Food Revolution

I've been thinking about the program we watched on TV last night, Jamie's Food Revolution. What a huge undertaking for this Englishman to take on. And here, in America, the fattest, slowest acting, most outspoken, country in the world! Which is not to say we don't have good attributes as well. What a gift he is to us! Why would anybody want to set himself up the way he has?

He must really care about people and respect food.

It got me to thinking, probably the same thoughts as most Americans my age who watched the program...."Hey! Was that strawberry and chocolate milk? When I was in school we only got regular milk!". "We only had cinnamon rolls on Wednesdays, otherwise it was fruit." "The only place I ever saw a french fry was at the "car hop" "We always had a green vegetable on our plates" "Our cafeteria monitors (the teachers) always made us take at least one bite of everything, telling us everybody's taste buds change".

When did all that change and why?

Now I don't want to pick on teachers, parents, the school administration or anybody else and these are my opinions alone and unsubstantiated at that. But it seems to me that somewhere along the line we all got too busy and that opened up the gates for the food industry to waltz in with hoardes of "helpers". Ever hear of hamburger helper? Ever read what's in it? Ever eaten it? Yuk! Of course that's compared to "real food" which by the way takes only a few more minutes to prepare as that now famous "helper" on pantry shelves everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for time savers, I love canned tomatoes and frozen veggies. Why, I even buy store bought bread these days! lol But since when is a french fry considered a vegetable? I was flabergasted! For those that didn't see the program the lady in charge of making the decision to continue Jamie's program insisted he didn't have enough veggies in his noodle dish to qualify as a "reimbursable" meal. To which he pointed to the french fry line and asked if those were considered a veggie. She said "yes". Those kids had on their plates a white bread bun wrapped over a piece of processed meat and the incredible potato fried veggie which she considered a reimbursable meal. I can only say - is that screwed up? What's more 90% of the kids were in (can you guess) the french fry line! How about that awesome free choice salad bar? Uhhhhhh... Cameras left......nobody.

Even more sad....our children, in a vast number of households throughout our country are having processed waffles, cold (sugar filled) cereal, or toaster pastries for breakfast before they go to school. hmmmm....conscious kicking in - guilty on some counts. They get that USDA approved "healthy" lunch at school and come home to take out pizza, hamburger helper, or Stouffer's family style. Is that how it works in your house?

In a world where Mom's have so much on their minds they forget their sleeping babies in the back seat of the car in 100 plus degree temperatures, parents of teens (that means young parents)are dying because of obesity complications and we are all trying to make it through the day on four or five hours of sleep, isn't it time to just slow down? I'm reading a book right now by an outrageous author (Michael Bridge) that encourages us to “Listen for tomorrow.” Now, I'm taking this out of context but bear with me.... “Listening for tomorrow” (in this context) means looking at how your actions of today affect your tomorrows. Eating an unhealthy diet today translates into unhealthy people tomorrow.

If you are reading this you are probably on the HCG protocol which means your schedule is even more hectic than usual. So how can you leverage more time? I mean really, you are probably already preparing two meals where ordinarily you would be making one. Right? Why? Could we all take just enough time out of our schedules to take a deep breath, heave a large sigh and prepare a healthy meal with our families that we can be sure will provide them the nutrition they need?

So, here's my challenge to you. Gather your family at the end of the day and prepare one meal per week together. If you just can't get them all together then do it by yourself. Extend the foods that you are eating to them. Overall the HCG protocol is balanced and healthy. Prepare for your family the same foods you would be eating on P3. One night a week can then become two and three etc. Your invitation to eat a more healthy diet and the added benefit of spending time together will enhance your life together as a family. In our house we have cook offs too. It's a natural extension of healthy eating. Daphne and Devon are nine and ten years old and their knowledge of foods and kitchen skills are surprising. They know what foods to choose although they often prefer the sugary, carb filled fast food choices; they understand that's not the healthiest choice. Sometimes the good choices win, sometimes not but the point is we keep trying. It's like any other bad habit. It takes time and constant application to make changes. And here's another perk. Preparing the food stimulates hunger, in a good way. How about cutting into a fresh cucumber? Does your mouth water? Being a part of preparing the food gives a whole new perspective on the meal. The pride in producing a meal carries over into eating it.

This is the only sure way to provide for our offspring the future they deserve as people without a weight problem. I want for my children and grandchildren a life free of dieting. I don't want them to have to use the HCG diet. Wouldn't that be great?

Food naturally unites people. Throughout history great events are celebrated together over a meal. Celebrate your family with healthy, natural meals. It was surprising and disappointing to see on the "Food Revolution" program that children in first grade could not identify everyday vegetables. Seriously, the did not recognize cauliflower, broccoli, or even lettuce in it's whole, natural form! Some of them did not even know a potato when they saw it. It didn't look like a french fry or instant mashed so they didn't know what it was. Now really, isn't that sad? I'm not saying we need to buy a rototiller and till up a garden spot in the yard (although that's not a bad idea if you have the room) but, shouldn't we at least have a refrigerator full of fresh whole veggies and fruits? I bet as an HCG dieter there are more veggies in your frig than there have ever been. Don't we owe that to our families, to at least provide the healthy choices that are available?

Let's make a pact to create at least one healthy P3 meal a week for our families and to do it together. Take that deep breath and just do it. You'll be amazed at how much you enjoy spending the time in the kitchen (instead of in front of the television) to get to know each other and your food.

If you do accept this challenge, I hope you'll share some of your insights and experiences with the rest of us. It'll be encouraging to all of us and sharing it will bring home to you the importance of that time spent with your family.

Here's to less of you and me and keeping our children and spouses happy and healthy by making new lifelong, life changing eating habits today.

Christine