Make it Memorable.

Aside from July 4th weekend, Memorial Day weekend is the great American barbecue extravaganza. Before going all-out this weekend, plan a little health into yours. If you’re hosting:

• Substitute hi-calorie beef with meaty fish chunks, like tuna, swordfish, salmon or halibut
• Soft-shell crab is in season! Marinate in lemon & olive oil, then grill it up 5 minutes each side.
• Nix hamburgers in favor of white-meat, low-fat turkey or chicken patties. Garnish with avocado instead of cheese. YUM!
• Dig your teeth into shrimp & veggie kebabs. enjoy with corn on the cob sans butter.
• Salad recipe calls for mayonnaise? Sub with vinegar and oil.

Going to someone’s barbecue?

• Have a healthy snack beforehand so you can control your noshing.
• Ask the host if you can bring a side dish: bring your favorite mixed greens salad loaded with veggie goodness like asparagus, tomatoes, carrots and peppers.
• Bring watermelon or in-season berries in lieu of ice cream.
• Pack your favorite park toy like frisbee, bocce ball or a football. Burn those calories instead of consuming too many!

Choices=Life

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, nearly half of all Americans will be obese by 2030. In other words, if you are pregnant right now, your future 18-year-old child has a nearly 50% chance that he/she will be obese.

Yikes.

We need to act now. As individuals. As parents, peer mentors and community leaders.

Our lives are made up of small choices that make us whole. Choices surround us: eat the donut or have oatmeal? Happy hour or the gym? Sleep or TV? Stairs or elevator? Organic or conventional? If we make poor choices most of the time, who are we?

We are role models to our friends, family and the rest of our community. If we pick the donut more often than not, we’re going to feel as hollow, round, and fat as the donut…barren of nutrients. Obesity leads to depression, disease and negativity. Misery loves company and those who are, wallow in it.

Choose life, I say! Making healthy choices most of the time makes us feel good. When we smile, people gravitate towards positive energy and we make more friends. If we all make better choices, think of how happy we can all be! Take the lead in your circle of friends by initiating a healthy lifestyle:

• Organize a weekly fitness happy hour: take a spin class with your best friends and catch up during the post-ride stretch.
• Research local farm-to-table restaurants in your area and patronize them versus national chain restaurants.
• Join a local CSA (community supported agriculture) and learn new recipes with new & interesting ingredients.
• Learn to chill out by taking a meditation or slow yoga class. Get in tune with your body!
• Volunteer to mentor less-fortunate youth: they need good people to look up to! You’ll both learn oodles from each other!
• Reach out to a friend in need and be a friend, indeed!

Don’t buy it!

I’m a Sunday NYTimes junkie. Today, a one-sentence book review of Karen Le Billon’s “French Kids Eat Everything“, read:

Why you shouldn’t cater to your kids’ taste in food but rather let them rise to your level.

My sentiments, exactly.

As a pre-and-postnatal fitness guru, my clientele is chock-full of mothers. Most of these women have law degrees, PhD’s, and years of executive work experience. Let’s just say they are accomplished professionally as they are, now, personally. Self-sacrifice, managing crises, saying no to powerful bigwigs and working through the night is nothing new to them! Most have always been health nuts and gym junkies, working out at 6am and having self-discipline to order a salad at lunch.

So why is it, that, when children enter the picture, self-control goes out the window? I’m not a parent (so I’ll probably get skewered for this post) but if Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers weren’t a staple before baby, how did they make their way from supermarket to my client’s cupboard? If I stuff my shelves with mini-oreos, fruit snacks, teddy grahams and juice boxes, I’d have a tougher time managing my weight, too!

All this processed food isn’t good for anyone - parents OR children alike. It’s a good way to spoil everyone’s appetite and make picky eaters out of a developing palate. My advice? Continue healthy eating eating and extend these habits to your children: if they’ve never tasted cap’n crunch, sugar bombs or pringles, how will they miss it?

 

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