Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time!

chapter 1 Why Do Families Need a Meal Makeover? We'd like to begin this chapter on a positive note, so we'll start by saying: "You're amazing." You run in a million different directions all day--working, carpooling, volunteering, buying birthday presents, folding laundry, picking up toys, making beds, flushing toilets (let's not get too graphic here), setting up play dates, and hopefully squeezing in a quick workout. But just when you want to sit down and catch your breath, IT'S DINNERTIME! You scramble to pull something, just anything, together because everyone is hungry and homework still needs to get done. Somehow you do it. You manage to feed your family. Maybe it's not the same homemade meal your mom cooked when you were a kid (you know, the one with the meat, starch, and vegetable every night). But yes, it's behind you. Later that evening as you fold the last load of laundry, your day as a supermom is coming to a close. Yeah . . . you made it! It's tough to do it all and do it all well. In fact, for years now, we've been talking to busy moms like you who say they're often too dog-tired to cook meals or pack school lunches and therefore way too tempted by all the convenience foods designed to make life easier. There's no doubt that the foods we've come to rely on--hot dogs, chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, mac & cheese, lunch kits, take-out, soft drinks, snack chips, and fast food--have meant less time in the kitchen. It's hard to imagine life without them. But unfortunately all that convenience has come at a nutritional price. Today, Americans eat 340 more calories per day than they did just two short decades ago. Sugar consumption is at an all-time high, and the number of refined carbohydrates that we eat--white bread, bagels, hamburger buns, muffins, crackers, pastries, white rice, and pasta--dwarfs healthier, high-fiber whole grains. And even though fruits and vegetables are readily available in supermarkets, most families don't make a habit of eating them at every meal. To add insult to injury, Americans are less active today, thanks in part to modern conveniences like cars, elevators, and drive-thru windows as well as leisure activities that revolve around the TV or computer. It's no wonder a growing number of children, teens, and adults are now considered overweight or obese. But besides our nation's battle with the bulge, many people--overweight, skinny, or anywhere in between--are opting for nutritionally stripped-down foods that provide little in the way of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients (plant nutrients), and fiber--the very things that fight heart disease and cancer, protect our eyesight as we age, keep our skin looking young, and so on and so on. Statistics to Chew On * Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. * Thirteen percent of children (ages 6 to 11) and 14 percent of teens (ages 12 to 19) are overweight. * Children are more active than their parents, though 42 percent of girls and 26 percent of boys do not exercise vigorously on a regular basis. * In 1991, 42 percent of U.S. children were enrolled in daily school-based physical education classes. The number dropped to just 29 percent in 1995. Today's families can benefit greatly from a meal makeover. For your family, that makeover may end up being a simple one . . . like switching from blue eye shadow to a more flattering brown (oh, what were we thinking back in the eighties?). For others, it may be more extreme. Either way, the changes you bring to your table (large or small) will provide a lifetime of benefits, including feeling better, looking better, and staying healthier. There's Trouble at the Table Food: We Eat Too Much Last summer, Liz and her husband took sons Josh and Simon to an amusement park. It was one of those hot, you-could-fry-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk sort of days, so they all decided to cool off with an ice cream cBissex, Janice Newell is the author of 'Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time!', published 2003 under ISBN 9780767914239 and ISBN 0767914236.