Are you also inspired by vibrantly nutritious plates of food?
In our family, when the plate has a variety of colours, my children
(4 & 6 years old) say, “Ooooooooo!! So pretty!!”
It’s an enticing way to get them to awaken their senses.
And to get them to eat whole foods!
How many rainbow meals do you eat in a day?
How about in a week?
This is a very fun and creative way to incorporate a diverse amount of vitamins and nutrients into our body!
I want to introduce to you
the benefits of eating the rainbow and
how to incorporate it into your daily routine.
Have you ever gone to the grocery store and get drawn to putting certain items into your basket? It’s usually our body intuitively telling us that those are the nutrients our body needs.
Next time you go to the grocery store, park your car and take a couple breaths before walking through the doors. Notice yourself gravitating and allow your body to speak to you.
Welcome the kids to ponder on the drive over to the grocery store, “what lunch/dinner do you want to eat?”
Allow the kids to choose one fruit & veg each (or more!)
I like to say one each because it’s less overwhelming for them.
It gives them the opportunity to get creative and also think about meats, seafood, and other elements that they would like to eat.
At the time of choosing their items, you can also briefly talk about what’s nutritious about that item. Make sure that your language is age appropriate.
For example:
– To my 4 year old: “What colour is that apple? Yes! It’s red! Red foods are good for the heart. The heart is right here. *point to where the heart is located*”
– To my 6 year old: “Do you like red or green apples? Oh you like red! Do you know what red foods are good for inside your body?” Allow them to think about it & come up with possible answers. Then you can add, “Lycopene is what makes red foods have red. It protects our heart and skin from things might hurt our bodies. It’s our protective shield for the warriors in our body!”
As a mama of 2 small kids, full-time remote job, and adulting, it can feel so daunting to eat healthy every single meal. Some days, I feel like if I can get them to eat 2 healthy meals a day, that’s a WIN!
Do what feels right.
Do what works for you.
Most of all, don’t stress about eating healthy because that’s triggering your cortisol and other hormones to overwork!
Have you ever heart of Functional Nutrition?
Functional nutrition is the holistic approach to diet, taking into consideration one’s lifestyle factors that could affect their food choices, such as activity levels, environment, or the presence of chronic disease. You may be wondering how this is different from standard nutrition practice, but the key is in the holistic approach.
“What Is Functional Nutrition?” (IIN)
Whether you have kids, pre-teens, teenagers, or older “kids”, trying to inspire them to eat healthy foods can be disheartening.
My 4 year old daughter loves anything I eat.
My 6 year old son is very particular.
The best way to get them to be awe-struck by the food:
– Making it colourful
– Have fun plating
– Deconstruct the foods
How do you get your kids to eat the rainbow?
Here
For those of you who be at your wits-end with picky-eaters, I have made you a little list that could change up the routine.
I tend to have a loose meal plan that I follow, according to what’s in season at the market/shop.
I forgot to add, getting kid-friendly chopping board and knives can make it super fun for them to cook for themselves. Let them be a part of the creation.
Amazon has a bunch of fun tools that are great for kids plating and meal prepping. Once a week (usually Sunday), I like to have them carefully wash the produce. The kids cut up their own strawberries, cucumbers, etc. And then, it’s up to them to clean up their tools themselves.
This shows them, in the simplest form, how much work it takes to just put out their side dishes. It can teach them about contribution, appreciation, hard-work, patience, fine-motor skills, and so much more.
And that’s it!
I hope there were some little gems in there for you that you may like to incorporate into your meals. Whether you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, cousins, spouses, these gems can be a fun activity to keep everyone busy for 20-30 mins.
Spiral Roots Marketing 