March 28, 2012 at 10:31 pm , by Nick Shell

16 months.

This week there has been a lot of negative buzz going on about a writer for Vogue magazine who reacted to her 7 year-old daughter’s obesity by placing her on an unforgiving, calorie-counting diet. (At 4 feet, 4 inches tall, her daughter weighed 93 pounds, placing her in the 99^th percentile for her age; about 30 pounds overweight.)

I’m not even going to try to be neutral on this subject and end this article with, “What you do think, readers? Did this mom do the right thing?”

Because it’s this simple: The way this mom handled her daughter on a diet was illegitimate and a horrible example for her daughter. I’m not questioning her moral character, but her technique; because I believe it needs to be questioned:

“I once reproachfully deprived Bea of her dinner after learning that her observation of French Heritage Day at school involved nearly 800 calories of Brie, filet mignon, baguette, and chocolate. I stopped letting her enjoy Pizza Fridays when she admitted to adding a corn salad as a side dish one week.”

And I know, in American’s modern day parenting culture, it’s taboo to criticize another person’s parenting style; especially a woman’s, especially coming from a man’s perspective, especially in regards to dieting.

But I don’t care. Here’s my beef:

Weiss would restrict her daughter from enjoying birthday cakes at parties. She would not allow her to eat dinner if she had already consumed her daily amount of calories for the day. And then when he daughter finally lost the weight, she was rewarded her with new dresses.

Yikes. Not cool, Zeus.

I am extremely against counting calories in the name of losing weight. It sends the message that it’s okay to eat lunch from a fast food drive-thru as long as you make up for it by only eating celery sticks for dinner. That’s not a healthy approach.

It places the emphasis on “not being fat” as opposed to actually caring about being healthy. It focuses on superficial image instead of quality of life.

So what’s the magical alternative?

Nix soda and drinks with sugar added. Instead, drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Replace all white bread and pasta with wheat.

Reduce meat intake to 4 ounces per day.

For snacks, cut up actual pieces of fruit.

Make a point to include fresh vegetables in every dinner.

Whenever you’re hungry, eat; granted that it’s included the items listed above.

Enjoy dessert; just not everyday.

Go for a 25 minute walk everyday.

This is how I lost and have kept off my 25 pounds. This is how I helped my supervisor recently lose 33 pounds, so far. It’s a lifestyle change; not a diet, at all.

Most importantly, as a parent, we set the example for our kids. They learn from us, more than anyone else when it comes to nutrition and an active lifestyle.

Okay, so is anyone as fiery mad as I am about this?

Or instead, is there anyone out there willing to stand up for Weiss’s approach?

February 8, 2012 at 6:26 am , by Nick Shell

14 months.

I have to admit. Part of me is trying to figure out if I’m some kind of prophet or something…

On January 15th I published an article here about why I despise red food dye. Then a week later, on the 21st, I did one questioning where chicken nuggets come from, referencing that now infamous “pink slime” picture we all recognize and attribute to McDonald’s.

Turns out, last week on February 1st, Yahoo News published a very popular article entitled, “McDonald’s confirms that it’s no longer using ‘pink slime’ chemical in hamburgers.” The author, Eric Pfeiffer, covered the topic of the mystery of processed meat and even mentioned red food dye, just as I did in my articles.

What does this mean? It means we as Americans, and we as parents of children, are officially questioning where our food comes from. We care now. The Eighties are over, sadly.

But it’s not just about questioning where our meat and food dye comes from. It’s about where all of our food comes from. And the real reason we’re having to ask this question to begin with is because, according to the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, over 60% of the average American’s diet consists of processed foods.

In other words, the majority of the food we eat has been… messed with. And it only makes sense that the more processed a food becomes, the less nutritional value it can have.

So while it’s important to ask what’s in our food, it’s even more crucial to find out how to avoid processed foods as much as possible.

Fortunately, this “food prophet” is willing to part the red sea of processed foods (receiving its color thanks to Red 40 and Crimson Lake) which maintains its perfect consistency thanks to sodium lauryl sulfate.

Today I bring to you the 5 commandments of avoiding processed foods:

1. Nix fast food. Fast food is nothing but processed food. From mysterious meats to white bread buns to soda to wash it down, fast food restaurants are the epitome of what processed food is.

2. Only eat foods with 7 ingredients or less. The higher the number of ingredients it takes to make a food, the better chance you’re going to see ingredients you can’t pronounce; meaning you have no idea what they are. Should we really be eating something with mysterious ingredients? The FDA doesn’t care, but I do.

3. Recognize high fructose corn syrup as the most obvious dead-giveaway. When genetically modified corn is turned into sweetener for ketchup, hot dogs, and the buns we put them on, we begin to question whether or not our meal really needs to be that sweet and so likely to give us Diabetes.

4. Avoid buying any food that comes with “microwave instructions.” I think subconsciously, we realize that cooking food alongside radiation is something we should avoid. So what does it say about a food that was designed to be prepared this way? Probably not something to make a habit of.

5. Prepare as much of each meal as possible yourself. The idea is to use the freshest ingredients possible. After all, the healthiest foods you can eat don’t even have a nutritional label on them at all; nor are they as convenient as the canned, microwavable version.

Image: An opened can of bite sized sausage, via Shutterstock.

 

December 30, 2011 at 10:39 pm , by Nick Shell

13 months.

I am my kid’s own soup Nazi.

In South Korea, people really do eat dogs. If you need a visual, check out my personal Facebook page and look in my photo album called “Uncensored Korean Files” to see a dog deli I photographed while I was teaching there.

Here in America we eat pigs, which are just as cuddly as dogs and arguably more intelligent, but we’re okay with that because for whatever cultural reasons, we Americans know that it’s somehow uncivilized and morally wrong to kill and eat a dog, but not a pig.

Similarly, we as individual family units live by our own quirky food limitations. A few weeks ago on Facebook, I posted this as my status for my 871 friends to respond:

“Alright parents, I have a very personal question to ask you for something I’m writing for Parents.com. Where do you cross the line on what you will and will not allow your kid to eat? For example, how much fast food is too much? Any particular foods you just don’t want them eating? What about when you’re not around, like if your kid is at a friend’s sleep-over?”

Out of the 24 comments I received in a 24 hour period, the overall consensus was “everything in moderation.” However, the variable I noticed in their comments is what we all consider to be normal in our everyday eating habits. And that’s sort of the whole point of what I was asking.

For example, for some, it was no fast food. For others, it was no meat that isn’t organic. Or no caffeine or no sodas. And then there’s me, the hard-core vegetarian of the group who didn’t bother to mention the long list of things I won’t allow my own kid to eat.

We all know that cancer, Diabetes, and obesity rates are radically higher than they were a 150 years ago before we as humans we introduced to highly processed foods and began eating them in the majority of our meals. So now we as parents want to protect our kids by making deliberate dietary decisions for them.

So here’s what I say: Let us all be weird in our own weird ways when it comes to what “unhealthy” foods we won’t allow our kids to eat.

I’m past the point of worrying that I might hurt someone’s feelings when they try to feed my son something that isn’t on “Dad’s list” of approved foods.

Maybe I err a bit on the radical side, but so what? My kid’s not going to starve nor be malnourished if I have a say in it. He just may be a bit deprived as an American kid who doesn’t get to experience the joy of chicken nuggets like all the normal kids. He’ll be okay.

It’s not that we all as parents are necessarily judging each other for what the other does or does not let their kid eat. Well heck, if I’m judging anyone for that reason, it would be me. I’m more than willing to label myself as the wacko dad here.

But hey, we all draw the line somewhere when it comes to what we won’t let our kid eat.

What about you? Where do you draw the line?

Top image: Kid with snack, via Shutterstock. Bottom image: Two kids and chips snack, via Shutterstock.