Dad Diet

Most parents know that a healthy diet is vital for children from toddlers to teenagers, especially during periods of rapid growth.

Good nutrition helps children meet their energy and other important nutritional requirements, so they can achieve their growth and development potential.

Yet how can a balanced diet be achieved for children when parents are up against various challenges, such as long working days, running a household, satisfying each child’s needs and fussy eaters?

There is no single answer, but to give children the best start in life, it is important to introduce a wide variety of food, to establish a good nutritional foundation. The sooner your children start on the road to healthy eating, the sooner they will benefit. Eating habits established as a child are carried throughout life.

Try the following tips to help your children on their way to developing healthy eating habits for life.

• One fun way to help your children learn about nutrition and develop an appreciation of good food is to involve them in meal preparation.
• Enjoy meal times together, in a relaxed, enjoyable manner. This becomes a key time to catch up on each family member’s day.
• Be creative by using a variety of brightly coloured vegetables and arrange them to make different pictures – such as a face or a house. Also try different textures such as frozen fruit instead of fresh.
• For fussy eaters, try grating vegetables such as carrot and zucchini into soups or pasta.  Home-made pizzas and lasagnes are another way to incorporate vegetables in meals that children love.
• Set a good example. If your children don’t see you enjoying a balanced diet, it will be much more difficult to convince them they should eat well. And it’ll be good for you, too!
• Get them involved. Whether grocery shopping together, selecting fresh vegetables from the crisper, or washing, grating and peeling, children are much more likely to eat what they have helped to prepare.

For more information regarding getting your kids excited, The healthy eating for kids website has tons of fun recipes that will turn mealtime into funtime!

[via NineMSN]

Whether your children are at school, or home on holidays, it can be really difficult coming up with healthy kids lunch ideas day after day to keep them interested.

We’re all extremely busy these days, so the last thing we need is to get complicated at lunchtime.

But, what should your child’s lunch contain?

Here are some guidelines:

• Source of protein to help them stay alert
• Fruit and vegetables for vitamins, minerals and fiber
• Complex carbohydrates for slow-release energy and fiber
• Calcium for growth, healthy bones and teeth

If you’re stuck for kids lunch ideas, here are 5 simple suggestions:

1. Vary their breads
Most kids love of bit of variety and surprise, so rather than sticking with the same bread day in, day out, choose from a range of sliced bread, bread rolls, pita pockets, wraps, bagels, crackers and breadsticks.

Encourage your children to eat wholegrains, to make sure they’re having plenty of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.

If your kids are young, try cutting sandwiches into different shapes using a cookie cutter, or roll them up and slice to make pinwheels. It’s amazing how a boring sandwich gets gobbled up when in the shape of something interesting!

2. Ditch the processed meats
Instead of using processed meats every day, which are unhealthy and a bit dull, use leftover meat from the night before, such as roast chicken, or beef. Alternatively, you could go for fish or boiled eggs, if your kids will eat them.

You could also think about preparing a range of shredded vegetables, with meat, a little sauce, and wraps or pita pockets, which your children can make up themselves. Obviously this depends on your child, some kids will love this idea, others won’t eat if it takes a lot of effort–playtime is much more important!

3. Be creative with salads
Cook a batch of potato or pasta salad with lots of chopped up vegetables, some lean sliced chicken, turkey or ham, and store in the fridge for a quick and easy lunch throughout the week. Then all you need is a green salad, and lunch is ready in a flash.

4. Get your kids involved
At the weekend why not take a few hours in the kitchen with your children and have a go at making healthy versions of your favorite cookies and muffins? This is a great way to get kids interested in what they’re eating, and also to teach them about healthy food choices. Whatever you make will be perfect the following week as a lunchtime treat.

5. Cut the sugary drinks
We should all be cutting back on the sugar-laden beverages, and our kids are no different. Water, milk, or calcium fortified soy milk are the best beverage choices for children.

If your children are resistent to trying new foods, why not ask them when they would like to have at lunchtime? I’m sure you’ll get a range of interesting answers!

Source: Diet Blog

If your like me you love firing up your backyard grill on those sunny summer days. Heck, I even use my BBQ year around up here in northern Canada! I just keep the snow cleared from deck with my snowblower and it’s grillin and chillin time.

Nothing beats food on the grill, its tasty and if you use lean cuts of meat, chicken or fish, you will give your body the muscle building fuel to get lean and mean for summer.

Here are some tips to becoming the king of the grill:

1. Crank up the heat. Make sure you let your grill reach its maximum temperature. Light it up, close the lid and wait until the thermometer hits its max, usually around 500 degrees.

2. Grease your grill. To prevent sticking, oil your grill with some oil dabbed on a paper towel or spray your grill with pam before you light up. You don’t want a mushroom cloud of flames coming from your backyard!

3. To grill the perfect steak to medium rare and get those awesome grill marks. Place steak on hot oiled grill pointing in 2 o’clock direction for 2 mins, then lift and turn to opposite angle of 10 o clock for another 2 mins. Then flip the steak and repeat the same, 2 mins, rotate, 2 more mins.

4. Don’t cut into the steak to see if its done, this will let out the juices and dry out the meat. Follow these steps and your steak will cook perfectly every time.

5. Remove steak from the grill and let sit for 5 mins to allow the meat to absorb its own juices.

*Take advantage of the large cooking surface and fill it up with chicken breasts, kabobs and lean burgers so you have awesome meals for the next couple days!

I like the new BBQs like the Broil King I have. It has burner plates which prevent flare-ups instead of charcoal or bricks.

Now get grilling!

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Here is the easiest way to keep yourself on track to eat healthy during those busy days.

Just look at your hand! That’s right, you were born with the perfect diet reminder.

Count off each meal and snack on your fingers, 5 fingers (I know the thumb, but lets call it a finger), 5 food servings.

In order to keep your blood sugar stable and avoid going into starvation mode during the day, you need to eat 5 times during the day.

That of course includes your regular 3 meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner. But also, make sure to have 2 snacks, a small snack in between breakfast and lunch, and another snack between lunch and dinner.

This keeps things simple as most busy dads don’t have the time or the drug enhanced metabolism’s to be eating 6-8 MEALS a day like the “bodybuilding” magazines might tell you.

So here are some quick and healthy snack tips I like to use during the day.

Sometimes I feel like a nut!

I like to nibble on heart healthy nuts in between meal. I like the Walnut pieces that come in the resealable bag. Walnuts contain the highest amount of fat burning omega 3′s. I also like Pistachios, as they take time to peel apart keeping you from eating too many too fast. Another great sources of healthy fats. Just make sure to get the natural nuts that are not fried in any vegetable oils or loaded down with salt. Check the ingredients and avoid any that has these listed. Also use your hand as your guide here as well and just take a small handful and put them away to avoid eating too much.

Protein Pudding

I love this high protein snack before bed or in the afternoon. I like to use a scoop of protein powder. Get a protein powder that has fast acting whey protein as well as slow digesting casein protein. This will satisfy you longer than just whey protein alone. The casein protein also mixes into a pudding alot creamier and thicker. Take your favorite protein flavor and mix it with 1/2cup of PLAIN yogurt or cottage cheese. Add some fresh berries or slivered almonds and you have a great tasting dessert like snack.

Natures Snack

Fruit has been getting some bad rap lately regards to fat loss. When people start blaming fruit for getting them fat, I have to strongly disagree! Since fruit does contain some natural sugars people avoid it thinking that it will make them fat. I highly doubt that FRUIT is what is making people overweight these days. Yeah maybe if you eat a bag of apples a day on top of your current diet. But I don’t think anyone eats that much fruit as most people hardly eat any. Grab an apple or orange or your favorite piece of fruit in between meals to nourish your body and actually help burn fat.

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These 5 foods will make sure you are on your way to living a long and healthy life so you can be the strong dad you need to be to keep up with your family.

1. Tomatoes – This plump red FRUIT provides a powerful punch for men especially. Yes, it is a fruit, not a vegetable. If it has seeds, its considered a fruit. You might of heard of the powerful nutrient in tomatoes called lycopene. Lycopene has been show to be beneficial in preventing prostate cancer in men. To absorb this wonderful nutrient the tomatoes need to be broken down such as tomato sauce and tomato juice.

2. Oysters – Don’t pass on these slimy sea mollusks just yet. Oysters are a high quality protein source which is great for building lean muscle. They also provide heart healthy omega 3′s as well as another prized nutrient that every man should have in their diet. Oysters have been known for centuries as a libido enhancer. This is mainly from the high concentration of Zinc. Most men today are shown to be deficient in this vital nutrient. It aids in testosterone production which gives us men strength and energy in the gym as well as in the bedroom.

3. Brazil Nuts – Nuts are a great nutrient dense snack full of fiber, healthy fats and even protein. Brazil nuts especially are high in selenium. Brazil nuts may contain as much as 544 micrograms of selenium per ounce. Just one Brazil nut will give you your recommended daily allowance of the selenium. This mineral is crucial in antioxidant production in your body to fight off disease.

4. Broccoli – We all hear how good this green cruciferous vegetables is for us. But most men don’t really know how beneficial broccoli really is for our health and longevity. More and more evidence is mounting showing the anti-cancer benefits in this super food. Look at broccoli as “nature’s brooms” as they are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that clean your arteries and keep your cells strong and healthy throughout your body.

5. Flaxseed – This little seed is loaded with nutrients. A lot of people know flaxseeds are a good source of healthy fats and fiber. But the mistake they make is eating the seeds whole. For your body to absorb the fats, flaxseeds need to be ground before they are eaten. A coffee grinder is great for this or you can buy organic milled flaxseed. Ground flaxseed is great to add to cereal, oatmeal, burgers, meatballs, shakes and stews. Store ground flaxseeds in the fridge to prevent oxidation of the healthy fats. With all the talk on plastics in our environment and the phytoestrogens they mimic, lignans in flaxseeds help the body get rid of these toxic compounds.

There you have it, The Top 5 Foods For Men that you may not be eating but should…

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1.  Never go to a restaurant starving!  You are setting yourself up for failure right from the start. Have a quick snack before you go if at all possible.  A piece of fruit, some mixed nuts or a protein shake will help satisfy you without filling you up so you can enjoy your meal.  If you are really stuck, just grab a bottle of water on the way and drink it before you arrive.  This alone will help you avoid ordering the entire menu.

2.  Once you arrive and sit down at your table, skip the bread and alcohol.  There is a reason they serve you this before your meal.  It’s because it has been proven in studies bread and alcohol stimulate your appetite.  If you really want a drink, stick to one glass of wine or one light beer without the bread.

3.  When looking at the menu, remember that you don’t have to order something exactly as its shown on the menu.  You are paying for the food, so don’t be afraid to ask for certain dishes with or without certain ingredients.

4.  You don’t have to be a nutritionist  to know you should stay away from the obvious food choices that are breaded, battered or deep fried. Also be wary of anything smothered in sauces. Remember to ask how the dish is prepared.

5.  Go for any lean protein source such as beef, chicken, pork or fish.  Pair it with any side dish like a green salad or fresh grilled veggies.  Think protein and fats for your meal and avoid the processed carbs.

Take the time to relax and eat slow, have some good conversation with others and learn to enjoy the whole dining out experience instead of just focusing on the food.

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Now I am going to outline a simple three-day meal plan that will make you feel better and look better in just three days.

The first thing to do is to have one meal each of the three days, that’s consists of freshly broiled salmon, a nice green salad with olive oil and lemon juice for dressing, and for dessert, cantaloupe and fresh berries. These foods are important because, first of all the salmon. Salmon is a wonderful food, it is high in very absorbable protein, it also has essential fatty acids, remember there are good fats and bad fats, these are the good fats, the omega 3 oils are very rich, they decrease risk of cardiovascular disease and cut inflammation. When you cut inflammation you will see your skin glow and you will have increased radiance.

In addition to protein and EFA’s, salmon contains DMAE; DMAE is known chemically as dimethyl-amino-ethanol. It is a substance in fish and is why your grandmother used to call it “brain food”. Well, she was right, DMAE increases cognitive ability, it improves your memory and your problem solving ability, which we could all use. It works by making nerves more efficient and acts as a membrane stabilizer, so it has some antioxidant capabilities. It also affects our muscles, muscle get toned because of nerves innervating them, DMAE will help in increasing muscle tone.

Now for the other two meals. For breakfast you should have an egg white omelet because the eggs whites are high in protein. The yolks are excluded because they do contain some saturated fats, but I am no fanatical about that. So I suggest 1 yolk for every 4 whites in your omelet. So remember that’s your first finger, the protein. You can also increase the egg whites or add in some smoked salmon to up the protein content depending on your body’s demands. Next, would be some fresh melon. Fresh melon is your low glycemic carbohydrate. It is high in vitamin A, and it also contains a lot of water. This water will also help hydrate your skin and make you look better. I also recommend some fresh berries. Remember, they have many benefits and taste great as well.

For your third meal of the day I would recommend some white meat chicken and large salad. You want to have a lot of salad with olive oil and lemon juice. The olive oil is not only a good fat but it also contains antioxidants, especially extra virgin olive oil, it’s called hydroxytyrosol. You have to remember that diet directly affects your health. If we look at the Mediterranean people, we see that that they have lower incidence of heart disease than North America. They have a tremendous amount of olive oil in their diet and fish. These healthy fats decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack.

Now that’s your three meals. But you also want to have two snacks as well. As with your meals, the three-finger check still applies, protein, low-glycemic carbohydrate, and essential fats. A good example of a snack would be some fresh white turkey from the deli, an apple, and some nuts to get your good fats. Again don’t forget water. I know you probably want to but water is so important to make you feel better and look better. So remember 8-10 glass throughout the day.

A question that usually arise when people see this meal plan is “What if it doesn’t work?”. If this doesn’t work, you were cheating, because this always works, these laws always apply. Because when you cut inflammation in your heart and in your brain, your skin will show you by looking better. Your skin is nothing more than a monitor or barometer of what’s going on inside of you. When you look in the mirror after these three days you will say to yourself that you always want to look this way and feel this way.

This will then take you to the next level where you will eat this way on a regular basis but with greater variety. Following these food choices will go a long way to help you get fit and lose weight.

Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com