Healthy eating for the kids made easy
Today I have the opportunity to interview Laura De Simone, author of ‘Serve It Up’ and owner of De Simone Health and Fitness in the D.C. area. Laura’s new book can be helpful to parents who have trouble balancing healthy meals for their family. She has agreed to stop by and answer some questions for us.
Today I have the opportunity to interview Laura De Simone, author of ‘Serve It Up’ and owner of De Simone Health and Fitness in the D.C. area. Laura’s new book can be helpful to parents who have trouble balancing healthy meals for their family. She has agreed to stop by and answer some questions for us.
1) Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting with us today. Please, Laura, tell us a little about yourself.
First off, I’d like to thank you Judy for giving me this opportunity to share about myself and my book. I am the owner of a fitness company in the D.C. area named De Simone Health and Fitness LLC that I founded in 2007. For the last 5 years, I have focused primarily on in-home personal training and group exercise classes for teachers and staff members in the local public schools. I have a team of 30 wonderful certified personal trainers, yoga instructors and zumba instructors who work with me every day to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we serve.
'Serve it Up - A Parents Guide to Kid-Friendly Portions'
Photo credit:
Photo from Amazon.com
2) What is the title of your book and what qualifies you to write it.
The title of my book is Serve It Up, A Parent’s Guide to Kid-Friendly Portions. I have a B.S. in Exercise Science, I am a certified personal trainer, strength and conditioning specialist, and started a health and fitness company five years ago. My company works with kids, teenagers, and adults on improving their exercise and lifestyle habits and we have had the pleasure of teaching more than 1,000 individuals since 2007. My passion has always been finding simple yet effective solutions to guide people towards a healthier lifestyle. My hope is that my new book can do just that.
3) Tell us how this book will benefit my readers?
This book teaches parents that portion control is important. For example, does your 7 year old sedentary daughter need the same amount of calories as your 12 year old active son? The reality is no, but how much more food does your son need? Many people do not know the answer to this question, or for that matter, where to even begin in making sure children are receiving the calories they need. Every five years, the USDA releases recommended calorie count that every child should aim to eat daily. These calorie counts are determined by the child's age, gender and activity level. Serve It Up, uses the USDA Nutritional Guidelines and gives you 50 popular, kid-friendly meals in the appropriate serving sizes.
As you know, today many homes have two working parents and it is harder to provide healthy, home-cooked meals than in the past. Children are often busy with school, sports and after-school activities and because of this schedules are busy and it is easier for parents to feed their children prepared foods. In addition, some children are reluctant to try new foods and many parents feel guilty giving into fast and processed foods. This book will help alleviate some of that guilt! Many fast and processed foods items, if served in the proper portions, can still help children maintain a normal body weight and body mass index (BMI).
4) What inspired you to write this kind of book?
I want people to recognize there is no one-way to approach childhood obesity. Just because you don’t cook or can’t afford fresh produce at every meal, doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to keep your children healthy. Childhood obesity is a growing problem in our country, and it’s scary to see the numbers of juvenile diabetes and child-related health issues rise. I wanted my book to find a way to help parents learn about portion control and caloric needs based on their child’s needs and activity level. I know if I can help one parent control their child’s weight, it will be worth it.
5) Do you have any other projects in the works?
I am working on creating a kindle version of the book and a second edition that will include even more foods and meals. I am open to suggestions on new foods so please use my contact information below to send ideas my way!
6) What do you do when you’re not writing?
When I am not writing, I am training clients, running fitness classes and working full
time running my health and fitness business.
time running my health and fitness business.
7) Where can people find your books?
You can find my book at Amazon.com
No comments:
Post a Comment