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A Healthy Future Starts with Smart Eating
(Article from Herbalife Today)
The adult diseases that threaten overweight children.
There is a myriad of negative health results that accompany this trend, including increases in diagnoses of conditions that were previously almost unheard of in
children and adolescents. Hypertension, osteoarthritis and type 2 diabetes are among these, essentially caused by being overweight and following diets that are too high in
calories, salt, sugar and fat, especially saturated fat. The same issues are facing adults, where now 60 percent of adults are overweight to obese.
Health traps your children face daily
How can we help prevent any worsening of these statistics and how can we help bring the message of good nutrition. The story begins with parents. It starts every day
when we fix our children ’s breakfast. It continues when we send them off to school with money for school lunches. After-school activities that are sedentary, and eating
on the run, compound the situation. Everything is “super-sized ” now, from sodas to french fries. The result? Fourteen percent (triple the numbers of 25 years ago) of our
children and adolescents are seriously overweight and are being diagnosed with disorders that were until recently rarely seen under the age of 40.
The four essentials for healthy living
We must all, as parents, commit to “cleaning up ”our nutritional act, at home and away from home. Herbalife is focused on teaching people around the world how to
implement the ingredients for wellness into our daily lives –for the entire family. Having a healthy lifestyle includes four important components –they form a continuous
circle around us and are interconnected. The results: a healthy life.
Nutrition-Fitness-Stress Management-Weight Control
Getting the balance right
We really need to focus on all four of these components to have a healthy life. If we improve our nutrition, including a commitment to minimize fast foods, we will
have a much easier time with weight control. We will have more energy for physical activity, which will in turn help with weight control. And when we are feeding our
bodies all the micronutrients we need and being physically active on a regular basis, the stresses of daily life are more easily dealt with and our bodies are less
adversely affected by the “ups and downs ”of life. Even our children are forced to deal with stress –a coach or teacher yelling at them, something another child said or
just keeping up with homework and day-to-day family struggles.
Healthier living –meal-by-meal
Children love sugar-coated cereals and they are so easy for busy families to use, especially on hectic weekday mornings. My children knew it wasn ’t even worth asking
for those sugar-coated cereals –we had nothing but the high-fiber varieties at our house. Once Herbalife came into our lives, Adam and Heather began every day with a
protein shake made with Formula 1 Protein Drink Mix, non-fat milk and fresh fruit (or orange juice on occasion). They were 11 and 7 then and now
are 22 and 18! They rarely missed a day of school due to the usual colds and flus that result in many days out of school for most children. It ’s important to send your
children off with a balance of micronutrients and a healthy amount of protein to help maintain balanced blood sugars so essential to their concentration and learning.
Shake up to a healthier breakfast
Formula 1 Protein Drink Mix,is a healthy options for breakfast as well as after-school snacks. It’s a soy protein-based. . Its
fibre content
and balance of macro-and micronutrients make it an ideal meal replacement or is formulated to be taken as a snack. Upgrade your child ’s packed lunch. Focus on sandwiches
made with healthy choices such as turkey breast, low-fat cheese or tuna salad made with more mustard and less mayonnaise. Always use whole-grain breads. Bear in mind that
the intake of white flour and white sugar is associated with ultimate development of insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Pack veggie sticks (carrots, celery) along
with a reduced-fat type dressing. Instead of granola bars or biscuits, consider a
High-Protein Bar.
The Herbalife answer to after-school munchies
After school is a problematic time for kids who have or are developing weight issues. We must have easily available low-calorie foods for snacks and increase their
activity. Remember they have been sitting in the classroom or five or six hours. They need to be outside (weather permitting) being physically active for at least an hour
before starting homework. If your children are participating in sports; they really need a healthy snack to keep hem going. Try another shake –two tablespoons of Formula 1
Protein Drink Mix in juice. Add in half a banana, or other fresh fruit, blend and enjoy. Adam and Heather always liked frozen blueberries and/or strawberries mixed in
their shakes. Use Chocolate Formula 1 Protein Drink Mix
plus and it tastes like a chocolate-strawberry truffle!
Your child ’s future health is in your hands today.
What our children eat can determine whether they are active adults with no weight concerns or overweight with all of the associated emotional and physical
difficulties. We need to help our children develop healthy attitudes about their eating, their weight and their level of fitness. Herbalife is not about dieting, but
rather about lifestyle choices that will lead to long, active lives. We must set the example by committing to nutritional foods and Herbalife supplements that can help you
and your children have the healthiest lives possible!
Nutritional foods and Herbalife supplements can help you and your children lead the healthiest lives possible!
Growing Healthy Bodies
Overcoming Remote-Control Lifestyles
In the U.S.Surgeon General ’s recent report, he outlines two basic factors not only contributing to our expanding waistlines, but to our children ’s as well –the foods
we eat and our inactivity. We need to commit to improving not only our own health, but also the well being of our children. Making Herbalife part of our daily schedules is
time well spent on growing healthy bodies. While most adults need to obtain and maintain a healthy body, we also need to make sure we are managing our children ’s healthy
growth and with Herbalife products, you can do just that.
The hard facts
Some may say our children are already healthy and that they don’t need to worry about bulging bodies. But reports suggest just the opposite: Our children are fat,
sedentary and eat the wrong foods. In fact, the Surgeon General ’s report states that the prevalence of overweight children has nearly tripled in the past three You may
have children or you may not, but these findings reflect on the greater society we live in. During we have lost control of our food sources and our lifestyles have become
increasingly sedentary.
Comparing now vs. then
Let ’s examine how physically easy our When I was a child, we had to turn a knob on our television to Now, we have remote controls. This modern luxury has taken away
the potential to get up and change the channel, burning up to five calories Our cars used cars used to have roll-up when wound vigorously, could burn up to two calories.
These luxuries have taken away opportunities for us to use our muscles and burn calories throughout the day. Decreases in our physical demands have led to an increasingly
overweight population. Children today are growing up with these luxuries. Additionally, with television, video games and computers, children are much more inactive today
than at any other time in history. In the early 1960s,children were active about 4.5 hours each day thanks to walking or riding bikes to school, recess, after-school
sports programs and playing. Today ’s children are active less than 30 minutes a day. Its no wonder our children are struggling to maintain healthy weights!
Inactivity =obesity
Inactivity combined with our food today is a lethal combination! These two factors contribute to an increasing percentage of obese children. Obesity is one of the
major risk factors associated with many of our chronic diseases. We may think that chronic disease is an effect of the aging process. But, never before have we seen such a
large percentage of overweight children. In fact, 10 to 15 percent of American children are seriously overweight. If this rate continues, we could start seeing a higher
percentage of these chronic diseases affecting younger people.
Healthy eating habits on the decline
So what about the food we eat today? We no longer grow our own foods, we rely on outside sources to provide them to us. Food is harvested green, then shipped long
distances and stored for months. When it finally makes its way to the grocery stores, it is not as nutrient- rich as when it was first harvested. Reports also point out
that we are going out to eat more often now than ever before. And when we go out to eat, we have a tendency to eat foods we would not normally eat at home, often loaded
with extra calories. It seems fast-food places have appeared on every corner of the planet! When I was a kid, fast-food restaurants existed, but we did not frequent them
nearly as much as we
do today. Today, on average, children eat fast food four times a week! The majority of fast foods are high in fat, high in salt, high in cholesterol, low in vitamins, low
in minerals and low in fiber! This is exactly the opposite of what is recommended to grow healthy bodies.
Reality check
In an ideal world, children would not eat fast food at all. But with the media influences today, children get a warped view of what good nutrition is all about. They
whine and beg to go to fast-food restaurants. They think it is a treat. They are happy when they get their kid ’s meal, complete with toy. I challenge all of us to change
the concept of going to fast-food restaurants for our children. Don ’t promise to take the kids out for fast food as a treat for doing their chores or getting good grades.
Instead, choose something more healthy.
Preparing our kids for good health
Let ’s make an effort to nurture healthy lifestyles that will lead to healthy habits. As adults, it ’s up to us to work with our kids and help them enjoy activity and
nutritious foods. Here are just a few ideas:
Take walks with your children. Enroll them in a sports program and take time to watch them when they compete. Play an active role in their lives. Become active yourself.
Lead by example. Again, I know that most of us work and our time is limited, but we must be responsible for helping our children grow healthy bodies. And by setting good
examples for your children, you will increase your health potential, too.
Getting kids involved
As far as the food side of the equation is concerned, teach your children responsibility by letting them prepare one meal a week. That way, each child can create a
meal, learn to read recipes and prepare the food. Even the very young can get involved in this way. Let small children stir. Take your children to the grocery store with
you and nurture interest by letting them pick a vegetable one-week and a meat/protein the next. As the child grows, so does the responsibility. Around age six, start
introducing nutrition information. As the child ’s reading abilities improve, help him or her understand food labels and balance the meal with a vegetable, protein source
and a grain product. With early involvement in meal planning and food content, children will grow up with a better understanding of how food not only pleases the taste
buds, but also feeds the body. . Herbalife products taste great, are easy to take and can help provide children with essential nutrients. (See pages 5 and 6 for other
product suggestions.) Activity and nutritious foods play a big part in growing healthy bodies –a bigger part than most people realize –so we should try to focus on these
essentials. I always say in Distributor training that we are not “HerbaDiet,” we are HerbaLIFE! Herbalife
is
for
family,
for
life. |
