Healthy Habits: Vitaerobics and Healthy Eating

To encourage healthy eating habits among the lower-income community, the University of Arizona has purchased 800 Fat Finder™ calculators for its Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program from Vitaerobics, a company that teaches families about nutrition through products, programs and coaching. The Fat Finder is a simple-to-use device that one can use to calculate the amount of fat in food. Co-owner of Vitaerobics, food psychology coach and nutrition expert Johnell McCauley, agreed to an interview about Vitaerobics and healthy living tips for families.

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1. What is the "legacy of fat" and how can parents avoid passing bad habits down through the generations?

Our relationship with food begins to form when we are children, often as a result of what we learn from our parents. If we have poor eating habits – habits that lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity – then we pass these on to our children, creating a legacy of fat rather than a legacy of health. Parents are role models and, even though we may think that our children don’t listen to what we say, they do watch how we act. We must model the behavior we want our kids to learn.

Almost 1/3 of the U.S. population is now considered obese, and it is getting worse. In order to reverse this trend, we must change the eating habits we are passing from generation to generation. The best way to break the cycle is to teach kids healthy eating habits when they’re young and to focus on healthy eating together as a family. By introducing and offering your family healthier foods at mealtime and snack time, your children will become familiar with and accustomed to healthier options, helping them create a healthy relationship with food. Through our company, Vitaerobics, we teach families how to make mealtime fun, memorable and healthy through products, programs and coaching to help them make healthier choices when purchasing, preparing and eating food.

2. What is the 3-5 bite technique?

The 3-5 bite technique provides an easy way to satisfy your cravings and still eat healthy. There are no superheroes and no arch villains when it comes to food. If you want dessert or another indulgence, you can have it, but in moderation. To help control how much you consume, take 3-5 small bites, and really savor the flavor in each bite, letting your brain register the pleasure. Then, stop to talk to people you’re eating with or read for 10-15 minutes. After that time, if you still want eat more, then take another 3-5 additional bites and repeat the process. What you’re likely to find is that the first 3-5 bites satisfy your craving for the food and you won’t get as much pleasure from eating more. 

3. Can you briefly describe what the Fat Finder is?

The Fat Finder™ calculator is an easy-to-use tool that helps you quickly determine the percentage of both total and saturated fat in the foods you eat. The American Heart Association and the U.S. Government’s Dietary Guidelines recommend daily fat intake be less than 30% of total calories. Unfortunately, the percent of fat per serving for packaged foods is not directly shown on the Nutrition Facts panel, so you don’t know what it is. The Fat Finder™ solves that by using information that is provided on food packaging to determine the percent of fat and show you whether the food is healthy or unhealthy. The Fat Finder™ is a part of patient education programs at leading hospitals, health clinics, medical offices, bariatric centers and weight loss centers throughout the country. 

4. What are some tips you can share for parents to get their kids to be more adventurous eaters?

First, it’s important for parents to understand that food rejection is normal. All children go through stages where they have strong preferences, and these can change over time. So, when your child rejects certain foods, don’t take it personally. There are some easy ways to encourage you children to try new things. Here are a few:

Involve kids with meal planning and preparation. Have a conversation about the choices available and then let them decide. Even having a conversation about food exposes them to new options and over time it increases the likelihood that they will try new and different things. Make meal planning and preparation fun and create your own family favorites. Kids are much more likely to try something that they helped create because it is theirs.

Start with foods they like. Everyone has certain foods they like. What do they have in common – taste, texture, color, or something else? Think about what new foods you can add that have similar characteristics. Even if it’s not the healthiest addition, focus on expanding the choices, and then focus on making it healthier. Remember to let your kids be part of this process too.

Be a good role model. Children may not listen to what you say, but they are great imitators! Let them see you eating and enjoying new foods. They don’t have to eat it too – at least not at first. Just seeing you eat something will likely influence them to at least consider it. If you eat something you don’t like, don’t make a big deal about it. It’s ok if you try something new and don’t like it, but be positive. The key is to focus on the experience of trying something new and what you learned from it.

Create opportunities for conversations around food. To get the conversation started, you might prepare a taco bar or a salad bar, letting each person make their own topping choices, and then talk about everyone’s choices. With my own grandkids, I find that there are always reasons behind each topping choice they make – sometimes it’s the color or texture, and sometimes it’s simply because they are copying someone else. Studies show that it can take 10-12 exposures before someone will try a new or different food – except that and don’t take it personally.

Take time to figure out why they don’t like a particular food. Sometimes it’s not the food at all. Instead, it can be the smell, the texture, the taste, what it was served with, or how it looks? Sometimes it’s as simple and cooking the food in a different way. Take broccoli, for example. It can be eaten raw, steamed, stir-fried, roasted or even grilled. It can be served plain, with a variety of spices or sauces, or in casseroles, soups or salads. Understanding why a child doesn’t like a particular food will help you fix it (and other foods) in ways that may be more inviting.

Offer your kids healthy choices when they say “I’m hungry.” Often, children (and adults too) eat for reasons other than to satisfy hunger. They may be bored, stressed or simply thirsty. If a child is truly hungry, they will usually eat whatever is offered to them – healthy or unhealthy. So, they may not really be picky eaters, but rather choosy eaters.