Last year, I remember my au pair (who is from China and taught at a Montessouri Kindergarten there) was appalled and amazed at how much candy my daughter (three years old then turning four) brought home from preschool. It was not just at Halloween but also Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter... you name it! Every month there was an "excuse" to party and bring home a ton of candy. I confiscated most of it but after a few times I saw empty wrappers in her bag. She probably caught on and started eating them before I got to them! So I then had to tell the preschool teacher to please not let her eat candy until I can ration them to her at home.
Now the other day, coming home from the beach we swung by Burger King for drive-through lunch. It was fast and convenient and cheap. We normally do not eat fast food... so when I got my hands on my whopper, it was like this huge treat! I also ate up the fries that came with it and I have to tell you... for a few hours afterwards I really felt very sick. I'm not sure if everyone experiences this but I really felt lethargic and just "blah". Dr Hyman mentioned in his article that you have to run 4 miles every day for a week to work off one fast food meal. Hahahaha... I actually made myself swim like 20 laps that day because I was feeling so 'yuck'. But you know the funny thing is.. here I am a few days out and I'm thinking about that whopper and fries and actually craving it! It is so addictive!
Anyways, we get bombarded with the message "eat healthy" but I really do believe it makes a huge difference not only in our overall longterm health but also day to day emotional well-being... to both kids and adults! Now childhood diabetes and obesity is on the rise in our country... a topic for another entry...
