We Don't Do Yelling

Photo from SheKnows.com

One of my friends recently posted that her little 2-year-old heard her yelling at her son, came in the room covering her ears and said, "No, Mommy!  We no do yelling!"  It was a reminder to her of what she had told those little 2-year-old twins to keep the noise level down in their home.

But for me, it was a game-changer.  See, we've become a little too prone to "yelling" around here.  Though I didn't notice it in myself, I definitely have started to notice it in my children - as they yell angrily at each other to stop, to give it back, to leave them alone, etc.  So yesterday we had a little discussion and talked about our family goal for the week: No yelling!  I explained to my children that, "In our family, we don't do yelling!  We do communicating!"  I told the kids that this meant I would correct them when they yell, I would tell them, "In our family, we don't do yelling!  We do communicating!"  I also told them there would be days when Mommy would need THEM to remind me, that if I started yelling, they would stop me and remind me that, "In our family, we don't do yelling!  We do communicating!"

I know this isn't going to change thing overnight, but I also know it's a very good first step!

What other family declarations do you have?  How have you helped your children (and yourself) correct a bad behavior before it became a defining habit?

The Secret

photo from cnn,com

"What day is it today?" asked my 4-yr-old daughter as soon as she got out of bed.  "Is it Sunday? Saturday? Thursday?"  She found out it was Friday and leaped for joy as she ran down the stairs to excitedly tell her daddy that it was Friday, the day they were going to do "the secret."

Earlier in the week during prayer, this little girl had excitedly told me that she and Daddy had a secret.  And she told me that she couldn't say what it was and then proceeded to say thank you in her prayer for "the secret."  I cannot express how impressed I was with her for keeping it, too.  Even "I" had NO IDEA what the secret was - nor did I remember it even existed.

So when she woke up ecstatic this morning, I was very curious.  I didn't have to wait long to be told by my excited little girl that she and Daddy were going to make VERY SPECIAL NECKLACES with VERY SPECIAL BEADS today.

Now in all fairness, I woke up this morning with some excitement as well!  All I wanted to do was drive around and look at my list of potential houses to buy in the area.  I had researched them, plotted them out, narrowed them down, etc.  So when I woke up, I also ran downstairs excitedly to tell Daddy about MY PLAN for the day!

My daughter, usually my sidekick in looking at and dreaming about houses, told me she didn't want to go and look at houses with me today - that we could do it tomorrow - because today was the day for putting together VERY SPECIAL NECKLACES with Daddy.

Guess what?  Changing the oil in the car, an unplanned business call, an extra hungry baby with a few unplanned blowouts and baths, some turkey soup to take to a friend who had a baby, grocery shopping for the week, a wrong turn detour, and a few e-mails later . . . it was dark. And we couldn't see the houses I wanted to see.

I. Was. Upset.  Annoyed, frustrated, a little angry, and ultimately heartbroken.

But that was NOTHING compared to a little girl who realized as the sun went down that the day was over . . . and she had NOT gotten to have a special day or make her special necklace with Daddy and his special beads.

As she sobbed in the back seat, my first inclination was to be stern and get her to stop crying.  I mean, I was aggitated about my plans that had fallen through that day; I was in NO MOOD for a sobbing child in the closed confines of our car.

But it suddenly occurred to me that SHE was more upset by her plans falling through than I was.  She was heartbroken.

Once home, she broke down again - sobbing uncontrollably.  It was then that Daddy told me he had told her earlier in the week that on FRIDAY they were going to make special necklaces with special beads.  The dots connected; the light of understanding turned on.  As I headed upstairs to change a diaper, I heard her sobbing quietly in her room and mumbling under her breath about not getting to do her special project with Daddy.

It was at that moment that I realized that she needed to be understood.  She needed a hug.  She needed to feel validated in her feelings.  She needed to know it was okay to be heartbroken and cry.  She needed to know I understood the value of very special things and time with Daddy.  And she needed to understood that I "got" her - that I knew she was a person and not just a child!

I called her into my room and gave her a HUGE hug and said, "I am so sorry that you didn't get to do your necklaces today with Daddy."

She stopped crying, hugged me back, and said, "Thank you, Mommy!  I really wanted to do that all day.  Do you think we can do them tomorrow? Can we make tomorrow a day full of ALL the special things?"  Of course my answer was yes - and I may or may not have been near tears myself as her excited face and shining eyes and forgiving heart shone up at me.

I think sometimes we get lost in "parenting" our children.  We are teaching them, making them food, disciplining them (sometimes too much of that, huh?), correcting them, cleaning up after them, trying to get them to clean up after themselves, running here and there, telling them to be patient as we try to keep up with the constant demands, etc.  Sometimes in the midst of all of that, we forget they are just people like us.  They understand a lot more than we give them credit for.  They may be little, but that doesn't give them a lesser place of importance, a smaller voice in our home.

If we will just love them, respect them, understand them, validate them, include them, give them a role, and listen to them, we'll find that more frequently than we realized, they are the teachers; we are the students. But mostly, we really aren't that different.

My deliberate mothering goal is to give my children more of a voice in planning our days, in making decisions and setting goals, in choosing consequences for decisions, in creating a healthy menu that they will enjoy, etc.

Any tips and insight would definitely be welcome.

If You Could Teach Your Children 10 Things

I know we have all heard that a goal not written down doesn't exist.  I'm sure you have also heard that if you try to chase too many things at once, you end up losing them all. 

I am a list writer because it's the only way I can keep my thoughts organized and keep it together - make sure I actually get things done that I need to get done.

So when I heard this advice from Jack Canfield at a recent conference I attended, it really struck a cord in my heart.  Of all the things in the world that I could be - of all the things I would or might even want to teach my children, if I had to FOCUS in on just 10, nothing more, no cheating, no combining, just the 10 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS . . . what would they be?

At first I thought about this in terms of identifying the 10 most important things.  But lately, as I've tried to focus in on the most important things in my own life and make sure that they get done, I realized that this invitation is about more than IDENTIFYING.  It's also about ACCOMPLISHING!

You see, if I have a never-ending list of things I am always working on, I am probably never getting anything done.  When I have a focused list of a few things I am intentionally . . . deliberately . . . working on, I am CERTAIN to succeed in doing them.

Take to heart this invitation.  My husband pointed out on my twins' 4th birthday that we had already gone through about 1/5 of our time WITH them.  And our time with them only amounts to about 1/5 of their entire lives.  But what we accomplish during that 1/5 of their lives will shape them for the rest of it.  We have no time to waste with our precious charge to teach our children.

So if you get just 10 things that they will remember FOREVER and NO MATTER WHAT, what do you choose?  Write them down.  Then make them happen! 

Tackling the Laundry

Do you sometimes feel like your life is one . . . long . . . workday?  Like you know you need a break, but every day comes and goes without you getting one?  I often feel like the sink is an endless fountain of dirty dishes and the laundry room an endless fountain of dirty laundry . . . no matter how many times I do them, there's always more to be done.

So today, I thought it would be fun to share some tips for keeping up on the laundry . . . so you can find time to do the really important things, like lie down for a few minutes a day to recuperate!

1. Keep separate baskets in your laundry room for darks, lights, whites, linens, and "clothes with stains".
2. At the end of each day, make part of your bedtime routine having everyone put their clothes/linens in the corresponding basket before they brush their teeth/go to bed.
3. Decide HOW you want to "do the laundry."  Some people pick one day a week - a Monday or Saturday - and make it laundry day.  That day, they wash, dry, fold, iron, and put away all of the laundry for the week.  Some people don't like to have it take an entire day and choose instead to do a load as they have a full load to do - to stay on top of it, start to finish, a little bit at a time.  Some people get energy discounts from their power company for doing laundry at night and on weekends, so they take advantage of that.  Whatever your preferred method, MAKE IT A METHOD!  Make it consistent!  Make it something that your family can count on and help make happen.
4. Have a basket for each person in the family . . . OR . . . have one basket for the parents, one for the children, and one for everything else. Then you aren't making multiple trips to each room in the house to put things away.  
5. Make it a family affair - teach your children responsibility from the beginning.  My toddlers - age 2+ - can put away their clothes.  My Pre-Schoolers are learning to fold their own clothes.  As your children get older, have them pick up their basket of clothes when they get home from school (better still - have them fold/iron AND put away their clothes themselves - so Mom is just sorting and distributing clean clothes in baskets; children are learning to work and take care of them).

What other tips have you found for/used in making the endless laundry piles a lot more manageable? 

Of course, there is always the question of how to make LESS laundry.  But that's another topic! :-)

I Like to Ride My Bicycle

Okay - this is NOT a picture of my family on a bike ride today.  In order to BE a picture of my family on a bike ride today, the man and woman would have to switch places, the woman in front would have to be 8 months pregnant, and the trailer behind would have to hold two.  THEN you would have our beautiful family bike ride today! :-)  But since I have NO WAY of capturing that on film, this is the next best thing.

We rode for probably 8 miles today.  I was SO PROUD of my twins as they took turns on the tandem bike.  Almost from the moment we left our house, my 4-y-o daughter was telling her twin brother, "Guess what?  Me and Mommy are going to BEAT you on our bike ride today!"  And that was the theme of our ride - with my 2-year-old chiming in with whomever was loudest and/or riding in the bike trailer with her when Daddy occasionally passed Mommy.

But what stood out to me the most was how GOOD it felt to be OUT together!  We weren't spending money, we weren't doing things that took a lot of prep work.  We were just out in nature, riding over the fallen Autumn leaves, past the smelly cows and beautiful horses and fields, over the bumpy bridges, down the hills, up the hills, having the BEST time together!  We laughed and reminisced.  We talked about the future and baby names.  We dreamed about living in the houses in our favorite neighborhoods along the route.  The kids chimed in and added that we were going to have horses and chickens and . . . . We just truly ENJOYED each other!

So many people are intent on giving their kids what they never had.  My husband and I realized today that we are no different . . . and today, we gave our children something we didn't have much growing up and would have LOVED more of.  Then I started to think about ALL the things we gave them today:

• We gave them a family outing that got us all some GREAT exercise (without the word exercise ever coming up in our minds or theirs)!  
• We gave them a family tradition of spending time together that doesn't cost money.  
• We passed onto them our family value of appreciating,enjoying, and meditating in nature. 
• We left our cell phones home and gave them the example of getting unplugged for family - that THEY are absolutely the MOST important things to us.  
• We gave them a MEMORY that they will never forget . . . and will be such a part of them that they really won't remember when it started.

Some things really are - above everything else - simply about TIME!

Health: It's a Matter of "DO"-ing

How many times in life do we need a shift in thinking - a change in our focus? EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. OVER. HERE. LOL! And we hope that you will find those shifts in thinking for yourselves here at The Mommy 15. 

Today, I wanted to talk briefly about a shift in thinking about food.  So often, people tell you what you shouldn't eat.  Don't eat sugar, don't eat carbs, don't eat processed foods, don't eat after 7:00 at night, whatever it might be.  It's generally focused around DON'TS.

But it has been my experience that when I focus on the DO'S instead of the DON'TS, I get a lot farther and feel a lot better.  Check this out:

Most of us grew up with the Food Guide Pyramid, which we may - or may not - have paid enough attention to that we could actually talk about it, quote from it, etc.  HOWEVER, with the obesity and downward trends in health in the United States today compared to even 50 years ago, the government has revised the food guide pyramid to show us simply a PLATE and what should be on that plate at each meal:
 

If you take a salad-sized plate and divide it in half - on one half, you should have 1/2 grains (about 1/2 of a cup of most grains) and 1/2 protein (3-4 ounces).  On the other half, you should have 1/4 fruit (a small apple, 1/2 cup of other fruits) and 3/4 vegetables (1 cup raw, 1/2 cup steamed).  And then add in a side of dairy.  For small children, the same visual applies, the plate - and therefore the servings - would just be smaller/adjusted accordingly.  It's GENIUS, really!


If you look at the MyPlate.gov guidelines, American people should be the healthiest people alive!  Why aren't we?  Because we just don't sit down and DO what our bodies need us to do in order to protect them!  We don't like it when someone says that we shouldn't eat this or drink that because our bodies, quite frankly, are so used to being UNhealthy that they crave the things that make us fat, sick, unable to think clearly, and unhappy.

But - since it can be overwhelming to think of all the changes we need to make when we focus on cleaning out our cupboards and re-visiting our pantries and fridges, think instead of what you SHOULD eat in a day and start ADDING those things to your diet.  And once you get all of the "DO" things in, know what?  You probably won't WANT the "DON'TS" because your body will be so SATISFIED by what it has eaten!

Here's a little DIY Activity I made up in college that really helped me - and it's something you can get the ENTIRE family involved in:
1) Take two regular-sized envelopes and tape the backs together so that the openings are facing out and open. Don't tape the flaps together, just the backs.
2) In a document, create a word strip for every serving of food you SHOULD eat in each meal for the entire day.  Do a little research for each member of your family - the recommended amounts are based on age, gender, and physical activity.  For example, a 25-year-old female needs 2 cups of fruit a day, so since 1/2 cup is one serving, she would have four strips of paper that each said "fruit" on them. She also needs 2 1/2-3 cups of vegetables a day.  So three strips of paper that each said "vegetable" on them.
3) Below the opening on one envelope, write the word "EAT" or "DO"; on the opening of the other envelope, write the word "ATE" or "DONE".
4) Place all of the word strips in the "EAT" side.
5) As you plan and eat meals throughout the day, move ALL of your word strips to the "ATE" side BEFORE you eat anything NOT in the envelope.
6) Hang the envelope on the refrigerator so you remember and can easily access it when you are hungry/want to eat something.

You can have each family member decorate their envelope however they want - and even their strips of paper, so they won't get lost.  I also laminated my strips of paper and covered my envelopes with tape so they would last longer.  It's a fun, easy way to switch the focus to what you are "DO"-ing instead of what you shouldn't be!

You can make it a family game - or a competition between you and your spouse or one of your children.

New Favorites

I have a few new favorite foods I wanted to share.

1) Chicken Fajita Salad.  I take 3 oz of chicken and 1/6 of an onion, 1/3 of a green pepper, 1/3 of a red pepper and dice it all up.  Then I cook it all together with cooking spray until it's pretty tender and stir in one serving of the Fajita seasoning mix with the LOWEST amount of Sodium from my grocery store (McCormick in my grocery store - but I don't know what it would be in yours).  Then take a mixture of salad greens - romaine, iceberg, Spring mix, etc. - and chop it into really fine pieces.  Think shreds of lettuce on your favorite enchilada.  Add the chicken fajita mixture to the salad and mix it all together.  VIOLA!!!  I honestly probably use four cups of salad to that one serving of chicken fajita.  You can also put the chicken fajita mixture in a whole wheat/low carb tortilla with a tsp. of sour cream - hold the cheese - and add a low fat dressing to your greens.  Or you can take the entire salad and put it in a whole wheat/low carb tortilla with a tsp. of sour cream.  Delicious way to get your veggies in when you are NOT in the mood for a salad! *Note: I make up a whole bunch of the fajita mix ahead of time and freeze it.  Then when I want a salad - I get the mix out of my freezer, cook it on the stove, add the seasoning mix, and I'm set for a FAST lunch or late dinner when I don't have time or energy to make anything else.  It's awesome!

2) Banana smoothie.  I place a medium-sized, medium-ripe banana and 1/2 cup of nonfat milk in my blender.  Then add a dash of nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon (careful with the nutmeg - a little goes a LONG way; go to town with the cinnamon, as much as you like).  Blend together.  Add in some ice chunks and blend that together until smooth and VIOLA!  I'm telling you - this is an AMAZING snack!  When I can't get my kids to eat anything else, I add in a small scoop of protein powder and sometimes a little fiber one plain cereal - they drink it RIGHT up!  And I'm not fighting them at the table for an hour to get them to eat their dinner and/or waking up to screaming, hungry two-year-olds in the middle of the night.  Win/win situations are my SAVING grace!

3) Yogurt and cottage cheese.  My mom used to make this fruit/jello salad.  You take some fruit cocktail and mix it into cool whip and then add a package of unprepared jello.  I am sure you have had this in MANY forms.  But the calories and SUGAR in this salad -- um, through the roof, even for a small serving.  So I reformed it: Get 6 oz of low or non-fat plain or vanilla yogurt, add 1/4-1/2 cup of cottage cheese, and mix in a serving of Crystal Light.  You get the same flavor/texture as my mom's old fruit salad jello mix but without all the extra sugar and junk.  And the cottage cheese and yogurt combined give you a good dose of protein while still getting some calcium in your meal.  It's so good my two-year-olds LOVE it!  A perfect pre-bed snack!

Fitness Challenge

I know I have been M.I.A. for a while now.  But I have had a surge of energy and new ideas for how to utilize this blog to help people, myself included, in our daily quest to meet our weight loss New Year's Resolutions and focus simultaneously on raising healthy, active, amazing kids.  So get ready and check back often - cuz I promise I will be here and will have something worth the precious time you take from your family to read it!

For today, let me tell you about a challenge I am taking and hope you will, too.

MapMyRun is a site I joined when I was training for a half-marathon last December.  And I LOVE it!  They just sent me an invitation to join in one of four 30-Day challenges to kick off the New Year and resolutions across the globe.  The four challenges are:
1) A Commit to Fit challenge (15 workouts in 30 days)
2) A Run challenge (30 miles in 30 days)
3) A Bike challenge (100 miles in 30 days)
4) A Walk challenge (26.2 miles - yes, a full marathon - in 30 days)

Whatever your resolutions or goals, you can easily participate in one of these challenges AND BE ENTERED TO WIN SOME GREAT PRIZES along the way.  In fact, I think most of these things, broken down into daily goals, could be accomplished in 15 minute increments throughout the day!  What a great way to start the new year.  Grab a friend or two, form a group, hook up the new Wii (or dust off the one you haven't used for a while) and get MOVING!!!  Include your children, your spouse, your sister, your mom, whoever. Then check off one resolution completed and get motivated for more.  Cuz 2011 is a year for MORE!

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This is an amazing pizza dough crust for some FIVE STAR fun! Pizza is NO LONGER OFF LIMITS -- as long as you exercise some limits in portion control on the toppings.

INGREDIENTS

* 1/2 tsp white sugar
* 1/2 cup + 1 Tbl & 2 tsp lukewarm water
* 1-1/4 tsp active dry yeast
* 1-1/4 tsp olive oil
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 3/4 cup + 2 Tbl and 1 tsp whole wheat flour
* 1/2 cup all purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the all-purpose flour and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled (or Pam-sprayed) bowl and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
(I learned in my bread-making days that you can also turn the oven on to 150 for about 10 minutes and then turn it off and place your dough in there to rise -- cuts the rising time in half!)
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 4 pieces for 4 individual pizzas, or leave whole to make one crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well-oiled pizza pan (or lightly-sprayed pizza stone or cast-iron ware). Top pizza with your favorite toppings.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

Nutritional Information
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Calories: 167
Total Fat: 2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 236mg
Total Carbs: 33g
Dietary Fiber: 5g
Protein: 6g

Last night we did this for Family Night and it was a HUGE success. Our toppings were garlic spaghetti sauce, grilled chicken, fresh tomatoes, pineapple, olives, spices, and cheese. Each person got to make their own pizza, which added an individual touch to each and some real family fun and fun discussions as we created our dinners and then enjoyed eating them together. I measured out serving sizes of each food to not go overboard, and it was PERFECT!!! Just the right amount of food for a satisfying dinner with NO temptations to eat just ONE MORE PIECE of pizza!

ENJOY!!!!

Sugar, Sugar --- Oh Honey, Honey

One of our polls asked what was most difficult to change in your diet. The number one answer was cutting out sugar. So I thought I would post a few ideas and ask for your feedback.

1) Try switching to sugar free. I actually can't believe I just typed that, since I have been anti the taste of sugar free for YEARS!!! I could taste it in ANYTHING!!!! And it always left the most disgusting after-taste in my mouth. HOWEVER . . . . things have changed. Food scientists have come a long way with some things, and there are actually sugar-free products I prefer now to the regular stuff. Some of my favorites:
--- Bryer's No Sugar Added Vanilla Ice Cream
--- A&W Diet Root Beer
--- First Two Comined for an AMAZING Root Beer Float
--- Swiss Miss Sensible Sweets No Sugar Added Hot Chocolate
--- Cook and Serve Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding
--- Laughing Cow Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches
--- Weight Watchers Smart Ones Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Cups
--- Weight Watchers Oreo Ice Cream Bars
--- Dannon's 80 Calorie Yogurt cups with 1/4 cup of Fiber One

For the last few months I have had a REALLY hard time saying no to sweets -- I LOVE THEM TOO MUCH!!! But I have been surprised to see that when I allowed myself these few simple, sugar-free sweets every day, I felt less guilty. And slowly but surely, I find myself not really wanting them as much. That's FANTASTIC, right?

I think the trick here is to choose healthier options while waiting for my body to balance itself out. I'm still not to a point where I use Sugar Substitutes in things like Oatmeal or baking. That just ISN'T me. And, yes, some of these things are a little more pricey (which helps to not get them so much, right?). BUT, I allowed myself that splurge for a while to keep myself from feeling deprived and just giving up or binging on things that I wanted but couldn't have. And, as I said, I have been surprised to notice that I don't crave them as much.

2) Choose fruit first. You have to be a little careful with this one because you don't want to eat one thing when you are really craving another; you'll just have added calories from the first and over-indulge on the second. But if you can first eat fruit, you may find your post-meal sweet tooth is actually okay with it and doesn't need anything else.

3) Set small limitations. For example, you may not quit sweets cold-turkey. That probably won't lead to success for you. HOWEVER, you can start with small things like limiting yourself to one or two portions. Or maybe all you need to do is decide to look at the nutrition information of everything you eat BEFORE you eat it. That's a cup of ice water in my face sometimes; and the shock alone is enough to stop me when I think about how long I'd have to run to run off that tiny little splurge. Again, slow and steady wins the race. And you might just find yourself NOT craving sweets as much as you thought you would or have previously done.

4) Use portion sizes of sweeteners. For example, I eat oatmeal pretty much every morning, without fail. I used to add sugar to the point that it was like, "Do you want some oatmeal with that sugar?" Now I just add one tablespoon of brown sugar to my bowl of oatmeal and I'm just fine with it! I had to get to that point. But now that I'm there -- VIOLA!!! It's not even a question anymore.

5) Choose fresh over dried EVERY TIME. If you have a sweet tooth and are going to eat fruit, go for fresh fruit instead of dried fruit. Dried just doesn't have the same nutritional value and the sugar in it is so incredibly concentrated. Eating either one will give you that sweet taste in your mouth, so go for fresh.

6) If you don't make or buy it, you won't eat it! If you need help with this, call in the reserves: family, room-mates, friends, etc. Or if you want to make something because you are really craving it, call a friend and make it at their house. Make sure you have an alternate activity going on (like games or a movie or something outside), then you can eat just one and walk away to join the activity. OR you can take the plate of goodies TO the activity and steal one before serving everyone else. AND you can leave all the left-overs with them to find a way to dispose of them.

The Food Guide Pyramid: A Family Affair

In the spirit of Sue's post last week about helping your children make good choices, I wanted to add something that I have been thinking about and give some family involvement ideas for how to implement it.

We all know the Food Guide Pyramid, right? We learned about it in school; it's on every box of cereal we eat and a foundation for the nutrition information given on other things we eat. Did you know, however, that you can MAKE A CUSTOMIZED Food Guide Pyramid for yourself and your family members at mypyramid.gov? You can! It takes into account your age, height, weight, gender, etc. and customizes a Food Guide Pyramid to your specifications.

Then, as if that wasn't cool enough, you can also prepare a menu by clicking on the My Pyramid Menu Planner link. This will bring up the foods you eat and make a bar graph for you to track how much you are getting of each food category vs. how much you SHOULD be getting.

As if THAT wasn't cool enough, there is also a link for Preschool-age kids. SO . . . basically, you can create an individual Pyramid for EACH MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY!

Here's another idea for including your children so that you are teaching THEM how to eat healthily and MAKE GOOD CHOICES and FORM GOOD HABITS:

Take two mailing envelopes and tape them back-to-back (placing the flaps inside or outside; it really doesn't matter -- though I prefer inside).
Next, take a permanent marker and write on the outside of one of them "OPTIONS" or "CHOICES" and on the opposite envelope "DONE."
Then make a slip of paper for each of the required amounts of the different categories of food. So, you might have three slips of paper that say "FRUIT" and three or so pieces that say "VEGETABLE," etc.
Place all of the slips of paper in the "OPTIONS" side of the envelopes.
Add a magnet to the "DONE side of the envelope and hang it on your refrigerator.

As you go throughout the day, choose things from the front of your envelope and then move them to the back (the DONE side). At the end of the day, see how well you did. You can do this with your children to help them start to think in terms of variety and nutrition and making healthy choices. You might even have an "OTHER" treat for when they have emptied their "OPTIONS" envelope by the end of the day or make it a game in some other way.

Pretty cool, eh?