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It is always a challenge for parents to provide healthy meals for their children. As the kids grow and become more active, they need all the nutrients they can get. As healthy meals are not a popular choice among kids, planning a nutritious meal is as important as preparing something that they will actually want to eat.

Facing the Challenge

Whether you are working in an office or just at home most of the day, your responsibility as a parent simply does not change. Fortunately, there are several healthy meal recipes that you can easily follow. A Crock Pot and a collection of good Crock Pot recipes are all you need and you’re good to go.

You may even be amazed with how many different kinds of meals you can prepare with the use of your Crock Pot at home. You can prepare tasty beef stew, glazed chicken, pork roast, macaroni and cheese, lasagna and mashed veggies. Since these are the foods that your kids can also find in their favorite dining stop, they will be more than pleased to have them on your dining table at home.

Adding onions, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes and other vegetables can greatly improve not only the taste and aroma of the food, but also the nutritional value. One important feature of crack pots is its ability to retain the nutrients in the meal.

Making Fun Meals

To encourage your kids to eat what you serve them, you need to make a little more effort on the appearance of the food. Try forming faces using vegetables on their plate, or serving the vegetables as pizza toppings. You can also top salads with cheese and chocolate.

Do not force children to eat the meals you have prepared. By pressuring them, you only push them to dislike the food more. They need to be encouraged, not bullied into eating the right meals.

You may also want to involve your kids in the process of meal preparation so they develop better interest on their food. The fun in preparing the meal makes the eating part enjoyable, too.

Make Every Meal a Family Event

Experts always say that setting a good example is the best way to teach kids. This also applies with having meals. Showing them that you are a healthy eater is the best way to train them. Kids always look at their parents as their role models. You will never be able to convince them to eat what you don’t eat.

Also, be sure that the family is complete during meals so the kids can look forward to every meal as a special family gathering. Put the TV off while eating as this can distract you and your kids from sharing the perfect meal together.

No one said parenting is easy. Cooking healthy meals and making sure your kids eat them may sound like a struggle, but when you have the right strategies going, your kids will not only eat what you serve them, but they will even come back for seconds and thirds.

A recent debate questions whether we should eat three meals a day or five to six meals a day for optimum health and fitness. Nutritional experts are divided about this, but all of them agree that skipping meals is detrimental to overall fitness success.

Individual metabolism seems to be the key in determining how many meals a day to eat. However, if you eat only two to three meals a day you are probably not making your metabolism work as hard as it is supposed to. You may feel tired with a loss of energy and wind up turning toward snacks, which may not be as carefully chosen as an actual meal. With five to six meals a day, you have more opportunities to plan to eat correctly as opposed to snacking on junk food.

Deciding to eat 5 or 6 meals a day gives you the opportunity to think about what you are eating and plan meals that include the four food groups. The portions you serve should equal the size of your heart, which is approximately the size of your fist. Exercising portion control and spreading your meals throughout the day keeps your metabolism working properly, giving you plenty of energy. Also, smaller portions help you to avoid overeating and do not make you as sluggish as eating a huge meal. Having several meals during the day gives you the opportunity to add more variety to your diet, as well as avoid pangs of hunger from going too long without eating.

The ADA suggests that you ask yourself three questions when deciding how and when to eat:

- Am I hungry? If you are not, wait 20 minutes.
- When was the last time I ate? Meals should usually be about three hours apart.
- Could a small snack tide me over until my next meal? Of course, fruit and veggies are preferred choices for snacks in between meals.

In summary about the debate regarding three meals a day versus six, Gary Schwartz (researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine) states, “There’s no strong data supporting either as being being more effective. Clearly, there is an emphasis on reducing caloric intake overall, whether it be by decreasing meal size and/or decreasing meal frequency.”

You can develop a truly effective individual fitness plan by counting calories, exercising regularly and carefully monitoring how your metabolism reacts to the number of meals you eat daily.

I am sure you have heard previously that your post-workout meal is actually the most important meal of your day (aside from breakfast of course).

I would have to agree with that assertion for the most part because refueling your body with the right combo of nutrients is so vastly important to repairing your muscles from the breakdown of a workout, and keeping your metabolic rate sky high.

From recent research on post-workout meals:

“A recent 12-week study says that those who failed to consume a post workout meal immediately after their workouts suffered a lower metabolism, loss of fat free mass, and had clear indications of muscle loss – while their counterparts (those who consumed a post workout recovery meal) significantly lost more fat, increased lean muscle, improved their metabolism, and increased dynamic strength.”

I have noticed that many people are confused as to what actually makes a good post-workout meal. A couple common questions I receive about post workout meals:

1. Aren’t post-workout meals only important for muscle building? Do they matter at all for fat loss goals?

2. Is it best to use one of the fancy post-workout drinks or shakes that you see in the magazines or is a whole food meal better? What’s the best combo of carbs to protein to fat in a good post workout meal?

3. How soon after a workout is best to have my post workout meal?

Answers:

1. Post-workout meals are actually important for BOTH muscle building and losing body fat!

Always remember that one of the most important considerations of long term body fat loss and maintaining a lean body for life is raising your overall metabolic rate by building and maintaining adequate lean muscle mass throughout your entire body.

By consuming a good post workout meal after every workout, you assist your body in repairing and building lean muscle throughout your whole body. The more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate (even when resting)… hence, you lose fat easier and faster, and it is MUCH easier to stay lean in the long term.

2. Are whole foods or supplement shakes best? This can actually be done either way, but I am going to show you some guidelines why some post-workout shakes are better than others and some whole foods are better than others. Either way, it can work.

First, keep in mind that your goal throughout the majority of each day is eating small whole food meals frequently that digest slowly with high fiber and a controlled glycemic response (blood sugar). These normal daily meals should also contain healthy fats and slowly digested proteins to maintain a steady supply of amino acids.

When it comes to post-workout meals, you can just about use the exact opposite strategy of your normal meals. With post-workout meals, you actually want a faster digesting carb source to stimulate an insulin response. This helps to push nutrients and glycogen back into your muscle cells for repair. Remember, this is not just important for building muscle, but also for losing fat.

So while I always preach high fiber for most of your meals, with post-workout meals, you actually want lower fiber, higher GI carbohydrates, and quickly digesting protein as well to kick start muscle repair.

Another consideration to keep in mind… while I always preach healthy fats at most of your meals… with the post workout meal, you actually want almost all carbohydrates and protein, and very little fat. Fat in the post workout meal just slows the absorption and glycemic response which is not what you want at this key time.

What about the best ratios of carbohydrates and protein?

I have reviewed dozens of studies on this subject and most seem to agree that a ratio of approx 2 to 1 carbs to protein is optimal. This seems to be the best combo to maximize muscle repair to boost that metabolic rate for long term body fat loss.

I usually make my post-workout shakes using a frozen banana, whey protein, water, and some real maple syrup (not the cheap high fructose corn syrup based maple syrups at most stores) and aim for about a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein in the shake.

If you want to make things a little simpler, one of the best post-workout shakes that I’ve found that is already mixed in a 2:1 carb:protein ratio is Prograde’s Varsity Post-Workout mix. You can find it at the bottom of this page.

3. How soon should you eat (or drink) your post-workout meal once your done working out?

As soon as you can after your workout (the sooner the better)!

Studies have shown that the sooner you consume your post workout meal following your intense workout, the better your muscle recovery will be, and a higher quantity of the carbohydrates ingested will be used for muscle glycogen replenishment instead of other uses.

The first thing I do when I get back from the gym is make my post workout shake, and this is about 10 min after finishing my workout.