Raising Healthy Eaters with Sara Fins
On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Sara Fins, a certified health coach and mom of two. I feel like she and I are really aligned on what we do: helping busy moms create a healthier life through doable changes (without spending a ton of time or money). We talk about how Sara gets her kids to be healthy eaters and how she helps other parents bring more healthy eating to their families.
One of the things we need to do is model healthy eating. Sara starts out telling parents that this isn’t a quick fix. But as kids see you eating something again and again, they start to get curious, and they want to try what you are doing.
Another thing we’re trying to instill in our kids is to listen to how their body feels. Sometimes that means letting them have things that we don’t think of as healthy and letting them see what that feels like. As they get older and have more control, we have to hope they’ve learned from our modeling and reminders to listen to their body and do what feels right for them.
We talk about:
- Offering healthy options—and choosing them ourselves
- How to handle birthday parties (and why)
- Learning to cook through “layering” experience if you don’t even know the basics
- How to get kids involved in the kitchen
- Why meal planning and meal prep make healthy eating more doable
- The importance of eating with your kids
Doable Changes
OFFER A CONSISTENT HEALTHY OPTION. Whether you are just starting to feed your kids, working with picky eaters, or trying to make a shift from eating a lot of processed foods, offering something healthy consistently helps. Serve carrot sticks with every meal along with whatever other veggies you have.
TRY COOKING ONE THING NEW. Whatever your confidence level in the kitchen, pick something that seems doable and try it. If you can make a salad, try making your own dressing. If you have cooked a chicken, try making chicken soup. Trial and error isn’t a bad way to learn to cook. You can take classes to get new ideas and techniques, but there is a lot you can learn by just getting in the kitchen and attempting to put a simple meal on the table.
MAKE A MEAL PLAN. Creating a meal plan means you come into each meal knowing what you need to do and knowing you have what you need. No more getting derailed by poor planning. A meal plan doesn’t have to be complicated. It can include cooking a big batch of rice and a big batch of beans early in the week and using them in different ways. It can mean breakfast for dinner. Think simple, but plan.
ABOUT
Sara Fins received her training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City and is certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. She teaches busy moms to feed themselves and their families better through manageable, practical steps without spending hours in the kitchen or tons of money at the grocery store.
