Whenever I'm trying to watch what I eat, I keep a food diary.  I find that writing down every single thing I eat keeps me from overeating, mostly because it doesn't seem worth popping a cookie into my mouth if I then have to find my list, write it down and calculate the calories.  I find that it also keeps me very aware of how much fruit, veggies, whole grains, dairy and protein I've eaten throughout the day. Recently, I started making lists of what my son eats each day as a way of double-checking that he is getting enough of the five food groups.  Check out a typical day in the culinary life of my 15 month old.

A few things before we begin:

*Our sippy cups are 8 oz. Nubys

*We still give him only whole milk, as directed by our pediatrician.  Older toddlers may be ready to drink low-fat milk.  Check with your child's doctor.

*My son only has 4 1/2 teeth, so that often limits what I can/will feed him, though we try to make the food we eat as user-friendly as possible so he can share our meals.

*My son does not care for sweets, like cookies or cake.  I'm not one to deprive him of treats;  I offer and he generally refuses.  I'm not sure where he got that, as his dad and I LOVE our sweets! 

 A Toddler's Food Diary

6:30am:  Breakfast

• 4 oz. Banana Yo Baby Yogurt with 1/3 cup Multigrain cereal
• 1/2 Nutri-grain blueberry waffle
• 1 sippy cup of milk

9:40am:  Morning Snack

• 1 sippy cup of water
• 1 whole pear, peeled and cubed
• ~6 Goldfish crackers (the rest of the bowl is fed to me by the toddler)

12:30pm:  Lunch

• 1/2 sippy cup water
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pasta shells with marinara sauce, mushrooms, ground turkey and shredded mozzarella cheese (my guy LOVES mushrooms)
• 1/2 cup (maybe more) fresh blueberries

1:45pm: 

• 1 sippy cup of milk (after playing outside)

3:20pm:  Afternoon Snack

• 6 oz. low-fat mango yogurt

6:00pm:  Dinner

• 1 slice of meatloaf (made with ground beef and lots of veggies)
• 2 tablespoons of mashed potatoes
• 2 helpings (a total of about 3/4 cup, I'd say) baby lima beans
• A few chunks of watermelon
• 4 oz. Apple Carrot Juice mixed with 4 oz. water

7:30pm:  Bedtime

• 4 oz. milk

Parents of toddlers, what are your kids eating?

Follow Jen's adventures at Hey, Y'all, a blog about motherhood, theatre and, naturally, food.  Be sure to check out her weekly feature, Comfort Food Saturday!