Marc Wellness International Blog

“Can I please have some ideas for quick family dinners, as I often struggle for meal ideas that are quick and easy?” Karen, Fairfield It is important when making quick family dinners to also ensure they are healthy! Here are a few ideas: - Grilled chicken or fish (with fresh lemon and herbs) served with a mixed salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, avocado - Grilled chicken or fish with cous cous or rice and boiled vegetables or mashed potato - Stir Fry -  (use a spray or some water instead of oil) Chicken Stir fry with green vegetables such as bok choy, zucchini, broccoli and celery, carrots, onion with noodles and oyster sauce - Frozen dinners – pre-make meals then freeze them such as cook spaghetti sauce and freeze it or a pot of soup with vegetables on the weekend and pull it out to defrost for a quick family dinner during the week. - Pizza – buy a pizza base and add your own toppings such as ham, low fat cheese, tomato, spinach - Steamed fish with mashed potato and salad - Omelets with ham, cheese and tomato and salad - Tacos with mince or beans filled with lettuce, avocado, corn, tomato - Grilled chicken with spaghetti - Smoked Salmon and egg salad with crispy herb bread Happy Cooking!  Richard & Joey Marc

I read an article on the weekend “The Lunchbox Nazis”, it was talking about a new health initative implemented into some day care centres which is trying to help combat childhood obesity. But parents are in fury over some of the strategies used in the program with one parent saying “It’s basically a diet they are putting them on and I don’t want my three-year-old children on a diet”

But the program director Colin Bell from Good For Kids, Good For Life defended the initiative saying it was to promote healthy eating - “Our Surveys in the Hunter New England found that, of those children that responded around 18% of pre-school age children were overweight or obese” he said

After reading the article I thought the initiative seems to have it’s heart in the right spot, trying to help educate parents with healthy food options for their children but on the other hand the article stated “The government initative requires childcare staff to conduct lunchbox audits to ensure parents comply with strict food policies”

Interesting strategy I thought but is it really an effective one? Is that going to be realistic and work long term? But parents are outraged as they believe they should be allowed to give their children whatever foods they want. With one mother saying “Recommending healthy food options was one thing, but “lunchbox nazis” limiting a child’s fruit intake was going too far”.

What do you think? Is it a case of Lunchbox Nazis or an initiative caring for our kids? 

  This weeks question has been sent in from Rose, Castle Hill . 
 The food servings when eating out are often quite large and I want to know some tips about how to prevent eating larger food servings, especially when you are eating out. 
 

Hi Rose, thank you for submitting your question, here are some tips on how to avoid large food servings: 

 - Always look for the healthier option. Especially when eating out at a food court or restaurant. Look for the healthier meal and order the small or entrée size.
 - When ordering out, if the checkout person asks “Would you like to upsize/supersize for just $1 more?” say “NO”! Never choose the supersized option - even if it is more value of food for just $1 more!
 - Check the serving size of the plate. The size of the plate equals the size of the portion. People will eat what is on their plate even if they are not hungry. If it is a large serving, consider sharing it with a friend or family member.
 - Prepare and dish up the correct portion size of meals in the home. So there is no temptation to eat seconds. 
- What do I do if there is left overs from dinner? Put the left overs into a container for a meal the next day or freeze it for another time. Avoid scraping left overs on to the dinner plates as this creates extra food portions for dinner. 
 

Looking after your health, 

 Richard & Joey Marc

The Wellness Duo
 

PS. If you want more information about Portion Distortion check out our latest book “Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me”

Richard & Joey Marc

Many of us have heard the saying ”You are what you eat!” well here are two nutritionists turned filmmakers who are making a difference and spreading the word that Food really does Matter. James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch are the creators, directors and producers of the feature film ‘Food Matters’. 

Food Matters is a documentary film informing you on the best choices you can make for you and your family’s health. It seeks to uncover the business of disease and at the same time explore the safe, cheap and effective use of nutrition and supplementation for preventing and often curing the underlying causative aspects of our ills.

In a personal quest of discovery James & Laurentine together with a film crew and the editorial & production expertise of Enzo Tedeschi have set out on an independent mission to uncover the wholesome truth.

 Some of World’s Leading Authorities on Nutrition and Natural Healing  uncover the true cause of disease and what really works and what doesn’t.

“If we can help people become more aware of the choices available to them, they can start to reduce their reliance on the ‘sickness industry’. It’s about education not medication,” says James, “with access to solid information, people invariably make good choices for their health.”

Find out why Food Matters…view the trailer above, it looks to be a great film.

   Joey Marc 

How can I motivate my children to exercise? I have a 5 year old and a 8 year old and they like to play but prefer to play indoors on their video games. Melinda, Surfers Paradise   Be active yourself first! - If you want your children to become interested inexercise it is important for them to see you participating in activity.  Be a good role model - as a parent introduce family activities in the home, in the backyard or having fun at the local park or pool.   Show them - It is important to show your kids how to be active and play games or activities with them, show them how it is fun! Either play games at home like tip your in, frisbee, jumping on the trampoline or try taking the kids out to try something different like hiking, bike riding, rockclimbing, in-line skating. Take action - If you want your kids to be healthy, happy and then grow into adults with healthy habits, you need to take action and make activity part of your everyday lifestyle.     Rewards System -  Use a star chart system to keep the motivation going.The star chart system is where you write all the families name on a chart and reward your children with a star if they are for example keeping active through play, encouraging their siblings, interacting in sports or activities at school or home, eating their vegetables at dinner (this works particularly well with younger children).  I have a five year old who just started school this year should I put him on an exercise program to keep him fit and healthy? Ben, Palm Beach We prefer to use the word ‘activity’ rather then exercise when it comes to children. Kids need to be active, the benefits of being active include:increases skill development, balance and co-ordination, increase confidence and self esteem, builds strong muscles and bones, assists in healthy eating, great for socialization and making friends.  Children can be active through playing games and sports. What we need to remember is kids are not adults, so they don’t need to be on a cross trainer at a gym for an hour to gain exercise. For a five year old he should be getting outside and keeping active through sports and playing games like tip your in, stuck in the mud, throwing and catching a ball, riding bikes, kicking a football, hopscotch. Whatever sports or activities kids are interested in are the best ones to play with them at home or at a local park. Organised local club sports are also great for socialisation and skill development. For school aged children 60 minutes of planned physical activity and 60 minutes of active movement are recommended daily. Their activity can be broken up and doesn’t have to be done all at once. Such as planned activities, can be activities such as school sport, club sports, organized sports. Active movement are activities they can play with their friends at lunch, after school or active time at home.Have a wonderful weekend! Richard & Joey Marc 

Welcome to the first Friday Q & A Day! As promised we would dedicate a blog on Friday to answering questions “Parents want to know about childhood or family health and wellbeing”.

Thanks to all the parents who have submitted their questions. We have a bunch of emails that have come through with loads of questions and we hope to answer as many as possible through the following Fridays until the end of May.

Q: “What should I be putting in my kid’s lunchbox every day as a snack? At the moment I give them a piece of fruit, chips or a chocolate bar. I would like some more ideas of how I can get more healthier foods into their lunchbox and slowly get rid of the chocolates and chips. It is just really hard because that is what the kids want chips and chocolates. Thanks.” Janice, Wollongong Hi Janice,

Thank you for your question. It is important to place a variety of fruits and vegetables in the lunchbox on a daily basis. First of all it is great that you are placing a piece of fruit into their lunchbox. Here are some ideas of how you can include more fruits and vegetables in your kids lunchbox:

- Make it fun for the kids & easy to grab! Cut the fruit up into different shapes such as cubes, triangles or use cookie cutters to cut shapes. Just by cutting the fruit into pieces makes it easy for the kids to grab and eat, whilst also making it fun.  - Dunk & Dip! Cut up some cucumber, carrots or celery into small sticks and include cherry tomato. Then place all the vegetables into a container. In the middle of the container add a dip such as hommos or cheese. Make it fun for the kids and so they can dunk their food into the dip.  

- More than just cheese and crackers – When packing cheese and crackers as a snack option, opt for a cheese that you can cut yourself instead of pre-packaged. This way it gives you the freedom to choose a healthy cheese option and also to include add ons. Use a container from home and cut up some cheese and include cherry tomatoes, cucumber (cut into circles) and include crackers. That way the kids are getting more then just cheese and crackers. In regards to chips and chocolates, it is important to identify the difference between a treat and a habit. For example a chocolate bar that is included in the lunchbox on a daily basis equals 5 chocolates a week and that is not including any extra chocolate snacks after school or on the weekends. So if it is daily it is a habit. So it may take some adjusting at first but we would recommend chocolates or chips to be as an occasional treat in the lunchbox. Look for healthier snack options to include instead, such as fruit, yogurt with fresh strawberries, cheese and vegetables with crackers, homemade muffins, biscuits with vegemite and cheese, dunk and dip!

**Place your comments below to share with us some healthy lunchbox ideas you place in your kids lunchbox!** 

Q: “My kids don’t eat enough vegetables. I have a 6 year old and 3 year old, how can I possibly get them to eat more vegetables? I try to get them to eat vegetables at dinner but it always seems a struggle.” Anne, St KildaGreat question Anne. It is really important to ensure we encourage our kids to eat more vegetables and for them to know that vegetables as part of their daily diet and this is normal. We can do this by including vegetables in the diet on a daily basis through all meals.  Here are some ideas of how kids can eat more vegetables throughout the day and in general.

Firstly add some vegetables at lunch or as a snack:

- Mix it in a wrap! Make a wrap (or a sandwich), add your child’s favourite filler such as chicken or ham and mix some vegetables into it such as avocado as a spread instead of butter, grated carrot, lettuce, tomato, cucumber. Cut the wrap into small pieces which are easy to grab. - Make some muffins and add real fruit or vegetable ingredients such as grated carrot, mashed banana with sultanas, apple, apricot, pumpkin.

Add more veges at dinner:

Vegetable Soup Make a pot of vegetable soup (there is a recipe in a previous blog) and place the soup through the blender. That way the vegetables are mixed in the blender and when the soup is served the vegetables are definately there but not necessarily seen.

Pasta is another great meal where you can cut vegetables into small pieces and add it in the pasta sauce such as broccoli, carrot, celery, eggplant.

Make the vegetables fun on the dinner plate. Make a smily face with the vegetables such as the eyes are potato, nose is zucchini, mouth is corn and hair are peas! 

Add a side salad Make a side salad a common side dish at dinner. So it is something that children are use to. 

Cook the vegetables a different way Try cooking vegetables in a variety of different ways such as grilled or steamed adding different flavourings or toppings.

Grow your own - If you have a backyard, start a little vege garden. This is fun for the kids and interactive. They will learn about where vegetables come from and how they grow. Plus, they will also get to eat their vegetables once they are grown!

**We would love to hear some of the ideas and ways you encourage your kids to eat more vegetables. Share with us your ideas in the comments below**

We hope you enjoyed the first edition of Friday Q & A Day. If you have a question about family fitness, health or wellness to include in Friday Q & A Day! then email us at: richardjoey@pleasemumdontsupersizeme.com

Have a wonderful weekend!

Richard & Joey Marc

Last night it was a little cold in Sydney, feeling just like a winters night and I thought it was the perfect night for a nice hot vegetable soup. I love cooking and whipping up my own receipes and I mixed up a pot of chicken vegetable soup however this time I tried to mix it with a bunch of different green vegetables and thought I’d share it with you to try!

Chicken Vegetable Soup - serves 4 but you can alter the amounts of ingredients to suit you!

Ingredients 

4 chicken drumsticks 

1 celery stick

2 carrots

2 zucchini

2 potato

1 cup peas

1 leek

2 tomatos

1 cup corn kernals

1 cup of mixed beans

1 bundle of broccoli

1/2 bunch of english spinach

1 satchet of continential thick vegetable mix

Water

Here is how I made it!

1. Place chicken in the pot and cover the pot 3/4 full of water and place it on the stove on medium heat. 

2. In the meanwhile cut up the carrots, celery, leek (white part only), zucchini, potato, peas, tomato, add beans and then place it in the  pot.

3. Mix the thick vegetable satchet powder with 1/3 cup of water, stir until it is a smooth liquid and place into pot of soup. Then, cook on medium heat for about 40mins. Check frequently and stir. 

4. In the meanwhile cut up the spinach, broccoli and prepare the corn kernals.  After 40mins or once the chicken is cooked and the vegetables are soft, add the remaining ingredients. The spinach, broccoli and corn - they only need about 5 mins. They are added last as they don’t take long to cook!

Then just before serving you can either remove the chicken legs and serve them seperately or remove the chicken legs, cut the chicken into pieces and mix the pieces of chicken in the soup.

I hope you enjoy my soup recipe. Share with me any of your favourite soups below. I’m always on the look out for a great new soup idea!

Joey Marc

There are so many fad diets in our society today that it can be confusing on what we should be doing to live a healthy lifestyle on a daily basis and how to achieve weight loss the safe way.

We enjoy educating and helping families to lead a healthy lifestyle and through our programs and our book we have simplified a guide towards living a healthy lifestyle as a family. Recently we have been working with two families who have achieved amazing results!

One family has lost 23kg as a family and another has lost 44kg together as a a family (picture above). Great results right? But how were they able to achieve such results? Firstly by making a decision to do it together. Both families made a decision that they wanted to live a long, healthy life and they knew what they had to do but where unsure about how to get started. By following the program and book Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me!  the families implemented the changes in their everyday life and are now living a more healthier lifestyle every single day. 

Why?

Because the steps they followed and the changes they made in their lifestyle were gradual changes and are part of their everyday life. The weight loss success was due to the committment they had in making a difference to their children’s and family life. Kelly mother of a six year old boy and a 9 month old baby girl (picture above), told us that since implementing the healthier changes in their lifestyle, their life has changed and her 9month old baby is going to grow up in an environment where they eat healthy, they go for walks, play at the park, this is our life now. She will be a healthy child and that makes me so happy!

It gives us goosebumps when we know we have made a difference and to know that this family is now passing on healthy habits to the next generation to their kids. Whilst working with families and presenting workshops about family health, we know there are alot of parents who have questions about family health, wellness, weight loss, fitness, exercise - that they want answered. And during the week a parent who was at a workshop said to us, I really enjoyed the workshop and the Q & A at the end was great, as I sometimes have so many questions but when it comes time to ask I just can’t remember them and being here some other parents asked the questions I wanted answered. 

And we thought, well what if each week we could answer some questions on our blog to share with everyone? So, we have decided until the end of May every Friday is Q & A Day - Answering what parents want to know about family health and wellness, weight loss, fitness… straight from us, here on our blog!

But one catch! CALLING ALL PARENTS, this is for you… Friday is Q & A Day - posting what PARENTS want to know, meaning the questions need to come from you!

And if you are reading this and thinking I have some questions that I would like answered, then email us your question to: richardjoey@pleasemumdontsupersizeme.com where we will start from next Friday answering “What parents want to know about family health and wellness”.

We look forward to receiving your questions!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Richard & Joey Marc

The Wellness Duo

PS. Remember Friday Q & A Day - What parents want to know about family health and wellness, it will only continue until the last Friday in May, so make sure you get your question in to be answered asap.

Tonight we went to the book launch for a new book called “Star Foods”, written by Dr Joanna McMillian Price (picture above on left, middle Joey Marc, right Richard Marc) and Judy Davie.  Star Foods discusses the best vegetables and fruits, proteins and carbohydrates needed for a daily diet to benefit overall health and wellbeing. It also explains fats, drinks and even the better treats to look out for! And contains more than 70 healthy and delicious recipes.

The authors have a great way of discribing foods such as ‘Ranking The Players’, where the foods are ranked in performance levels according to nutritional value. A great alternative way to look at the foods we should eat more often to  achieve and maintain good health.  Dr Joanna McMillian Price co-author of Star Foods has a PhD in nutritional science and is also featured as a speaker in our 7 CD audio program “Secrets of a healthy family” due for release shortly. 

To find out more information about Star Foods visit Dr Joanna McMillian Price website http://www.joannamcmillanprice.com/star-foods/  

Yours in health and wellness,

Richard & Joey Marc