Caledonia family featured in Women’s Day magazine

    Steven and Nicole Flint and their four children, Madeline, Sasha, Gillian and Kevin are featured in the November 11, 2008 issue of Women’s Day magazine. The Caledonia family participated in a feature story about improving their activity and eating habits for overall good health. The story is titled, "Help My Family Get Healthy."

   Nicole Flint, an elementary teacher at Caledonia-Mumford Central School, learned from her mother-in-law that the magazine was looking for families interested in participating in the story.

   "My mother-in-law said I should submit my story on why I think my family should be included in this story," the mother of four said.

   In January 2008, Flint emailed her interest to the magazine editors, telling them of her family’s improved diet, fitness activities and her resulting 30-pound weight loss. She also told Women’s Day about their 11-year old daughter, Sasha’s, management of her type 1 juvenile diabetes through diet and exercise.

   She learned in February that her family was among 12 finalists for the story. The editors later pared it down to three families, the Flints, a family from Missouri and a family from North Carolina. The entire interview and editing process was conducted through email.

   One of the perks of being included in the story was working with a nutrition specialist, which was assigned by Women’s Day. Kim Gorman from the University of Colorado at Denver, a registered dietician, exercise physiologist and diabetes educator, worked closely with the Flint family on diet and exercise. She provided the family with many easy to incorporate tips. For one thing, Flint says in order to keep fresh foods on hand for her family, she has to grocery shop two times a week rather than once. When she gets the fresh fruits and vegetables home, she washes and cuts them up and stores them in clear sealed containers in the refrigerator.

   "This way, the kids can easily see the foods when they open the refrigerator and they are more likely to reach for something healthy," says Flint.

   Sasha was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in November 2001. Overall, she is healthy but has battled various infections at the site of her insulin pump. Nicole says her daughter’s diabetes has made the whole family more aware of what and when they are eating. Meal times include less prepared foods and more fresh, homemade foods.

   "We’ve always eaten our meals together and the kids have always been good vegetable eaters. We have increased our proteins in the morning and have regular healthy snacks throughout the day," she explained.

   Physical activity is a priority in the Flint family and a necessary building block to overall wellness. A family of four children is busy but Steve and Nicole don’t allow their children to watch television during the week and they have include regular times in the evening for the children to go to the basement and play some sort of physical activity. Flint says it may simply be just bouncing a ball, but it gets them moving and helps them to work off their energy.

   The family wore pedometers to track their steps and incorporated creative ways to attain their goals such as taking the long way to their daily destinations.

   Nicole says her family has enjoyed their participation in the Women’s Day story and has adopted many of the ideas they learned from working with Gorman.

   "I feel good to be able to help other families. It’s always fun to learn new things," says Nicole.

   For more information about how you and your family can improve your health, log on to www.americaonthemove.org and for great healthy recipes, log on to www.eatingwell.com