Parenting as a Christian Single Dad

The more I learn about healthy eating and making the right food choices for Madalyn and myself I am amazed at just how bad I have been doing. I have been reading “ Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle ” by Tom Venuto and it has opened my eyes to a lot of the controversy and the “dos” and “don’ts” in the dieting world. If you are interested in making a long-term lifestyle change I suggest the book. Don’t worry about him being a professional bodybuilder, the book is designed to help people meet their weight goals in a healthy way without fad diets and one program fits all hype. The real issue for this post is TRANS FATS . We have heard it before about the dangers of trans fats and I must say I am blown away by what I am learning. I found a great site that talks all about trans fats detailing the dangers and how to detect foods that have them. http://www.acaloriecounter.com/trans-fat-foods.php The gist of what I am learning is that I need to get away from processed foods and get back down to...

It isn’t uncommon to serve up a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I am guilty, it is fast and easy but is it healthy? That is the dilemma… when it comes to cereal for children, according to a recent Yale study; the children are exposed to the least healthy breakfast cereals. According to the study: Cereals marketed to children have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber and 60% more sodium than cereals marketed to adults for adult consumption. In addition, 42% of the child-targeted cereals contain artificial food dyes compared to 26% of family cereals and 5% of adult cereals. Check out http://cerealfacts.org for more information or see where your cereal ranks and what the best brand is at http://cerealfacts.org/media/Marketing_Rankings/Brand_Nutrition.pdf So who was labeled as the Worst offender? General Mills Just a little food for thought when you are serving up your next breakfast. I know my kid gets enough sugar and it wouldn’t hurt to cut some of it out of her diet. It is easy to tr...

As a single dad I have realized that grocery shopping can have its challenges. With all the different selections these days and the long list of ingredients that I can’t pronounce I have cut way back on packaged foods and am buying fresh types of food products. While I am on the subject of shopping I do need to ask one quick question. I seem to have this perception that women are born with the ability to pick good fruit and vegetables. Is this true and should I stop watching them to see how they do it?? In the likelihood that I never get an answer to this question or it stirs up debate for years I have come across certain top secret information for men on how to pick the right foods to eat. I have learned that buying more than a weeks worth of produce only leads to waste and if I plan my consumption ahead of time I tend only buy what I can eat. I also have to put my vegetables out where I can see them because I forget, at times, that I bought a particular one to munch on during ...

Maybe I am a bit paranoid but I can get that way from time to time. I am often skeptical of artificial sweeteners and such because I think sugar is great, in moderation of course. But since Madalyn has grown accustom to loving sugar, it must be a genetic thing, I have decided to feed her some sugar free food items. I thought about doing a little research on aspartame and even asked a chemist that I work with exactly what it was and I did not like the answer. In a language that I can understand it came down to this: ASPARTAME IS BAD! Of course there are millions out there that would agree and even disagree. Heck the FDA says it is okay even though they have received thousands of aspartame side effects complaints. There are hundreds of websites, not that I believe everything that is on the Internet, that are opposed to aspartame. The ones that I looked at seemed to have valid concerns and even stories that make you question if it is worth it. From what I can tell there really is n...

With the big push towards sugar free everything I am a bit nervous of what is to come. Personally I don't believe that these sugar substitutes are the answer and we are setting ourselves up for a big problem. I love sugar yet I know to much of it is a bad thing and when it comes to Madalyn I am trying to find healthy alternatives that she will enjoy. The most recent of which is buying those yogurts in a tube and freezing them. I know this is probably an old idea but I really never had to deal with such issues, heck until recently I never bought yogurt. I guess I am a late bloomer. Anyhow it works great and Madalyn loves the choice of eating the yogurt from the freezer or the fridge.

Have you ever sat back and wondered why it seems Americans are so out of shape these days? As I look at myself I can easily get too busy and end up cutting back on many of the things that I should be doing such as exercising and eating right. Over the years I have taken it upon myself to take care of the body that God has given me. It is hard at times but by building new habits I have been able to reach a level of success that I am happy with. This section will hold tips for the kitchen a long with some of my favorite recipes. Kitchen Tips How to Select the Right Fruits and Veggies Cutting out the Trans Fat Choosing Healthy Breakfast Cereals Recipes Easy Homemade Pancakes Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with Biscuits

Eating healthy is important to me... it makes up for the time I get to go eat McDonalds with Madalyn. So I have adopted a new way of eating "ice cream" which involves freezing flavored yogurt and mixing it in a blender with some juice and milk. To me it is great, just as good as ice cream but to the munchkin she knows it isn't ice cream and she wants the real thing. So how the heck does she know? I think it is funny... I can put a bowl of ice cream in front of her and she will devour it. I put my frozen yogurt ice cream in front of her and she complains. Go figure.