~by Nikki

Do you have kids? I do. Two of them. See above 🙂

Both of them are gorgeous. Both of them are practical and independent. But both of them weigh just a bit more than they should for their age.

When I made the decision to have weight loss surgery, in many ways, I made decisions on their behalves too. What you see here on BF is what I eat. And what I eat is what they eat. Since my children were still relatively young when I had surgery (6 and 8), I think it’s affected some of their eating habits. They don’t like a lot of pasta. They eat rice in moderation. Soda is truly a treat for them (and one for which they will love you forever if you give it to them). They are notorious label readers (mostly for the purposes of convincing me to buy their preferred food items) and down right experts in what mom can and cannot eat. What can I say? These are my children after all.

I get asked pretty often how I relate to my children regarding food. It occurs to me that part of what I can claim as success is owed to arming myself with good equipment. So here’s some of the things I use to keep my children excited about healthy eating:

Why: The sandwich gig gets old sometimes. My kids sometimes like to take chili and other things in their school lunches. With these, I can heat up their chili super hot and it’s still warm by lunch time. Throw in a few whole wheat crackers, a piece of fruit and a sugar-free drink and we’re good to go!

Why: You can make all sorts of things with these suckers! I tend to make smoothies into “smoothie pops.” While my youngest likes my protein pops (basically a protein shake poured into the mold), my oldest prefers a non-protein option. So I just mix up some Greek yogurt, Splenda, frozen fruit and a little milk and pour into these molds. It makes a healthy, tasty alternative to ice cream!

Why: Because sometimes only ice cream will do, frankly. And with this I get to choose what goes into the ice cream. Both my kids seem to enjoy protein ice cream (thank you Eggface!) and it’s something I can share with that. Which makes me very, very happy.

Why: Find me a kid who isn’t at least intrigued by dip, and I’ll show you a really picky eater! We’ve gotten messages from pouchers who claim their kids won’t eat any dip. We advise them to keep trying. Nearly every kid has “their” dip, be it cheesy, chocolatey, peanut buttery or otherwise. These little cups work great to pack in lunch boxes and for home use.

Why: Well, besides the obvious, a good, stylish water container is sort of a status symbol in schools these days. Kids feel cool that they have something that represents their style and you feel good that they aren’t drinking soda all day long.

…and lastly here is a “soon to be incorporated” item

Why: The compartments help ensure good portion control while providing space for a variety of foods. And they’re just darn cute. I think cuteness matters to little girls. And of course there are styles for “my boys” too. But to them I think it matters more that they can stomp on it and it won’t break (mothers of boys…correct me if I’m wrong!).

So that’s just a few of the weapons in my “healthy eating for kids” aresenal. Try some of them out. Your kids might just surprise you in how they respond!