Weight-Loss Has your fit lifestyle change affected the way you raise your kids?

[Charlie Golf]

For those of you with little ones, has your journey down the fit and healthy road changed the way you raise them regarding the same to start the habits early?

I know it usually is not too much of an issue getting kids to get exercise (if you can pry the Nintendo DS from their hands) but more specifically with nutrition have you changed what/how you feed your kids?

I know sometimes it's just a matter of getting calories, no matter what, into them but I also know popular food for kiddos is stuff like hot dogs, pizza, fried chicken fingers, chips etc. that we big kids consider more "junk" food.

Looking at most kids menus, they are full of "fun and easy" foods like that. High fat, high sugar, high carbohydrate, limited protein.

 

[Cord the Seeker]

My wife and I took steps to insure that our daughter (now 6) ate healthily from very early on.

We're not insane about it - she does get to have treats and at restaurants she can have whatever she wants - but at home we make sure she eats well. We don't eat many processed foods in our house anyway, so her diet is solid to begin with.
She likes french fries, hot dogs and the like, but they aren't a regular component in her diet.
We make our own bread, whole grain, so I know she eats good bread without additives. She likes rice, and we only eat brown rice (unless we are making sushi).
She eats a lot of pasta, but pasta isn't inherently bad - it's more what you put on top of it - and she prefers it plain, with vegetables.

She loves broccoli, and most basic vegetables (although it is very difficult to gtet ther to try anything new, like most kids I suppose).

She doesn't like potato chips (what a blessing - they are one of my worst enemies and I am so glad she doesn't like them), although she does eat the odd tortilla chip.
She has never had soda at all - well, I think I let her try mine once before I gave them up, and she didn't like it very much.
She doesn't drink a lot of juice, althogh she likes it, and what juice we do give her is usually cut in half with water.

That was the long answer. The short version is, we make sure she eats healthy, but it had nothing to do with my own lifestyle change.

I have made sure she understands what I am doing, and that I am trying to become healthier and live a long time. I never use the word 'fat' when talking to her, so as not to instill any body image issues in her, although I have occasionally told her that I am trying to get 'smaller'.
The best part is that I don't think she has noticed that my eating habits have changed. What she notices is that I am exercising a lot, and that is what she comments on and asks about. So she isn't, as far as I know, getting any negative 'eating will make you fat' vibes form me, instead getitng 'exercise makes you healthy and live a long time'.

I hope so, anyway.

 

[rottielover]

From day 1 my daughter has been on a great dietary regime, she is now 5 1/2, she loves her veggies, and eats pretty well everything I make for her. Only issue I have, she does not like red meat, LOL

 

[LowFatMilk]

I don't have children of my own, but I have an 8 year old sister who I spend a lot of time with and feed. I'm always encouraging her to eat healthy foods, I don't want her to end up suffering like I have.

And of course I want her to live a long happy healthy life, too.