Thinking back to the old Richard Simmon's Deal A Meal commercials I thought I could modify it to help the kids eat better and to make it fun.
Each day the girls get 7 index cards.
~5 Fruit/veggie (1 card = mommy's idea of the serving size)
~2 Water (1 card = 1 bottle of water)
On top of the cards they get every day they get 5 more for the week.
~3 Junk (1 card = snack size portion of cookies or chip, 1 cupcake, 1 small piece of cake)
~2 Soda (1 Card = 1 Soda)
Every Sunday I give them all 12 cards.
They turn the in when they are hungry. They can't ask for a soda if their water cards are there and they can't ask for a junk snack if they have fruit and veggies cards left. They use the fruit/veggie cards everyday. I give them to the girls in the morning. The soda and junk snack they get on Sunday and when they run out they run out. If they use all their Junk in one day they have to eat only healthy foods for the rest of week.
We also have an Exercise card that we keep points on.
15 mins for a walk, bike ride, jumping jacks, running, etc... = 1 point.
When they get to 10 points they get to pick an activity with Mommy or Daddy for special alone time.
The kids are loving it. It's like a card game for them.
This is all just the minimum of good food they should have a day and
maximum of junk for the week. They still have their meals and fruits
and veggies eaten during the meals count to use a card.
Everybody will be happy and healthy and before we know it the kids will be grabbing the fruits and veggies as second nature. Win!