Local McDonald's in Flint, Michigan, to Hold Meetings to Help Busy Moms Eat Healthy

When you think of eating McDonald's, you think of French fries, double cheeseburgers loaded with condiments, those ice cream McFlurries. But eating healthy?
The legendary fast-food chain has been holding meetings across Michigan in support of their healthier menu choices. For instance, apple slices can replace the sundae topped with hot fudge, or a chicken sandwich or salad can replace that high in fat cheeseburger.

The help is welcomed by many busy moms, including Jenny Thompson of Swartz Creek who is changing her profession. Thompson is making the transition of being a teacher to being a mom of two that will be home-schooled. So healthy eating is important more now than before.

Parenting expert Erica Loomis told a handful of moms of the Flint area on Tuesday night that fitting in good eating habits and exercise are very possible while working a full time job as she stressed the fact she's a mother of eleven children.

Of course she doesn't have time to cook healthy meals every night, or cook at all some nights, but stressed the simple trick is to plan. She described her dinners to those moms at a local McDonald's on Linden Rd. in Flint Township.

Erica doesn't make dinner complicated. But when she has the time, she grills extra chicken breasts and freezes them. She later uses them in pastas or eats as a snack with her favorite dipping sauce.

"Moms think that cooking healthy meals for their families is too time consuming. What they don't realize is how fast and easy it really can be," Erica told the group of moms attending the chat.

Aside her quick fix meals that are healthy, exercising is never out of the question.

"Though I raise eleven children and work, exercise is an important part of my life," she says. "Instead of going out to a gym or joining an exercise class, I have DVDs that I interact with."

The parenting expert was brought in by McDonald's to stress the importance of good eating and how easy it is in today's hectic world. The meetings were developed in support of McDonald's campaign of including healthy low calorie and fat foods such as the apple slices in their menus.

"We know life gets busy when you balance out work and a family. Our goal is to help you make better choices in what you eat," Samantha Cook, owner of several local Flint McDonald's says.

The chats have been set up across Michigan, including several local meetings set up by Cook.