It has been a busy couple of weeks as we continued to spread our word of health and wellness to families around Australia. We have been presenting workshops about Please Mum, Don’t SuperSize Me! at many venues including libraries with the most recent at Bowen Library Maroubra and Dymocks George Street Sydney, where we demonstrated ways to make fruit and healthy food fun for kids.
On Thursday 27th March we featured on the “Susie” TV show WIN (as above), talking about some healthier alternatives for school lunchboxes and family pizza movie nights!
Yesterday we travelled to Coffs Harbour where we met some great families at our instore appearance Dymocks bookstore Coffs Harbour. It’s great to be able to meet many families who are keen to make a difference with healthy daily lifestyle habits. If you want to keep your momentum going or need some motivation to get started and get healthy, we have a “FREE Thought Of The Week” which can help, where we email every week a health and wellness tip straight to your inbox. To sign up for your FREE Thought Of The Week go to http://www.PleaseMumDontSuperSizeMe.com
Looking after your health,
Richard & Joey Marc
PS. Check out the pictures below from our tour.
Susie TV Show - Richard & Joey Marc with Susie on set of The Susie TV Show!
When you think about a diet what comes to mind? Usually dreading thoughts of when it has to begin, what I can and can’t eat, how many times do I have to hit the gym and then there is a count down clock to when it ends! True?
Then what happens after the diet ends? So, people go on a diet to reach whatever goal weight they want or whatever it may be they want to achieve and then they go back to their old ways of eating. Then what happens?… a cycle begins. We like to call it the dieting roller coaster because that is exactly what it is! A person goes on a diet for a set period of time, they may or may not reach what they want, then they hop off the diet, go back to their daily habits, then hop back on the diet when they feel the need to shape up again!
Diets are dangerous… in time they will rob the body of essential nutrients it needs. The ‘fad’ weight loss diets do not work especially for children. With 1 in 4 Australian children today overweight or obese we have a problem to tackle. However a short fix diet and then reverting back to the old habits, is not the solution. A lifestyle change is what is needed. It is taking a look at the current diet you have and making healthier choices and better options.
Such as:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables instead of tinned
- Brown or multigrain bread instead of white bread
- Grilled foods instead of fried foods
The lifestyle changes must start in the home environment. Start by taking a look at your kitchen cupboard - does it have snacks which are high in sugars and fats? If so, get rid of them and replace them with fresh fruit in a bowl on the kitchen bench as a healthy snack alternative.
Here is a tip of how you can start living a healthier life right now: - Shop Healthy, Eat Healthy!
When shopping next make a list before you go to the supermarket of the foods you are going to buy because what you buy and bring home is naturally what you and your family will eat. Make the choice at home when you write your list, of what foods you want to buy to stock the kitchen cupboards. And remember shop healthy, eat healthy! Plus, the temptation to eat junk food is less if it is not in your kitchen cupboards or fridge!
It is vital to remember to make healthier food choices on a daily basis. It is not about restricting yourself to certain foods and setting out on a diet. It is about living healthy everyday and allowing yourself a treat every now and then! Crash dieting is not recommended as this is where the diet rollercoaster ride begins. The aim should be on developing a way of eating that is well balanced, nutritious and satisfying which can become a healthy lifelong habit.
With the Easter long weekend now over, we hope you had a wonderful celebration with family and friends. We spent Easter day celebrating with our families, the famous Aussie way with a backyard BBQ. At our family lunch gathering all our nieces and nephews were playing games like parachute, ball games, playing fetch with the dog and then came the Easter egg hunt! A little tradition that my mum in particular loves to organize for the kids.So we hide all the Easter eggs (chocolate eggs!) in the backyard then all the kids run and find them. It’s a fun game that the kids love as it’s full of adventure having to run and find the hidden eggs!
As I helped to hide the chocolate eggs, I couldn’t help but think to myself there is a lot of chocolate here, plus the chocolate eggs the kids have already received as gifts, what are the kids going to do with it all? So, being the healthly one I am, I was trying to think of a plan where the kids can have fun with the Easter egg hunt but end up with smaller amounts of eggs rather then excessive amounts of chocolate…
So, we hid the chocolates and whilst I placed another down on the ground, my mind was ticking thinking… Once all the eggs were hidden I then explained the rules to the kids saying “When I say go, you must run and find as many eggs as you can and place them in your bag. At the end when all the eggs are found, you must run and give one egg each to an adult as an Easter surprise gift from you - ready, set, go!”
It was so cute watching them all run around collecting their eggs and when they had finished, they ran to each adult and gave them an egg each. And the kids loved it, as it was a special gift from them to their parent, aunt, uncle or cousin. It made them feel special whilst also decreasing the left over amount of eggs in their bag!
So there is a little secret for the next time you do an Easter Egg hunt with kids!
In a couple of days we will be celebrating Easter and we know what comes with the celebration of Easter - The Chocolate Eggs! Why is it that we love the chocolate Easter Eggs so much? Is it the flavouring, the cool shapes and sizes, the characters, the bunny’s? Whatever it is that hooks you into the chocolate eggs, this year stop and think before your eat. After all, do we really need all those extra calories and the feeling of sickness after you have eaten way too many eggs? “Oh”, but you may say “it is only one day and it is a treat”… Yeah right! But what happens to the mountains of supplies of eggs that are in your household on Easter Day or left over afterwards?
Here are some tips on how to beat too many Easter Egg treats: 1. No eggs before Easter Day – It is important not to be tempted to eat chocolate eggs before Easter Day. Just like Christmas, kids need to wait for Christmas morning to open their presents, the same needs to occur for Easter Day. Don’t be tempted to eat chocolate eggs or to bring chocolate eggs home before Easter Day and explain this reason why to the kids.2. Choose a better option – chat to the kids, family and friends before Easter and suggest the idea of a present with a very small egg instead of large chocolate eggs. Give the kids a present such as a frisbee, twister or tickets to watch their favourite sporting team such as rugby league team or a family day out rock climbing, bowling 3. Look for a smaller option – Ensure the entire family, relative and friends make a decision to limit the size and number of the chocolate eggs over Easter. Opt for the smaller eggs rather then a large egg. Or have a Chris Cringle like at Christmas and draw names out of a hat and that person will get an egg for their partner. 4. Put them away – Like the saying goes “Out of sight, out of mind!” Over the Easter period as the eggs begin to come into the house, place them in a jar in the fridge or container in the cupboard up high and out of reach from the kids. That way parents can monitor how much chocolate is being eaten.5. Have fun with real eggs - Boil some eggs and once cooked and cooled (refrigerator), have fun using specialized food dyes to decorate and colour the eggs (Ensure to use the safety food required dyes for the eggs). Have a Happy Easter! Richard & Joey Marc
The consumer advocacy body’s proposed a ban to prohibit all radio and TV ads for foods high in fat, sugar and salt between 6am and 9pm on Australian TV. With up to 15 junk food ads viewed each hour, during children’s television viewing time it is about time someone has taken some sort of action to get these ads banned! Check out the table above taken straight from the Sun Herald on March 16. It provides a breakdown of the free to air fast food sell and lists fast food commercials on channels 7, 9, and 10 which were shown between 6pm and 9pm on Thursday 13th March!
In having so many junk food ads on TV it creates pestor power for parents and the environment we live today is difficult enough already for parents having to fight off the temptations of supersize options and convenient drive thru fast food resturants. With kids exposure to junk foods on TV which are high in fats, sugar and salt promotes an idea to them that junk food is fun and attractive to eat. But reality is most of these foods advertised are so unhealthy for kids and they do not need to be consumed on a regularly daily basis.
What there needs to be is 15 food ads per hour promoting healthy food options that are fun and attractive to replace the junk food commercials.
This call of action really needs to go directly to the government, they need step up and help fight this obesity epidemic which is shortening the life span of many Australians. But instead of making a decision right now, a spokeswomen for the health and ageing minister Nicola Roxon responded with “We are not looking at changing existing regulations right now. There is a review by Australian Communications and Media Authority due out later this year and we will be examining its findings”
Ok…so from that comment we have no action right now and maybe we will address the problem later in the year! Hummm….the title of the article in the paper read “It worked in Canada and now the call is to ban junk food ads on TV in Australia!” Interesting isn’t it, that other countries have tested it such as Canada as well as Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Ireland - So what is Australia waiting for?
Our suggestions would be in the meanwhile, try to limit the TV time your children watch currently. Get them off the couch and outside playing. Set some restrictions such as no TV before 6pm or no TV before school. And encourage kids after school to go outside and play with friends or mum and dad. Another alternative if mum and dad are busy and can’t play outside everyday is to encourage your kids to have fun with arts and crafts or reading instead of watching TV.
Share you thoughts and comments with us - Do you think junk food ads should be banned on Australian TV?
“It seems these days that we’re eating more food and doing less exercise than in the past.” the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, Federal Member for Sturt mentioned yesterday as he launched our book Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me! in Adelaide. Christopher spoke to the children at Gilles Plains Primary School Adelaide, about the importance of healthy eating and an active lifestyle.“The good thing about having local schools and local shops is that rather than getting in your car and driving to the shops you can walk or ride a bike, and in doing so, get some exercise as well as your shopping.” He continued “This new book Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me!, is all about what we need to eat, the things I’ve talked about are encouraging physical activity, but an essential part of the equation is food and eating… and I’m pleased to declare the book launched.” After officially launching the book we all joined in for some fun games of parachute with the kids. Check out all the pictures below.
We started the week in Melbourne where you may have heard us on radio shows or at our workshop at Dymocks bookstore Collins Street Melbourne, followed by Dymocks City bookstore Brisbane. This week we will be heading to Adelaide and on Tuesday 11th March you can come join us at Dymocks bookstore North Park 2pm where you can ask us any questions you have about children’s health and our book Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me!
This week alarming research was revealed that the obesity crisis will cut years off lives of Australians! The University of Western Australia research has found obese Australians — those with a body mass index over 30 — will live for between 3.5 and 4.5 years less.
The overweight, who have a BMI between 25 and 30, have a six-month shorter than average life expectancy.
And what about our kids?
The research predicted if present obesity trends in children continue; their life expectancy will fall by two years.
In the fast paced society we live today, it is vital for us all to take time out to ensure we are living a healthy lifestyle everyday. Here are a couple of tips to help you get started towards a healthier life:
- Take action right now - write in your diary or on a piece of paper and place it on your fridge door (notice board), a healthy lifestyle goal you can implement right now. Such as I will go power walking after dinner starting today, or I will eat at least 3 pieces of fruit a day, starting today. Notice how we say “Starting TODAY!” no need to wait for Monday - Take action right now
- Provide a healthy home environment - display fruit on the kitchen bench so it is easy to grab and eat at any time. Or cut up some fruit and make a bowl of healthy fruit salad, then leave it in the fridge. This makes a great snack or breakfast topping with cereal. Encourage the entire family to get outside and get active together - this needs to start with dad and mum. Whether you are being active as a family at home in the backyard, at a park, beach wherever it may be, have fun playing active games such as frisbee, ball games, handball, soccer, cricket.
And most importantly, don’t let time get in the way of you living a healthy life with your family. Make time in your day, everyday to look after your health, to eat well and be active. Because what is more important then your health and your families health?
To read more about the article relating to obesity cutting years off lives - click here
Yours in health and wellness,
Richard & Joey Marc
PS. For a tip every week from us, go to www.PleaseMumDontSupersizeMe.com and click on free thought of the week, to help keep motivated towards a healthy lifestyle.
Last night we arrived at Melbourne airport and grabbed the Sun Herald, as we opened the paper it was great to find in the first section a page talking about healthy eating special and then the last 3 pages of the paper focusing on health and fitness. Then today we opened the Herald Sun to find an offical magazine lift out with the Premier’s active families challenge. Premier John Brumby and Sports Minister James Melino have taken action in Victoria, encouraging families to get fit and healthy through their active families challenge. It involves family members to participate in 30 minutes of physical activity for at least 30 days between March 9 - April 20. The Premier’s Active Families Challenge is part of the Victorian Governments “Go for your life” initiative which encourages Victorians to improve their physical health and wellbeing. Within the lift out it contained great information about the rules involved in the challenge along with sports, activity options families can implement and a diary to fill in daily!
After reading the handout and what Premier John Brumby and Sports Minister James Melino is promoting for families - a lifestyle which includes eating well and being active, we couldn’t help but think what is the rest of the states of Australia doing? For example why is the tourism minister in NSW Matt Brown, making the pestor power for parents even more difficult, by offering free tickets to tourist destinations in happy meals at McDonalds? The NSW Government should take a look at the active families initiative that the Victorian Government has established and promote that to NSW families instead of supporting such as scheme that encourages families to be more inclined to consume fast food. Parents are already struggling with the battles of keeping kids away from fast food temptations available in our society today and now when they are offering free tourist attraction vouchers it doesn’t make it any easier.
Today we officially launched our book “Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me!” with The Hon. Pat Farmer MP - Shadow Minister for Youth and Sport.
At a primary school in Sydney NSW, Pat Farmer shared with the kids some of the important factors of living a healthy life everyday which includes eating healthy foods and exercising. One child shared with us her thoughts of health ”It’s all about balance!”, which is exactly true. Your daily lifestyle habits are about balancing your energy in (food) with energy out (exercise) which is discussed our book www.pleasemumdontsupersizeme.com. After chatting to the kids about healthy eating and living, we presented some of our books to the Deputy Principial for their school library and enjoyed a few musical games with the kids.
Check out the pictures below and the video above (as seen on Channel 10 news) from the launch -It was a great morning!
