by Lucy | Jan 18, 2017 | Well Balanced Wisdom
Many parents want to know how they can get their children to eat more vegetables. I work with young families every week and I hear their struggles. They often say, “she loves her fruits and eats them several times a day, but her vegetables…not so much.” I am in the same boat. My two little ones can slam a container of berries in mere seconds. Offer them a new vegetable and they freak.
You’re an informed parent and you have likely heard all the standard tips for helping your picky eater. First of all, you must be a good role model and eat a variety of vegetables yourself. You can get kids to help you in the grocery store and in the kitchen which will improve the chance of them trying a new food. Serve a small portion and encourage your child to try a bite without nagging or forcing. And hopefully, you’ve also read up on the division of feeding responsibilities and you know that understanding the root cause to your child’s unwillingness to try new food is important.
But what is the one little thing I did that got my little girl excited about broccoli again?? You won’t believe this and neither did I when it happened…
The other day before dinner was ready, my 3-year-old was “starving” and I offered her a “broccoli snack.” It was steamed broccoli with parmesan cheese. I had never called this a “snack” before. Her eyes lit up and she eagerly came to the table and devoured her broccoli. What!!? I was so excited that I high-fived my husband and did a victory dance when she wasn’t looking. If I would have known all along that I just needed to say the word SNACK, I would have done it a looong time ago.
This is a great example of how words set the tone for both children and adults. Describe a food with words that trigger a positive association and a chain reaction of positive attitudes and intentions will follow. For example, this report concludes that descriptive labels at restaurants, such as “Grandma’s zucchini cookies” increased sales, quality and taste evaluation scores and restaurant ratings. All from putting the word “Grandma” on the label which for many people trigger happy thoughts.
My children have such a positive association with the word “snack.” Snacks are FUN and FAST. Instead of saying, “Eat your broccoli, it’s healthy and good for you,” I now say “I made some “broccoli snacks.” Other words that get her excited are “cheesy” and “buttery.” If I use those words to describe any food, chances are she will get excited about it.
So, whether you would like to eat more vegetables or you wish your children would, using fun and positive words to describe your food can make a difference.
Food for Thought:
What words are you using to describe your food?
What words would trigger a positive association for you or your children?
by Lucy | Dec 14, 2016 | Well Balanced Wisdom
It’s 2pm and you’re starting to feel exhausted. Your brain is a little slow and you are day dreaming about a nap. There’s a good chance that you are on a sugar crash from all those holiday treats or maybe it’s just been a really long day. You could reach for another sugary pick me up from the break room OR you could try some peppermint tea instead! A study found peppermint tea improves brain function and alertness – a boost we could all use when the afternoon slump has us feeling foggy.
This study took 180 participants and randomly allocated them to receive a drink of peppermint tea, chamomile tea or hot water. Analysis of the results showed that peppermint tea helped improve long-term memory, working memory and alertness compared to both chamomile and hot water. Chamomile tea significantly slowed memory and attention speed compared to both peppermint and hot water.”
From this study, we also see that chamomile tea lives up to its reputation of being a sleepy time tea. Have a mug of it before bed to slow down and relax.
Cheers!
by Lucy | Dec 7, 2016 | Well Balanced Wisdom
Cough, hack, sneeze! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been hearing this everywhere! From work to daycare to friends and family… everyone is coming down with something. It has me thinking about these 3 things we all could be doing to stay well this winter.
Get your Vitamin D level checked. Our vitamin D levels are lowest in the winter months which means we may be missing out on some helpful immune benefits. One research study reported that adults who have low vitamin D levels are more likely to have had a recent cough, cold or upper respiratory infection. There is still a lot of research to be done about vitamin D but we do know that the active form of vitamin D can tame inflammation and boost production of microbe-fighting proteins in your body.
Dietary sources of vitamin D include salmon, tuna, fortified milk or juice, liver, cheese and egg yolks. It is not likely that you will be able to meet your needs through diet alone and the level of vitamin D supplementation you need will depend on your blood level. So talk to your doctor today if you think your vitamin D levels are low. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to be taking a multivitamin that includes some vitamin D.
Stay hydrated. If you are anything like me, a glass of cold water doesn’t sound great this time of year. That’s trouble considering we still need to stay hydrated in the winter months. The good news is we can choose other ways to fill our bodies with the fluids we need. My favorite options? Tea and soup! Now doesn’t Candy Cane Green Tea sound delightful? Or what about unwinding with a little a cup of honey lavender stress relief tea?? And I can’t tell you how excited I am about this new local product for making soups. Thank you, Kate Elia, for transforming high quality, under-appreciated local scraps into a heavenly tasting kitchen staple that I can’t wait to get my hands on for winter cooking.
Move more. The shorter, colder and sometimes gloomy days of winter can encourage us to stay inside at our desk, on the couch or snuggled in bed longer. It can be hard to be as active as we are in the warmer seasons. It’s worth the effort though. Exercise makes you feel healthier and more energetic, it can ward off depression and it keeps our waist line slim. I love to find creative ways to move more in the winter. After sitting for a bit, I will get up and shake my sillies out (can you tell I have a 3 year old?) or I might run to my car instead of walk. Sometimes I do push ups while letting the kids play in the bath tub or do squats while I brush my teeth. These may seem small and insignificant but every lit bit of movement adds up. Of course, it’s also great to do more stretching, walking or a weight-lifting, too.
Food for thought:
What are you doing to stay well this winter?
Tell us:
What is your favorite winter wellness tip?
Looking for an immunity boost in your diet and lifestyle? We can help!
by Lucy | Aug 15, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
If you are persistent, you will get it. If you are consistent, you will keep it.
I spend my spare time at the YMCA of Durham or Chapel Hill. I like to tell people if I’m not outside playing in the woods, I prefer to be playing at the YMCA.
Given my regular presence at the Y, I have the opportunity to see and get to know other people that workout there too. Some of you might remember Bendy Al, who typically works out between 1 – 3 PM. Then there are the highly motivated morning folks getting their sweat on between 5:30 – 8 AM – y’all are crazy and I love it! Not surprisingly, there’s quite the rush around 5 PM for people coming in after work.
If we’ve learned nothing else about making habits over the last 6 weeks, we know the most important part of establishing a habit is consistency. The people that regularly include exercise are the ones that show up around the same time at least a few days per week.
Steps to workout success
Step 1
Identify your energy peak zone – Do you feel energized in the morning or afternoon? What’s your most productive hours of the day?
Step 2
Pick together or flying solo – Decide if you enjoy exercising with a friend, in a group or prefer to use it as your “me time” to listen to some jams and zone out.
Step 3
Decide inside or outside – Some people are highly unmotivated to go to the gym but really enjoy walking in the park or around their neighborhood. That counts too! There are plenty of hiking trails around these parts in North Carolina to explore.
Step 4
Put it on your calendar – Most appointments we put on the calendar become priory. Take a look at yours and find a time to schedule the workouts.
Step 5
Track your awesomeness! My secret reward at the end of the day is to check my iPhone health apps and see how many steps I got that day. If it’s less than 10,000 I can usually take a walk around the block to get there. Maybe you have a Fitbit to keep you motivated? Or perhaps you’d prefer to track based on how your clothes fit or how much weight you can bench press now versus 3 months ago.
Food for thought:
You can’t wish or hope your way into regular exercise or a fit body.
Using the steps above you can create your ideal workout plan and make it happen!
Recipe of the Week: Mason Jar Greek Chicken Salad
It’s moving week!!! (I’m not going far, just back towards SouthPoint)
That means I’m going to need some easy grab-and-go meals. These mason jar salads can be prepared at the start of the week and will stay fresh 5-7 days in the fridge.
This week’s recipe, How to Make Greek Chicken Mason Jar Salad is brought to you by organizeyourselfskinny.com and youtube.com.
