Creating Healthy, Happy Families

Here are my top 10 tips for healthy families...

1.       If you are going to eat anything organic and budget is a constraint, change your meat and dairy products FIRST.  Disease comes from consuming sick poorly raised animals and their by-products.  Choose products that come from pasture-raised, grass-fed animals. 

2.       Set a good example for your child through your health & lifestyle choices.  Your example will leave a lasting impression.

3.       We have been conditioned to listen to the advice and opinions of all the health and fitness “experts” out there.  While sometimes this is helpful and warranted, remember that YOU are your own expert when you are in tune with your own body.

4.       Cultivate and nurture a relationship with your body and its signals regarding food, physical activity, what it needs, etc…  when we communicate well with our body, we are in the flow and life becomes more rewarding for us.

5.       Create space in your day for SILENCE.  Time to just BE.  This is very important.  Prioritize time for quiet/meditation/prayer/rest.

6.       Keep offering different foods to your kids, even the ones they don’t like.  Taste buds evolve.

7.       Reduce the amount of sugar you and your family eats.  Sugar acts like a drug to the brain/body and the more you eat, the more you crave.  It sets up a negative cycle of addiction and stresses the systems of the body.  If you are going to indulge in something sweet, make sure it is not on an empty stomach!  After a proper meal is best.

8.       Try to avoid making grains the foundation of your meal.  Let a variety of vegetables be the foundation instead.  More nutrition, better digestion, better health. 

9.       I highly suggest the habit of weekly menu planning!  Plan your weekly dinner menu on Sunday and shop for the whole week (or whatever day you have time).  It saves your sanity and keeps you on track with living a healthy lifestyle.  It also ensures you do not end up throwing away a bunch of food.  Try it for a month and see if it helps you!
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10.   Make time for doing things that open and uplift your heart.  These are the things  you do and you don’t notice the time passing.  You are in the flow. 

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