Fruits & Veggies

I'm a sucker for filling out surveys, especially when they include a prepaid envelope, like the one that came in the mail from Kaiser Permanente. (I think of my dad who works for the USPS, who reminds me often that the interweb has dramatically reduced their revenue. Whenever there are warranty cards that come with my purchases, I'll mail them in instead of completing them online. Might as well, since the paper's already been printed!) I paused when the questions centered around diet and exercise. Like most folks (,at least I assume,) I over-reported the amount of daily exercise I get in, as well as the amount of fruits and vegetables I consume.

I admit that I am not the healthiest eater. I can reiterate all the negatives of eating processed sugars and high saturated fats and the benefits of eating whole grains, organic fruits and vegetables, and lowfat proteins but put a cupcake or cake pop in front of me and that'll be the end of that logic. Then there are days, even weeks at a time, when I am on a health kick and I eat really well.

Due to my work schedule and after work schedule (Hubby's business), I am lucky to share one meal a day with El during the week. Her grandparents and Hubby are the ones who prepare her meals each day. And I know that food has been a way to bribe the little one and I'm not talking about carrot sticks and apple slices! I'm okay with grandparents spoiling her once in awhile since of course, that's their job. But I think it's happening all too often, like on a daily basis. Hate to admit it but I don't know what she's consuming each day.

I am pretty certain she is not getting enough fruits and veggies. She was a regular "extruder," going once each morning when she was well into solid foods. Lately, it's been an every other day or even every two day kind of thing. Poor girl, she whimpers and cries while she's at it... Hubby even called me this morning due to an especially difficult potty session. He was ready to call the doctor about it but I'm sure it's due to her diet and lack of fiber.

We made the decision that we'll need to monitor what she's eating much better. I checked out babycenter.com and ran a search for "toddler constipation" and sure enough, El displays all the symptoms and eats the foods of culprit (whole milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, bananas). The recommendation is for the following: more fruits and veggies; raisins and dried fruit; apple and prune juice; brown rice and whole wheat crackers. She has become somewhat of a finicky eater so we'll see how this goes. I'll definitely be eating more of these foods myself for my own sake and to be a good model. If in a week there's no change, to the doctor we'll go...