ZBB Family Stories: A Nutritional Miracle Happened at Our House
In this new series – “How we ZBB” – we will be featuring real stories from real ZisBoomBah member families. Share with us how ZisBoomBah changes habits at YOUR house too – e.g. through playing the Pick Chow! game, reading articles on raising healthy eaters or using The Challenger Calendar to get your healthy family lifestyle on track. Your family story could be published right here on our blog. What’s more, every month, we will highlight one of the family stories in the ZisBoomBah email newsletter – if yours gets picked, you win a fantastic prize.
How we ZBB: A Family Story by Lesley (Mom), Morgan and Taylor Valentine, La Quinta, Calif.
How the kids and I use ZBB: Taking time each day and week to plan meals is important in our family for two reasons. One, our budget and two, our menu. The last year has been awesome in our kitchen, because Morgan and Taylor have taken a supreme interest in the preparation and cooking of the meals. We have started using ZisBoomBah and the educational games & information it provides to make better choices and inspire creativity for shopping and meal planning.
Benefits: The benefits have been astounding. I didn’t remotely expect my 5-year-old twins to fully understand the concept of the “plate” in the Pick Chow! game but they totally get it. It makes meal planning easier and allows the kids to begin to comprehend why I assemble their plates the way that I do, plus why it is important for them to eat some of each.
Impacts: I was blown away last week when we started discussing meals for the day and Morgan emphatically reminded me, “Don’t forget the veggies Mommy!! Taylor wants Brussel sprouts & I want Broccoli!!” I feel like a nutritional miracle happened in our house that day. They each got their request, by the way. Now for each meal and snack we play “the game” to figure out if it is going to fill our “plate” correctly. They have a conceptual understanding of what they should be eating.
Why we use ZBB: We (I) use ZBB to stay abreast of current trends and educational materials available to help teach my kids healthy eating habits. It is very important to me that they not only know what they are supposed to be incorporating into their diet, but why. It is very difficult to deliver this to young children, but I feel like ZBB is a great place to start. My girls are just now old enough to grasp the concepts the game introduces and I am so glad it is going well. I want to give my support to any organization that positively influences wellness behaviors in future generations. I feel that ZBB is a valuable organization, backed and supported by people that genuinely want to make a difference, and worthy of my time and influence upon my family.
Game we use: We use Pick Chow!
The game helps our Family by… In addition to the before mentioned benefits, the game brings some family together time, opens discussions about food, and educates our children about unusual foods or foods they haven’t tried before. One thing that I have noticed that really makes me happy is that my daughter will hold her hand up to my husband and say, “Wait! I don’t want more butter on my toast. That is enough. I want to make sure I save room for the healthy stuff!”
