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Have you ever wondered why hamburgers, French fries, fried chicken, pizza, and cheesecake are these so much worse for us now than they have been in past years? After all they have been around for a long time. Why do they appear to do more damage and why is the concept of food portion control becoming so important to us?

The answer to this question is related to the general health of our nation. The inclusion of these foods in our diet certainly is impacting on our lives. Obesity in the United States has just become a national epidemic in the past 20 years. Children are not exempt from this catastrophic obesity epidemic in our country. Childhood obesity continues to escalate in all socio-economic populations as children’s understanding of food portion sizes has been determined and controlled by large international food organizations. The marketing departments of these organizations increase the portion sizes of comparatively inexpensive food to increase their sales.

According to registered dietician, Dr Lisa Young, also an MSNBC reporting contributor, ‘When McDonald’s first opened, a soda was 7 ounces. Today, the child size is 12 ounces, a small is 16 ounces, and the large 32 ounces.’

So it’s not the inclusion of these foods in our diet today that is the real problem. Its how much of these foods we consume that’s at the heart of our health crisis. When you compare food portions 20 years ago with today’s extra generous super sized servings it helps to give some idea of the cause of the obesity epidemic in our country. Take a look at the change in caloric intake in foods today compared to 20 years ago below. You’ll be amazed at how different they are and understand how we need something as helpful as portion control to keep a today.

Food Portions Today Compared to 20 Years Ago

Information Source: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

So what can we make from these figures? The outcome is clear. The result is obvious. We are consistently and unwittingly consuming more food than we need. As we do this, we regularly stretch the size of our stomachs and condition our bodies to feel hungry when we should not feel this way. The more we eat like this the greater the likelihood that we will gain weight and the more calories we need to use to burn off excess and unwanted fat. Our desire for oversized food portions of have overpowered our good intentions to exercise more or get fitter.

How can we avoid becoming a victim of mega sized eating?

• Don’t be seduced by extra large size meals for only 39cents more! Decide how much food you need and only eat that much
• Find out what size portions of different foods is right for you so you can eat the correct amount of everything you enjoy without gaining weight
• Learn how portion control eating habits will help you do this as a way of life, and avoid overnight fad diets that generally don’t last much longer than that.

Reclaim Your Health. Start today.

You Can Do It!

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

The short answer to this important question is ‘Yes’. The more important response is an explanation of ‘How’ and ‘Why’. Knowing about your body’s needs is important when planning a portion control menu that will help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. There are four (4) main food groups that supply essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients for your body:

1. Grain and Wheat

2. Dairy and Cheese

3. Vegetables and Fruit

4. Meat, Fish, and Alternatives

One common characteristic of most diets is that they limit or eliminate entire food groups from their menus because they are deemed unhealthy and unpopular at the time. Many diets restrict food groups and minimize the inclusion of nutrients, such as fats and protein, in the dietary plan. This is not the way portion control eating works. Your body requires a variety of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals found in carbohydrates, proteins, fats, sugars, and water. The secret is knowing where to find these nutrients and how much of each your body needs. Armed with this information you will be well equipped to make sensible decisions about what and how much food you eat.

The inclusion of carbohydrates in any weight loss menu is important because foods containing carbohydrates have essential nutrients for the body and provide a much needed energy supply to the body. There are good and bad carbs. Highly processed carbohydrates typically raise blood sugar levels and eventually lead to that ‘crashing’ feeling you experience once they are processed through the body. Complex carbohydrates are good carbs. They pack the most nutritional value and promote appetite suppression. Brown rice and whole wheat flour are examples of good carbs. These foods are not only valuable sources of energy but an effective means of keeping your rumbling ‘hungry tummy’ quiet much longer.

To remain healthy, your body needs a regular intake of foods containing protein. We can’t afford to do without it because protein is another essential nutrient for the body and is used to create muscle mass, to support healthy cell creation and function, and to strengthen the immune system. Proteins are found primarily in meats, poultry, dairy products, and fish, beans and legumes. Protein is found predominantly in meat (lean is the best by far) and fish. A portion of these foods representing a third of your meal in your portion control meal provides your body with a healthy intake of protein.

Foods containing fats have been deemed unpopular across recent years. They have been reduced or completely excluded from many diet plans. Because fats are important to your diet however they are included in portion control menus, but they should be restricted to between 20 to 35% of your daily intake – targeting less than 30%. There are healthy fats and not-so-healthy fats so it’s important to know the difference. The best source of fats are from meats, oils, nuts, and dairy products. The most important information you need to know when including fats in your eating plan is the foods that contain healthy fats.

Foods containing a group of processed fats known as Transfats need to be avoided or eaten in small portions and only occasionally. They are basically healthy fats that have been hydrogenated to increase their shelf life and flavor. They are found in high percentages of cakes, cookies, and snack foods. Transfats are known to raise LDL (unhealthy cholesterol), levels in the body. High LDL levels can lead to serious heart disease.

Transfats do not contribute to weight loss or the development of a healthy body and their inclusion in your portion control eating plan should be considered carefully. The key is to significantly reduce the amount of saturated fats in your diet and to manage these is to watch the amount of fat you consume from meat and dairy. Make use of low-fat or fat-free choices. Remember it’s often at the store that you make the most important decisions about portion control meals.

Many foods contain fats that are good for your body and are referred to as healthy fats. These fats add to the condition of your skin and hair and need to appear on your menu regularly. Olive oil is a sensible and healthy choice for fats since it contains monounsaturated fat, which reduces the LDL levels in your body and, in turn, lowers your risk of heart disease. It is a healthier choice for fats, especially the lighter extra-virgin olive oil choices and recommended in portion control eating plans. In addition to olive oil, you should also consider canola, peanut, sunflower, and soybean oils. Many of these oils are now used in products such as mayonnaise to make them healthier for you

Portion control eating plans include foods from each of the four major food groups. These choices reflect an understanding of the right kind of foods within some of these categories. You can achieve and keep a healthy body weight through portion control, losing excess weight and most importantly keep it off. By including smaller portions of foods that are more calorific on your menu, you will discover how to make eating an enjoyable way of life rather than another grueling diet. By eating sensible portions of the right foods you will avoid feeling hungry and stay healthy by giving your body everything it needs.

Connie Diekman, Director of Nutrition at Washington University, St Louis has to more to say about how to get healthy and stay healthy using portion control here.

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

Expand your children’s world- help them become a reader even if you have extremely busy schedules! You don’t have to be a good reader to help your child. You don’t have to enjoy reading to help your child.

 You don’t have to read lengthy books to help your child become a great reader. You don’t need to spend a huge amount of time reading with your child. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on books. You don’t have to take expensive classes to know what to do and how to get started.

 Let’s begin this article by talking about what you CAN do. Here are some practical and simple ideas. If you want to get some ideas about supporting the school’s reading program volunteer as a reading helper and talk with your child’s teacher about what to do at home.

 You can lay the foundations that will help your child become a lifelong reader. Their world will be expanded and enriched by reading experiences that you can provide with only a short, consistent time commitment each day. The benefits are immeasurable.

 The first thing to do is to stimulate your child’s interest in reading. There are many ways to do this, the most obvious being to read a book to them. Choose a book that is suitable for their age and interests.

 Start with a picture book, even big kids love picture books, particularly the ones by Graeme Base. Show them the pictures, discuss what you all see. Let them listen to your voice, and become aware that words convey meaning. They associate the written word with spoken language. If you are reading to beginning readers, track under the lines so that your child sees that you read from left to right. Turn the pages slowly and say, perhaps, what do you think will happen next.

 Parents need to model reading behavior and label it as such. Whether you read a magazine, technical manual, cook book, cereal packet or newspaper, capture your child’s attention by sharing a piece of information. Some simple ideas include: read the cereal box at breakfast time; read some words that have many syllables and clap their rhythm.

 There are many core skills and concepts that underlie reading, like word recognition, rhyming, starting and ending sounds of words, even joining in by looking at text. Have the kids help you prepare meals by reading recipes or instructions on packets and cans. When eating out or getting take out, find words and symbols that have meaning, like the golden arches of MacDonalds.

  Parents should read to their children even when the children have become independent readers. Everyone, even adults, enjoy listening to stories read to them. Listening to a poem, book or short text read stimulates imagination and builds vocabulary as well as expanding understanding of our world.

 Read to your children all the time. Read fiction and non-fiction; read poems and short stories. Read about real things- animals in Africa, Space travel – whatever interests you and your child. The advantage of reading to your child is that you can read books about things that interest them and stories that are beyond their reading level. This will motivate them to increase their reading skills so that they can read more complex text. 

Consider having a collection of children’s reading CDs for long travel time. Visit libraries and join up so that all the family can borrow books. Family reading time can be fun when each member reads independently. Endeavor to have a set time when everyone sits and reads, no TV no answering or using phones, no texting, no sitting at a computer, no drawing or writing.

 Vary the content of what you read to children. Read them a cleverly crafted poem and talk about the ‘mental pictures’ the poem creates. Select some of the most exciting words from the poem – the fun words or the mysterious words. Encourage your children to enjoy the intricacies and beauty of your language. Select from magazines, books, letters, emails, catalogs, mail from the mail box – anything. Words are magical. Reading is fun. If you believe this and if you spend lots of time helping your child read, your child will do brilliantly at school and love language and reading.

Warm regards

Columbia

For the team at

mightydigitaldownloads.com  

Columbia Lee is a passionate educator with 35 years of teaching experience. She knows parents can create exciting learning at home. Do you want to help your child learn to read? Want your child to read better? Get her collection of helpful books to increase learning at home. 

Have you ever been amazed by someone who can calculate discounts, distances to a destination, interest rates that will yield the best investment, profit/loss on shares, with awesome speed? No doubt these people have a love for everything mathematical. Children love learning. We can easily help our children develop a love for everything mathematical.

 Math learning is great fun at home. You don’t need specialized resources. Everything you need is in your home at this moment. You need enthusiasm and a creative mind to find math opportunities.

 Math doesn’t just happen at school; in fact math is every where.  Math is part of our world. Quick reasoning, problem solving skills and accuracy and speed in computation are vital skills in our technologically oriented world.

 We rely on math almost every minute of every day. From awakening when our alarm goes off to resetting our clocks for next day. We constantly perform math calculations during the day. Time: 2 minutes to get to the train, 30 minutes to get this job done, an hour before the school bus arrives, birthdays, Valentines Day, Spring Break, Thanksgiving. Money: cash, credit card transactions, bank balances, meals, pocket money for the kids, bills, bills and more bills. Measurement: traveling, exercising, building, cooking, shopping.

 Today’s children need to be able to problem solve, reason mathematically, use math language and apply math in almost every aspect of their lives. Our children have grown up with calculators and computers. Despite this they need to be able to know when an answer makes sense or is reasonable.

 Calculators and computers are tools. They do not have thinking power- they are able to perform complicated calculations at lightning speed but they rely on the accuracy of the data input. They are only as useful as the person who puts in the numbers. The user needs to be able to determine whether the answer given is reasonable- does it make sense? To be able to determine this you must be able to estimate the approximate answer and in doing so key in the correct operation (+,-, X, /).

 Start to find the fun in math with your child today. Help them to learn and enjoy applying math thinking to everyday situations. Make a game of it. Estimate the outside temperature and check with your thermometer. Guess the weight of your shopping and then weigh the parcels. Having fun with math with your child can develop a real love of number problems and thinking.

 It’s really easy. You’ll be amazed at how you will come up with great ideas and activities. Play counting games, recite number rhymes, cook, shop, and look for shapes in your home; the activities depend on the age of your child. Read and create timetables, use tallies to find out how many cars pass your house, count the letters you get, add the numbers in the zip codes. 

 Interesting math travel activities keep the kids occupied when traveling long distances. Try adding the numbers in 10 car and truck license plates and compare which is greater/smaller. Tally the number of red cars that pass your car, continue to subtract distance traveled from total length of journey, and record the cost of gas and food and total at end of trip, estimate the time it will take to complete a trip, even record temperatures every 20 miles. Real life activities such as these help kids to see how math skills are used constantly and this helps them understand the reasons for learning math.

Encourage your children to talk about how they solve math problems. Help them to think about their math thinking. This is called metacognition – thinking about thinking. Think what processes and strategies they used to reason out a solution. Even very young children can do this. Build a positive attitude to math by incorporating math tasks and thinking into everyday activities. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly your child will develop a love for math.  

Columbia Lee

For the team at

mightydigitaldownloads.com  

Budgeting is all about making our dollar go further. Stretching our income to create a savings surplus a credit rather than deficit balance. Every household is different in means, circumstances, level of debt and savings. Setting up a family budget will support your efforts to control spending and accumulate assets and savings. Each one of us is different too. We have varying levels of money-management skills and motivation levels. We typically believe that we spend responsibly and are genuinely astonished by how quickly our money disappears.

 Budgeting is systematic. It is a way to achieve financial discipline by changing the way you think about money. Many steps need to be taken and applied when creating a budget. It needs to be planned out with your family in an honest and willing manner and joint decisions made. It is essential that sacrifices are identified collectively and each family member must understand their part in accomplishing goals and creating the future they want. 

One key element is communication, particularly with your spouse. You need to understand one another’s role and perspectives to set up a budget that will work. To increase your chances of being successful you need to discuss your attitude, expectations and motivation to work consistently together. 

Endeavoring to set up a budget without have a positive attitude and lacking the motivation to work at perfecting your project will probably result in becoming frustrated and your budgeting efforts unsuccessful. Any debt consolidation or reduction is conditional upon analyzing the household’s financial patterns and budget. In computer language you need to run diagnostics.

Openly discussing and exposing your family’s finances to close scrutiny can be very confronting and challenging. Feelings of discomfort and apprehension will be apparent at first. But these anxieties will soon be replaced by feelings of emotional security and control as your budgeting begins to work positively for your family.  

A good place to start is to make detailed lists of all expenses. It is helpful if you categorize.  Living expenses would include food, home expenses like cleaning products and gardening, lunches for work and school, clothing, newspapers, stationary and postage. Family expenses might be child and elder care, pharmacy, veterinarian if you have pets, health and life insurance and doctor and dental. Dining out and take away meals, vacations and weekend or day trips, books, movies and rentals would all be placed in the recreation category.

Some bills must be targeted as very important and those are the ones that you are under an obligation to pay. If you enter into a formal contract like taking a student loan or having a credit card you must meet the conditions of the agreement. Student loans, child support, alimony, and charitable donations would all be listed in this category. 

Living in a house or apartment and having a car are usually major budget items. Whether you rent or have a mortgage you will have to budget for monthly payments as well as utilities (oil, gas, energy, water, garbage, sewage). Cost to maintain telephones, both landlines and cells, cable and internet services are substantial. We are prone to forget items like escrow (taxes and insurance) and repairs and maintenance and if these are not included when a family is setting up their budget an unexpected cash flow problem can arise.

Whether you choose to own a car or several vehicles, ride a bicycle or catch public transport you will need to include transportation as one of the categories in your newly formulated budget plan. Loan payments, insurance and repairs and maintenance need to be paid for more regularly than we would like. Parking fees can mount up very quickly. Fines for traffic misdemeanors are usually large and if they are not dispensed with by speedy payment substantial late fees will escalate. The cost of fuel seems to be affecting almost everything and price increases are apparent in all budget categories. Fuel costs now need to be considered more than ever before!

A well planned, realistic budget will detail how you can attain your aspirations and become more financially secure. Budgeting is the first step, sticking with is the hard part. You will very quickly achieve financial discipline. Keeping your motivation high must be a priority. A family budget plan constructed with precision and wisdom will provide the structure to guide your financial decision making. You will be surprised how quickly your quality of life is enhanced by regularly committing time, energy and motivation to your budget set up and maintenance.

Warm regards

Columbia

For the team

www.mightydigitaldownloads.com 

 People say that Columbia Lee gives great advice on family budgeting. She tells how to plan, pay the bills AND save money. She can stretch your budget. Get peace of mind by good budgeting. Get How To Set Up A Family Budget and enjoy a family vacation soon.

Managing the family budget helps you know the fiscal realities and get out of debt. You quickly become proficient at knowing exactly what is going on without referring to your bank statement. No-one wants to be without money or to be stressed and anxious about not having enough cash or being unable to meet bill payments. A family needs to continually assess and update their budgeting strategies in response to changing circumstances and financial crises.

 Coming up with creative, new ideas about how to save money and spend less will soon turn you into a budgeting genius. Read widely and talk with others and you will soon work out which tips and ideas work for your family’s budget management.  A personal, customized and unique approach will be attainable if you set realistic goals and spending patterns for your family and stick to them.     

 Most families need to shift their focus to a savings orientation. A system where you monitor spending and develop the techniques to set smart financial goals for your household, stick with your plan, celebrate success and learn from failures is desirable. It generally takes a concerted effort from the entire family team to build greater awareness about where money actually goes. Family budgeting creates a situation where everyone can live well and get some of the things they want. 

Managing the family budget helps you establish the different types of expenses that you have. The trickiest are the large, annual expenses, as we tend not to focus on these until the bills roll in. These major expenses need to be identified and budgeted for throughout the year. In some circumstances you can elect to pay these in three or four installments. This method of payment may incur a slight fee but it is often more manageable for a family to pay these expenses in smaller amounts.

 Starting a family budget will lead you off the endless debt path and onto the savings pathway. Family budgeting is something we often choose not to do. Maintaining a committed, disciplined and regular effort will quickly result in dwindling debt and savings growth.

 Many reasons can be given for establishing a budget. Most families need to have control over their finances and be prepared to meet the cost of unexpected financial surprises. Saving for a major purchase like a new car or a vacation can sometimes be the impetus for more rigorous budgeting. If you are approaching the time when you would like to retire or enjoy a different lifestyle then this is the right time to be thinking and planning to erase debt and build savings.

Budgeting is never an easy task and incorporating this into our busy schedules is a challenge. Begin by setting goals: short, mid and long term, and make up a plan that is realistic for your family. Reading about financial matters and family budgeting will highlight management strategies that fast track to financial security.

 While the focus should always be on budgeting and sticking to the plan so that debt does not rule our lives, we need to remain realistic. A family budget that is working well will make you feel empowered and even more motivated to eliminate debt as a source of tension. Remember that the family budget should allow for responsible splurging on occasions!

 Prudent tips and strategies on how to plan and implement, revise and refine your family budgeting can be found from many sources. When you reach the stage that you can see the results of your efforts then it is time for a new approach. Direct your energy to an on-going, continuous process that improves your family budgeting.

Warm regards

Columbia

For the team

http://www.mightydigitaldownloads.com/ 

 Columbia Lee, the family accountant, knows how to make a family budget work. Save money using her sensible budget tips. Aren’t you tired of trying to stretch your family dollars each week? Read How To Set Up A Family Budget and start saving family money now.

When a child asks his parents where he came from, this is a great time to begin fostering an interest in history. Begin by talking about previous and current generations of your family.  Everyone becomes part of history the moment they are born. Each individual has a special place in history and knowledge of the history that surrounds them facilitates active involvement in learning history.

Most families keep cherished documents and mementos. A child’s birth certificate begins their official historical record. As the child gets older each birthday marks a milestone in their life’s journey. Graduation marks another point in their personal history. Detail of a child’s family tree trace their genealogy. Tracing a child’s ancestors can be both rewarding and frustrating. Historical records and details are often sketchy and it takes a great deal of persistence. It can be likened to completing a jigsaw and children really enjoy cracking a code and working on their personal historical mystery.

If a child or family member was born on a day when something catastrophic or fabulous happened nationally or internationally then the anniversary of their birth may be designated a national holiday. It is special when a new baby is born on the same birth date as Mom or Dad or another family member because many hours can be spent comparing and contrasting historical events that happened in both years on that date.

History is taught in schools and parents support their children’s learning at home. As early as Kindergarten, children become aware that they hold a special and unique place in history. They begin by asking questions and investigating their family roots and what makes them unique. Parents, by adding personal history details to the historical facts develop a sense of identity and a valued place in the family tree. Some families have members who were actually present when a president made his inaugural speech, others may have seen the astronauts of the fifth human spaceflight walk to Apollo 11.

In the early years children are read stories of how others live in different parts of the world. Teachers often invite guests to visit and talk about past times or share memories and experiences. Parents provide access to a wealth of historical activities and learning experiences throughout their children’s lives. Parents support their child’s acquisition of historical knowledge and ensure that learning about history is enjoyable.

Children are constantly asking questions of their parents. Questions that begin with why, questions to find out information and questions to clarify their thinking. Researching questions together is a fabulous way for parents to teach their children effective ways to access historical information. Learning together is great fun and parents can generate questions too!

History teaching happens at home and at school. Questions asked need clear, explicit answers and the internet is the best place to go when your knowledge base is not robust. Students soon begin to understand how things that happened as recently as yesterday can influence their lives. Meal times are a good time to share and pool knowledge. Play a wondering game where each person asks a wondering question. I wonder why the Great Wall of China was built, I wonder why Hannibal used elephants when he took his army across the Alps.

Thousands of historical events have happened in this world. History is fascinating and developing and supporting a child’s interest in the subject can be extremely rewarding and fulfilling. There are numerous ways to foster a love for or interest in history. Some will be expensive but most will have no cost. A thirst for historical facts and details will most certainly result in a broad general knowledge and proficient information gathering skills.

Warm regards

Columbia Lee

For the Team

www.mightydigitaldownloads.com  

Columbia Lee, an educator, asserts that history is a vitally important part of children’s formal and informal education. Parents need to help their children learn history at home. Knowledge of history has far-reaching benefits beyond understanding people, dates and events. Help your child learn history.

While listening to the eulogy delivered at the celebration of my Grandmother’s long life, my mind wandered to my childhood and her stories about family history. I wondered if Grandma’s vivid imagination made our ancestors seem more exciting than they were.

Grandma’s stories were the only family history I knew. My mother was left a widow when I was very small and she died when I was a teenager. Now that I had grown children, I realized how much I could have learnt from relatives.

As my Gran’s funeral service closed, I determined to use this family gathering to begin my maternal family history research. Not having read anything about researching family history I was unaware how many fruitless, meaningless time consuming journeys I would take, resulting in the accumulation of masses of irrelevant information.

 A family friend who lived next door for more than 50 years attended the celebration of my grandmother’s life. His family had grown up with our family and he was still in robust good health for a 95 year old. The two families enjoyed meals together, playing cards and chatting. Family milestones were celebrated. Both families had in depth knowledge of one another so building a family tree could begin there.

To start building up a list of family history resources, I talked with many people. It was relatively easy to gather anecdotal information as we had lived in the district for four generations. The records of births, deaths and marriages seemed a great starting point for documentation.

 I needed an organized system to create my family tree. Oral histories, written records, photographs, documents and artifacts provided an image of my ancestors’ lifestyle. I got copies of birth, death and marriage records.

My story is probably the same as thousands of people throughout the world. Tracing one’s family tree is not just a wonderful hobby; it is a life-affirming pursuit. What I have learned about my family has built in me a strong sense of pride and place. My life is infinitely richer for searching and knowing my ancestor’s stories.

  Warm regards

Columbia Lee

For the Team

www.mightydigitaldownloads.com

Columbia Lee is fascinated by genealogy.  Ever wondered about your ancestors? Did Aunt Maud die wealthy – without a will? Explore your family history and create your family tree – learn now! The Genealogy Guide is a complete course in tracing family histories.

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