It's never too Early ...or Too Late to Start a Healthy Habit

Isn’t it easy to go to the drive-thru for fast food or nuke a pizza when the kids are hungry and time is scarce? When my kids were young-teens and pre-teens- it seemed like we were always running, well driving,from soccer practice to piano lessons to Staples for homework supplies to friend’s houses… And since I have three kids you need to multiply that list by three. Drive- thrus at Dunkin Donuts and McDonald's, Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine, frozen pizzas and the like made my life easier. In the short term.

Flash forward a few years to their teens and tweens; my youngest dealt with significant gastrointestinal problems- functional dyspepsia- that caused him to puke 3 or 4 times a week before school, IBS, undiagnosed ADD, and he was overweight by about thirty pounds. My daughter had such joint problems that she was forced to abandon her varsity field hockey and lacrosse success of three years.  For some reason my middle son fared better. Looking back I think he had a tendency to eat fewer carbs and more fruit.

Today the picture of my kid’s (now in their twenties) health looks something like this; my daughter is overweight and has significant, chronic and incurable health issues not least of which is Lupus. My middle son is healthy and active though he suffers from regular back pain. My youngest is an absolute specimen of health and fitness. His functional dyspepsia has resolved as has his IBS and he no longer takes an ADD medication.

How and why can I have such a diverse picture of health within my own family? I’m sure there are many contributing variables and factors that I can’t explain but I can tell you this; I wish I had known then what I know now about nutrition- its importance and its ability to prevent illness. A few years ago we started taking Juice Plus+. With that new regimen came information and education.  And little changes. Then more changes.  And there is great power and healing that comes from that. My daughter will not embrace nutrition as a healer. It is infinitely frustrating and disheartening because I know she has the power to, maybe not cure, but certainly improve her health immensely…to improve the way she feels on a day to day basis. Both of my boys take Juice Plus+ -regularly. My middle son is good about watching what and how he eats and my youngest is a health, fitness and nutrition guru following a strict self-designed and tweaked clean eating program.

For me drawing conclusions is easy; the reasons for the widely diverse results obvious. And I know that fast and processed food have made my life- and sadly my daughter’s- incredibly more difficult. For the long haul. So while I wait for my daughter to see the ‘nutritious’ light, I hope that I can help someone else start seeing at least a glimmer.

For starters, here are some tips to nurture healthy habits in your kids. It’s never too early to start…or too late.

If you want to know more about Juice Plus and how easily it can start to change your health picture, please, please, please contact me.