45 Pounds
Newsletter - March 1, 2010
School Lunches and Balance
Updates
Mark Daniel
Welcome to the March newsletter for 45Pounds.com.
It is our goal to provide you with helpful tips and advice in your efforts to
help your child or yourself attain or maintain a healthy weight.
This month we have an article with tips
to help your child eat healthy starting today. We also have an article on the
dangers of low-carb eating for kids - it's a good article with some helpful links
to help you research this important topic.
As always, please feel free to write us
with any comments or questions.
We hope you find some helpful tips in
this month's newsletter. Time to get to the good
stuff -
Pack That Lunch!
Members - if you have read the program book, you have seen this article
and may want to skip to the next one. However, it is a good refresher on the
importance of packing a healthy school lunch.
Many of you have busy, hectic lives. That being said, packing your
child's lunch is very important. You also need to
equip them with something to get them through the day without visiting the
snack machine. Take the extra 20 minutes to put a lunch together for your
child. It doesn't have to be complicated, and if your child
is old enough you can rely on him or her to do this.
Below is an actual school lunch menu pulled off the internet. These
aren't the three worst days, just the first three consecutive days that came
up.
Day 1
Hamburger
French Fries
Lettuce & Pickles
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Milk
Day 2
Chicken Nuggets
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Hot Rolls
Milk
Day 3
Sub
Potato Chips
Lettuce & Tomato
Pears
Milk
The approximate calorie value for each of these lunches (not including
going back for seconds) is:
Day 1 - 750 calories
Day 2 - 950 calories
Day 3 - 935 calories
This is a
For a child who's trying to lose weight, or just trying not
to gain, this makes it nearly impossible to succeed. This should make clear the
importance of packing a healthier lunch. For example:
1 Turkey & Ham wrap
1 Low fat Yogurt
1 Butter Toffee rice cake
1 Apple
8 oz. PowerAde
That's a
Over a one week period, packing your child's lunch
can save over 2,000 calories – more than one whole day's worth
of food for most kids. So, you can see the importance of packing a lunch for
your child.
Members – click here to download some healthy packed lunch ideas.
School Lunches Still Fail Kids: Study Finds Too Much Frito Pie, Not
Enough Fruit
There's no way of
knowing exactly what children across the
www.pcrm.org/news/commentary030930.html
The Importance of Balance
If you have read the program book, you already know that a low carb diet can be unhealthy for kids. For more on this topic, review last month's newsletter at www.45pounds.com/newsletterarchive. Whether or not your child is trying to lose weight to get to a healthy weight range, you can't underestimate the importance of balance in the daily diet. Of course where most kids (and a lot of parents) go wrong is with the high-calorie ''starchy'' foods. These foods typically don't provide many of the nutrients needed by a growing child, but they also really pack on the extra calories. What kind of foods are starches? Bread (each slice is one serving of starch), hamburger buns (three servings for two buns), cereal, corn, potato (yes, French fries and potato chips), pasta (yes, mac & cheese, spaghetti), tortillas, popcorn, pretzels, rice, most kinds of beans, and more. (Members – you can see a full list of starchy foods with the “substitutes” link in the member section of the website – it’s the last link on the bottom right).
Even using the list above, you can probably see where your own child may be getting too much starch in his or her diet.
Of course we are not advocating total elimination of starchy foods. Kids do need the carbs these foods provide. Recall the title of this article. It's all about balance. In fact, for a child who is on level two of our custom meal program we recommend five servings of starchy foods every day. It's when that same child consumes 7 or even 10 servings each day (it's easy to do) that it can cause a child to grow to and/or stay at an unhealthy weight.
Try this exercise - write down the starchy foods listed above on a blank recipe card. Have your child carry the card for one or two days and place a mark next to each starchy food when he or she eats one. You may be surprised at just how much starch has crept into your child's diet.
Of course balance means more than watching your starches, balance includes food from all of the food groups. You can try the same exercise above with fruits and vegetables to see how many of these your child is actually eating (remember, corn and potatoes do not count as vegetables, they are starches). In many cases you will see where your child's eating habits are out of balance. You might even try it for yourself.
Balanced eating is the most important step to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.
Our custom meal plans are designed to help your child eat a healthy balance of food with three meals and three snacks throughout the day. For more information on our custom meal plans go to www.45pounds.com/mealplan
Kids' Corner
Program Success!
By Kristen Williams (Age 10)
Burlington, KY
This month we wanted to share some words
of encouragement from one of our program members. Please share this with your
child; it can really help in his or her struggle to get to a healthy weight.
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I can hardly believe that I've reached my goal weight! It took me about six weeks. I have tried other ways to lose weight like cutting back on foods, eating less sugar and exercising. I would always loose a few pounds and gain them right back. The 45Pounds program has worked for me and is easy to follow.
I want to tell you about some of things that helped me with "my new way of eating." The first thing I did was read the 45Pounds book. I then sat down with my family and we talked about the book and made a plan. We decided not to look at the program as a diet, but as a healthy eating plan for me. I needed to loose sixteen pounds. We chose to set five pound goals. This was great because each time I lost five pounds I would get a reward. I got things like lip gloss, a movie rental, a video game and new clothes. Some other things that helped me were not having sugar drinks, eating healthy snacks, drinking fruit smoothies and making better food choices. It is very important to eat the number of starches, fruits, vegetables, meats and milks you are allowed each day.
I am so glad I tried the 45Pounds program. I wish all of you the best of luck on your weight loss.
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Program Update
From www.45pounds.com
If you are a member, be sure you are taking advantage of all of your member benefits:
Read the Book – If you have not yet read the on-line program book please do so as it contains information vital to your child’s success on the program. It’s only 24 pages and can be found here http://45pounds.com/Members/Booklet/1.html
Member Resource Center - this is where you can get all of your progress charts, exchange lists, food value lists, information on serving sizes, recipes, book recommendations, nutritional charts for some popular restaurants, links to helpful articles and government publications, and more. Again, all of this is free to members. http://www.45pounds.com/Members/membersonly
Password - You will need your password to access your member benefits. Go to www.45pounds.com/forgot if you have lost or forgotten your password.
Meal Plans - These meal plans are customized daily menus, built on your child's eating preferences and designed to help him or her eat healthy and lose weight. We do not sell program food, but help you build your own healthy program from foods you can buy at your local grocery store. If you are a member and have not yet filled out the form to receive your custom meal plans, go to http://www.45pounds.com/Members/buildplan. If you are a member and would like a fresh set of custom plans, you can buy them at http://www.45pounds.com/addedplans
Pen-Pals - The Pen Pal program has been very successful. There is no additional charge for this; it is included in your membership. We screen all applicants, and all Pen-Pals are confirmed members of the 45Pounds weight loss program. These Pen-Pals can be a great source of encouragement in the journey to lose weight. Sign up your child at http://www.45pounds.com/Members/penpal
If you are not a member you please come visit our website at www.45Pounds.com or review all of the program options at www.45Pounds.com/program_options
45Pounds, LLC