Module 3 – Food For Thought

This module is about good, everyday advice.

The point here is to discuss why and how we got to this point of having a diet high in sugar, fat and salt and why we stopped eating everything that is good for us. I want to discuss why it is that only 10% of adults are eating the recommended portion of vegetables daily and only 50% are eating the recommended daily intake of fruit?

This is not a lecture. But it is a wake-up call that all parents need from time to time.

It would be remiss of us not to point out a few hard facts.

The program does not set out to tell you all of the things you are doing wrong. Rather, it seeks to give vital kitchen ‘know-how’ and help with routine and structure.

However, some facts need to be pointed out to wake us up to the fact that we need to change our lives, small steps at a time, to accomplish the outcome of great health in our busy everyday lives.

Try not to let these facts anger you. Rather, aim to acknowledge them and use what you have learnt through this program to bring about the change that is required for you and your family to eat more healthily.

Remember that I too am a parent, and together with my wife we also need to wake up now and then and be reminded to consider our health. It’s not easy, but with small steps we too change our schedules and routines for the better and we also have to remind ourselves now and then of the facts that help drive our motivation.

It’s Hard Work Cooking Home-Cooked Meals

I know this and I never underestimate the busy schedules that mums and dads have. Maybe life was not supposed to be this busy, who knows…? But as a society we all try to fit in as much as we can. Help is at hand and helpful solutions to our busy lifestyles that don’t diminish our health are ample and limitless.

If you need someone to clean your car, they are just a phone call away. Same with a gardener, cleaner, mobile mechanic… you name it and there’s someone you can call.

But when it comes to sustainable, every day, healthy home-cooked meals (unless you can afford your own personal chef) the only quick fixes are junk food and pre-prepared frozen dinners. There are also plenty of home delivered meal options that have been planned, and packaged up in a neat little bag. But you’re looking for sustainable, long term, rest of your life, whole family included solutions.

So really, the healthy solution to feeding the family is to learn to structure your time and your life around home-cooked meals. It can be done and many do it as they acknowledge that there aren’t really any viable alternatives. With time it will get a little easier and will become a routine that you will never want to give up as you see the health benefits from putting in the effort.

Half Price Junk Food… a Cheap Way to Feed your family Sick

The specials catalogue from your local supermarket spruik these food ‘specials’ every week.
They are not specials. This junk is virtually on sale every second week. It is not a bargain – the real bargain is that you’re bargaining with your family’s health.

Even at half price, you are paying way too much for these items. Sugar, fat and water are the cheapest food commodities available for large food manufacturers. Stop supporting their high profit margins and treat your family to quality instead.

The same goes for fast food meals. They are not a cheap alternative. Let’s have a look at what you get for your money.

This ‘meal’ will be priced at around $10.00 (or more).

Water with sugar (soft drink)
One baked potato cut into strips and deep fried in fat (fries)
Two pieces of white bread with a little salad and even less meat (cheap burger)
Some sugary sauces thrown in

Now I know food costing, as I have been a chef all my life, and I can tell you that when running a restaurant, your food margins don’t get any better than that. The food cost is probably around $2, which is $8 profit.

A meal like that, that doesn’t even fill you up, can contain nearly half the recommended daily adult calorie intake! The food cost is virtually nothing so they make a fortune and you become hungry a couple of hours later and snack on more junk to curb your hunger. That soon starts to add up. What seems like a cheap meal actually ends up costing you double. And you already know how bad all that sugar, fat and salt is for your health.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying delicious, yummy snacks and treats. They are an important part of life. But I have said this before and I will continue to bang on about it – they are for special occasions only. They are ‘sometimes foods’ and they must not feature regularly in your everyday diet.

When we were growing up, we never consumed junk foods and junk drinks during the week to the extent that they are being consumed by both adults and children today. This begs the question… what happened?

Somehow it became normal to eat these foods on a daily basis.

Here’s a Challenging Notion for You to Ponder…

I challenge you to do what my wife and I do when it comes to treats. Warning, it may seem a little controversial…
Get a taste for quality when it comes to snacks and treats. Always pay full price for your treats.

I know it sounds crazy but it really works and our family have been doing this for years.

If we are going to have a piece of chocolate, we certainly make sure it is the best chocolate available. We rarely buy junk when at the supermarket, but when we do, we buy the expensive brands that are never on special.

That’s it – and it is a rule that we stick to and have been abiding by for years, never to buy any confectionary, ice-cream, biscuits etc when they are on special. We only buy the most expensive snacks and treats available and pay full price both when grocery shopping and when out and about on family excursions.

Doing this creates two outcomes:

Awareness. You are purchasing something that is a ‘sometimes food’ and you are paying the price (literally).
Frugal decision-making. The stuff that is always on special doesn’t taste nearly as good as the really special expensive stuff (think chocolate). So you make it last, you savour it, it becomes really special and you make the most of it. You are far less likely to over indulge on it.

Activity – Save Up and Spoil Yourselves

Start saving for quality treats. Be it a meal at a great local restaurant or a trip to the country on a special weekend.

From now on, every time you get home from the big shop where you previously would have bought chips, chocolate, soft drinks or ice cream on special, take the dollars that you have saved and place these funds into a newly acquired “big treat piggy bank”. Your savings per week during the big shop would be easily around $20-$30 per week.

Even when you are out and about, stop for a moment before you buy convenience food and drinks, and consider whether an apple or water might do the trick? Before you leave home, use your salad bar and make up a little salad to take out with you. Then place what you would have spent at the petrol station, milk bar or other in the piggy bank when you get home.

Involve the whole family in this exercise. Explain to the kids that as a family you are saving up for something special by indulging a little less in junk throughout the week.

Portion Sizes

As a community a lot of us are not only eating the wrong things, we are also simply eating too much.

This is partly because we are not eating foods that fill us up and contain the fibre and nutrition we require for slower energy release.

The sugar rush and sensation that comes immediately from eating sugary breakfast cereals, white bread, biscuits, fast food etc. soon turns to fatigue as the refined sugar in these foods is quickly broken down.

Only by eating foods where the sugar is slowly broken down, such as wholemeal bread, fruit, vegetables, pulses, oats and wholegrain cereals, will we gain a lasting feeling of being full.

But, having said all of that, we are also simply just eating too much. At dinner time especially.

It does not make sense that we need second portions at dinner time just before we are going to bed to sleep. Food is energy and we don’t need a lot of energy to be able to sleep. The same goes for drinks before bedtime. We certainly don’t need any sugary drinks just before going to bed.