eCourse Facebook group. The photo was posted with these words:
“A little while ago Bel wanted us to post the good bad or ugly of our lunch boxes. For me this is my not so good. Snacks still OK. Bels breakfast bread. Home made french onion dip. Plain rice crackers. apple and some raisins. The not so good giving in to a lunch order. As much as I don’t like the menu choices I also don’t want my kids to always feel like they are missing out and end up hating the whole food thing. Sometimes even though they are not MY choices I need to give my kids some freedom and hope as they get older they make healthy ones. ☺”
Make Conscious Choices About Food
The reason why I am so proud of this lunchbox and believe it is growing healthy kids the right way is because this mum has CONSCIOUSLY made the choice to allow foods which are not her choices. Foods she knows are not really going to nourish her children’s bodies greatly on that day.
A conscious choice to allow foods which are not her choice because she understands if we always say no, this may lead her children to resisting or rebelling eating real food most of the time.
Growing healthy kids the right way is about making real food a way of life. A way of life educates children to recognise how food makes you feel. A way of life encourages your children to make their own healthy choices when they fly your nest.
So I believe a lunch order, a packet of chips or marshmallow here or there is not a bad thing. Having back-up packet food in your pantry is not a bad thing – you can read about my conscious choices for packet food in This Is The Way We Eat.
Of course there are a few other important factors about growing healthy kids the right way, such as encouraging exercise, limiting screen time, adequate sleep, taking care of their mind, drinking plenty of water and so on. At the core of it, the principles are still the same. You have to make conscious choices and role model the behaviour you want your children to have in respect of all these areas. You have the power to be the stand for their health in all these areas.
And the great thing about you making the conscious choices, is that ultimately you make the choices you feel are right for your family. You choose what growing healthy kids the right way looks like for your family.
BTW, I should also share a couple of this mum’s real food lunchboxes which she packs almost every school day. These are lunchboxes which she knows nourishes her children.
My Tips For You
1. Bring your kids along for the ride
Give your kids real food almost all of the time but let them have wins too. Stock your pantry and fridge with real food. Make this the way you eat.
2. Consciously choose what those wins look like
The first step is to understand what is important to your kids. If it’s:
Canteen or Tuckshop
Consciously choose a) how often, b) review the menu and what’s available – some canteens have different foods on different days of the week, c) choose what day(s) of the week you’re going to allow this and d) give your children your conscious choices from the menu – let them choose from your conscious choices
Packet Foods
Be guided by what your kids ‘feel’ is important to them (eg. chips, crackers, yoghurt) etc. Read ALL packet labels and consciously choose which one(s) you would be prepared to have sometimes in the home. Then work out how often are you going to have them in the home, and when they will be available to your children. Is this once a week on a Friday?
Please remember, the intention is not to give your child packet food every day just because you’ve read all the ingredients and consciously chosen you’re ok with them. It’s more about having them available sometimes – like a real sometimes food. So your kids feel like they get to have a win sometimes too.
You should also make conscious choices around screen time and bedtime too.
3. Talk to your children
Make a habit of talking about food in your house. Talk about how food makes you feel. Talk about this in terms of not just how you feel when you eat it, but how you feel about 1 hour later, a few hours later, how you feel the next day. Talk about how real food nourishes bodies, where packet food really doesn’t. Talk about where food comes from – how it’s grown, how it’s made. Just have conversations which aren’t judgemental.
The reality is if you make real food a way of life, and you teach your children to listen to their body and to see how food makes them feel, when they do have what they think is a ‘win’, they ultimately start to recognise that win doesn’t make them feel the best.
Recently we visited a theme park in Qld, and at the end of a long hot day, we consciously chose to buy ice creams. There was much excitement and rejoicing from our kids. They lovingly licked those ice creams. It seemed to take forever for them to eat them. About 30 minutes into the car ride on the way home, our 10 year old daughter said “I think I have had too much sugar mum” and later that night, our 5.5 year old son told us he felt sick from the ice cream. We didn’t judge or say we told you so, we told them it was great they understood how food made their bodies feel.
4. No means No
Set boundaries and stick to them. Quite simply, no means no. This is super important.
If you say we are not having say X in the house but we can have Y in the house, then do not have X in the house. Have similar boundaries when you’re out of the house too. Do not be worn down on this- even if you are tired.
Having a firm boundary will prevent meltdowns. I have first hand experience at this. I am really really good with my boundaries around what food I will and won’t allow. Our kids know this, so even when they ask for a No food at the shopping centre, when I say no, they know I mean No. The question is rarely asked again. However, I am not so good when it comes to toys and I now need to create boundaries around this for our son because he recently had a major (read that as MAJOR) meltdown at a shop because I said no to him getting some Star Wars heap of plastic. I now need to create a boundary around buying toys. Stat!
I hope you find these tips helpful. And remember, do not underestimate the power of you.
If you want some assistance in how to bring your kids along for the ride, and tools to feel empowered to choose your boundaries, you may wish to join us for The 5 Minute Healthy Lunchbox System™ eCourse, where busy parents are learning how to pack healthy lunchboxes quickly.