Check out Jen Baldini's HFL entries especially today's - August 9th entry - where she assumes she can handle a really tempting restaurant menu and.....well, see for yourselves.

The moral of the story is that you can have a treat as long as you decide on one and add healthier food options during the meal to support that selection!!

Here are some quick habit changes to help you shift your health habits AND your health profile.  Just doing some of these can make a big difference:

Use a smaller dinner plate

Only tossed salda/fruit "family style" - otherwise plate dinners before they hit the table

Always serve a dinner salad first

Switch to 100% whole wheat or high protein pasta

Go vegetarian one night...

Kids as young as 10 should now take cholesterol medications.

Drop the age down to 1 year old for stopping full fat milk and introducing 1% or fat free milk

Women who are normal weight but drink 2 high cal (sugarladen) drinks daily are at risk for diabetes.

Even if you are not a regular news reader or TV news viewer - it's...

The latest headlines:

(1) AAP recommends adult cholesterol medications to children over age 10 with obesity/cholesterol issues though they would prefer lifestyle change.  This book will help families facing this crisis.  Please do change "Healthy Habits for Life" and team up so your child will not face lifelong heart disease and the need for lifeslong medications.

(2) AAP recommends now starting children...

So Burger King has decided to offer "Mac nCheese" as the new healthy selection with low fat milk and apple slices in French Fry cut disguise?? I applaud the milk and apple elements but to me - Mac n Cheese is not necessarily a healthier option.  How about chicken skewers with dipping sauce or fat free yogurt with berries and...

Today my blog is simple.  It's about my HFL family - the Baldini family - and a recent e-mail that I got from Jennifer.  It basically shared with me the fact that every part of the life of this couple has improved from energy levels - to self esteem to------cuddling!!  Yes - there is suddenly lots more enjoyment with cuddling -...

I saw a recent ad that offered pills to help your dog get svelte again.  Ok - folks - if your dog is fat - I CAN point my finger at you and say unequivocably that - You Are the Cause.  Somehow, I guess you'll find that a bit more palatable than me pointing a finger at you and saying...

I want to believe that most of us won' t have out judgement clouded by "trends that promise magic."  Apparently trends - like eating high fiber cookies are the latest gimmick to hit the idet scene.  I get my hair done in a salon where the trends has been at work.  Want to know the typical outcome?? Hairstylists lose lots of...

timely and of serious consequence.

No, I wasn't lucky enough to be personally quoted or have my book reviewed, but it was their choice of the front cover story that gave me great joy.  Because we are in a family crisis and if parents do not begin the embrace the reality that we must examine our own behaviors with food and...

I know the temptation as a parent is to grab something -anything to get that child fed - especially when they are cranky.   I know parents are challenged by the extraordinary multi-tasking that has to go on daily - in order to meet all the demands they face.  But we do need to re-think meals and snacks and at the...

The weekend is always tough - especially if you have the attitude that "I was GOOD Mon - Fri - so I can splurge pn eating  AND not move a whole lot."  Two weekend days of overeating and not working out can X out your efforts during the week.  It's one thing to say "I'll have a small decadent treat...

to Love an apple like a donut???  You don't - nor for the most part can I convince an adult to love an apple as much as they may like McDonalds French Fries.  But that's not the point.  To me the point is to love all foods but realize thaT some foods are meant to be savored occasional treats,...

Look, I 'm all for 100 cal packs and portion controlled "out of the box" treats" but unfortunately when you have couple to several of these daily, you are still often accumulating insidious hidden trans fat, or saturated fat (both artery clogging) or sodium (salt) or other ingredients and additives that do not bode well for your health - when...

So the studies say the obesity epidemic seems to have leveled off - great - so now we'll have a Gen O for Obesity that numbers around 32 million.  Not going to work for me, if I have any say.  I also have to contend with the fact that even when families shift their habits, and see the difference...

Well, this weekend was the book release and the Book Expo America at the LA Convention Center.  I'm delighted to share that I signed over 400 books and......had an absolutely amazing time hearing the "mini stories" of the people who lined up and told me why "they were so happy to see a book with this title."

And here I was...

Great - so "at this rate" we'll just have to contend with 32 million kids overweight or obese.  Not sure how to process that news at all.

But here is a whole other angle to consider.  Once your child is overweight or obese - you have the physical evidence that current habits and behaviors are either creating a stuation where the child...

Well I've birthed a book - and I don't use that term lightly - because it feels like a true birth of a baby with all the labor pains (editing stuff) and episiotomy and stitches (yes, that would be the book cover decisions, indecisions and everything in between) and the baby - whom I am supposed to love....and I do!!

This book...