Give Your Family a Health Makeover
Have you ever wished that ketchup were considered a vegetable? It would ease so much parental guilt.
The issue of family nutrition is ripe for guilt. The choices we as parents make have a direct effect on the health of each member of our family. Yet our daily life routine can make it difficult to create healthy mealtimes and habits. Still, until our kids reach a certain age, we are responsible for helping them make the choices that will guide them through adulthood.
Here are fourteen tips for giving your family a health makeover.
1. Do a Body Mass Index (BMI) check. Is everyone in your family at an optimal weight? Find out by using a BMI calculator (which you can find by doing a simple Google search for “BMI Calculator.” Enter the height and weight of each family member. Take a minute to talk about healthy weight and height and all the benefits of living a healthy life, from improved energy to the decreased likelihood of certain diseases. Make a plan together to help everyone get to his or her optimal weight in the months to come. There are lots of support networks and diets online that can help you achieve this end, for people of ages.
2. Write down your goals. As a family, write down what each person pledges to do in the coming weeks and months to become a healthier person. It is best to start with one or two specific goals. If you choose too many things at first, you are more likely to become overwhelmed and quit. Small changes can lead to big differences in your life.
3. Make your health goals into a family game. Talk about the healthy choices each person made each day. Reward these choices on a daily or weekly basis.
4. Cut down on soft drinks. Replace one or two sugary soft drinks or energy drinks each day with water. You can add a splash of lemon or lime juice if it helps make plain water more palatable at first. Once you start drinking a lot of water, you will begin to crave it, and you will no longer feel like the sugary drinks do much to quench your thirst.
5. Drink more water. A good rule of thumb is to drink one-half ounce of water for every pound of body weight. Calculate out how much water each person in your family should be drinking each day. Once you are hydrated, you may find that you sleep better and are better able to keep your moods on an even keel, too.
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6. Eat breakfast together. Enjoying a family mealtime is a great way to stay emotionally connected. Start your day with the family by eating a nutritious breakfast. Make sure to include some form of lean protein to help you maximize your energy.
7. Exercise together. Think of ways you can combine family togetherness with exercise. Take a walk together in the evenings, and go sledding or bicycling on the weekend.
8. Is there anywhere you can walk instead of drive as a family? Or consider taking your bikes.
9. Subscribe to healthy living magazines and encourage everyone to read about the latest research on how nutrition affects our lives, and stay motivated to exercise and live a healthy, fit life. A good fitness magazine can be tremendously motivating.
10. Cut down on your television. If you do watch TV, watch it together as a family and use the programming as spark for family conversations.
11. Turn off the TV when you eat breakfast or dinner together. Without the accompaniment of TV or radio, you’ll be more aware of what you are eating, and how much you are eating. Plus, you will be able to more closely bond with your family during the meal. Start each meal with a ritual conversation starter. “What was the best thing about your day?” is a great one.
12. In addition to TV time, try limiting video games and computer time, too. Plan a family game night with a favorite board game. Do household chores together. Join an organized sports league.
13. Make healthy alternatives readily available. Set a bowl of fresh fruit on the kitchen counter, as well as bowl of carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas and raw broccoli.
14. Go easy on yourself. Remember that the example you set will be followed by your children. One of the most important methods for creating a healthy family is to make your health and fitness a priority by staying active and making nutritious food choices, and they likely will, too.
Jamie Jefferson
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/give-your-family-a-health-makeover-86840.html
In the film- Lars and the Real Girl, which mental health disorder would Lars classify under?
If your haven’t seen the movie here is a quick description of it.
Lars Lindstrom lives in the converted garage behind the house he and his brother Gus inherited from their father. His pregnant sister-in-law Karin’s persistent attempts to lure him into the house for a family meal are usually rebuffed, and on the rare occasions he accepts, their conversation is stilted and he seems eager to leave as soon as he can. The young man finds it difficult to interact with or relate to his family, co-workers, or fellow parishioners in the church he regularly attends. Margo, Lars’ co-worker is clearly interested, but he runs silently from her at every chance he gets.
One day Lars happily announces to Gus and Karin he has a visitor he met via the Internet, a wheelchair-bound missionary of Brazilian and Danish descent named Bianca. The two are startled to discover Bianca is in fact a lifelike doll Lars ordered from an adult website. Concerned about his mental health, they convince Lars to take Bianca to Dagmar, the family doctor who is also a psychologist. Dagmar diagnoses Bianca with low blood pressure and advises Lars he needs to bring her in for weekly treatments, during which she will attempt to analyze him and get to the root of his behavior. She explains to Gus and Kari that this is a delusion of his own creation and for his own reason and purpose, and she urges them to assist with Lars’ therapy by treating Bianca as if she were a real woman.
It is discovered that Lars’ mother died during his birth, causing his father to change dramatically. These issues pushed Gus to leave home as soon as possible, leaving Lars to deal with a distant, heartbroken father alone. They also give Lars an almost debilitating fear in having children that even Dagmar can’t calm easily. Although Lars is responsible in every sense of the word for himself and now Bianca, his pain and discomfort is evidenced by the baby blanket he carries in almost every scene. He also is almost allergic to any kind of intimacy, including touch. Bianca sleeps alone in "the pink room" (a guest room in the house), while Lars still sleeps in the converted garage.
As time passes, Lars begins to introduce Bianca as his girlfriend to his co-workers and various townspeople. Due to their care and concern for Lars, everyone treats Bianca as a real person, and she soon finds herself involved in volunteer programs, getting a makeover from the local beautician, and working part-time as a model in a clothing store. Due to their acceptance of Bianca, Lars soon finds himself interacting more with people. During this time Margo has begun to date another coworker, which over time begins to seemingly bother Lars.
Lars has a conversation with his brother during which he asks when he knew he had become a man and what being a man means. His brother’s explanation seems to reach Lars and his dependence on Bianca seems to immediately shift.
At work when a coworker with whom Margo has been playing pranks back and forth with goes a bit too far, Lars comforts her. During their conversation, Margo reveals she has broken up with her boyfriend. She invites him to go bowling, to which he mentions that he has to take Bianca to a school board meeting the same evening. He then accepts after mentioning that he can drop her off then go to the bowling alley. The two spend a pleasant evening together along with some other townsfolk. During an uncomfortable silence at the evening’s end Lars is quick to remind Margo he could never cheat on Bianca. Although obviously disappointed, Margo replies that the thought never crossed her mind. As they part ways, Lars takes his glove off to shake Margo’s hand and they have a moment when their hands are clasped.
One morning soon after, Lars announces that Bianca is unresponsive, and she’s rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Once there, he tells his family the prognosis isn’t good, and that Bianca would like to be brought home. The news spreads through town, and everyone whose life has been touched by Bianca sends flowers or sits with Lars at the Lindstrom home. Gus and Karin ask Dagmar why this is happening and she reveals that it is all Lars’ own doing. They suggest that Lars and Bianca join them for a visit to the lake. While the couple is hiking, Lars kisses Bianca for the first time, and shortly after tells his brother and sister-in-law that Bianca has passed away.
Bianca is given a funeral, at which all the townspeople attend. After Bianca is buried, Lars and Margo linger at the grave site and his acceptance of his past has made him a whole man. When Margo states that they should catch up with everyone else, Lars asks her to take a walk, which she cheerfully accepts.
Great film, I love it
I think it’s said in the film that he has a delusional disorder…?
But I’m not how he would be classified, when he doesn’t ‘have’ Bianca. Possibly Schizoid Personality Disorder?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizoid_personality_disorder
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