The mince tarts are in the bakeries, the invites have started flowing, the champagne is ready to pop and the potatoes are being grated, ready to be smothered in oil.  Hooray! The festive season is here! 

How do we let our taste buds enjoy the next month without our thighs being punished? (Part 1 of 3)

Rule 1:  It's all about balance
Balance your plate and balance your week. 

Balance your plate
Fill your plate at least half full with fresh veggies. Whether you are at home or a party, fill up on veggies and have less of the grains and meats/meat alternatives. When asked to bring a plate, bring a salad, vegetable or fruit platter or veggie xmas tree (see picture) to help balance your plate at the party. When catering at home, make sure to have lots of healthy stuff to balance out the treats. 

Balance your week
Start planning your week. If you know you have your work function at the end of the week, be extra healthy throughout the week so you can enjoy the evening without worrying about a few extra calories. It's what we do 90% of the time that matters. Eat lots of everyday foods and fresh veggies throughout the week and save your 'treats'  for the parties! 

Coming up in next week's blog...
Rule 2:  Choose your treats

Thumper from Bambi teaches us "If you can't say something nice...don't say nothing at all".  I've adapted this to create the Food Politeness Rule or in the world of Making Food Fun, where Golden rules start with a C, "Be Courteous". 

"Be Courteous" means that when you try or eat a food and like it, tell the world. "Mmmm...this carrot is so crunchy", "I love peas" or "Broccoli is my favourite green". But, if you try a food and it's not your favourite, then you say nothing! You may leave the food on your plate and stay quiet about it. 

I recently ran a healthy cooking incursion for 58 kids at a Northern suburbs school. They were aged 6-8, in grade 1 and 2 and had been learning about the food groups.  

Most had very good understanding of which foods go in each food group and could easily identify healthy foods verses treats. 

Calcium, vitamin C, fibre, nutrients were all correctly identified]. It was great! 

But, when I asked why our bodies needed certain foods or nutrients there was only one answer: "because it's healthy". 

So I tried delving deeper by asking "What does healthy mean?" and they struggled to answer. 

This is quite common. We teach our kids what foods are healthy, we teach them that we want them to be healthy and they understand that being healthy is a good thing. But we forget to tell them why! What's in it for them. Why should they be healthy? Why eat veggies? The result is the word healthy is just academic, has no real meaning to kids and becomes quite useless in getting our kids to eat.

We need to give the word 'healthy' some meaning. Using the word healthy is not enough, we need to sell, to market healthy foods to kids just like the marketers of unhealthy foods do so very, VERY well.

So, don't tell them it's healthy! Motivate them with what's in it for them (not for you). The words healthy and nutritious are jargon for most kids. Meaningless. Kids don't care that eating vegetables will lower their risk of heart disease, cancers, diabetes and obesity. 

So how do you do this? How do we market (healthy) foods to kids without telling them it's healthy? 

First, we need stronger motivation than "healthy". In fact I think simply lose the H word. Link what your child likes doing or wants to improve at directly to the food you want them to eat. 
- Green veggies will help you run faster
- Orange veggies will help you do better on tomorrow's spelling test
- Let's have eggs for breakfast because you have that big soccer game today
- I made fish for dinner and will give you extra colours in your lunchbox because you have that big maths test
- Eat some red foods and then show me how high you can now jump 

Appropriate marketing and motivation is not just important for kids. All of the above is true for adults too. What motivates you when choosing foods? Looking good? Having lots of energy? For me it's being a good role model for my family. So take some time to think of what drives you. And how to market healthy foods to your kids.

Instead of nagging, use marketing. Instead of pleading, motivate them! Nagging and pleading may work in the short term but it's exhausting and frustrating. Market healthy food (but shhh...don't tell them it's healthy) to your kids. It will make meal times more pleasant and you will be raising healthy eaters who understand the value of a (healthy) diet.

Stay tuned for next week's blog: how to add fun to your food language and the "food politeness" rule.