Back To School Lunches

As summer winds down, parents across the country are thinking about all kinds of kid-related things before sending their child off to school once again. Visions of backpacks, notebooks, school clothing, and other supplies are at the forefront of parental minds but one of the most important factors of a child’s school day is often a last thought effort.

The school lunch has gone a bit techno in recent years. School cafeterias use credit card-like devices to take lunch money and allow parents to check out what their kids are eating each day. Sadly, many parents to not take full advantage of computer network that displays a child’s food choices. Some systems even allow parents to not only monitor their choices but also allows them to block certain food items, like junk foods. Parents who are not looking to see what a child is eating can be assured that on some level the child is not always doing what is preferred in the food arena. Peer pressure at all ages of school children can be hard to resist.

So what can you do to improve the lunch time battle?

Monitor and Discuss
Make a habit of checking out what your child orders for lunch as often as you can. When you seem some choices that are not in the healthy category, ask your child about it. Don’t yell and fuss but rather discuss with them what healthier options might be available instead. Children may not realize what constitutes junk food or understand why it is not the healthiest choice for them.

Make Compromises
Denying a child from all junk food is likely to make the more curious and more sneaky about getting their junk food fix. Be flexible in letting the child make their own decisions and allow a candy bar now and again to take out the curious factor. However, when they do indulge in their sweet treats, encourage them to brush their teeth afterward to prevent cavities.

Eat Right At Home
Parents who eat healthy, nutritious meals at home with your family. Kids who see parents making healthy food choices may be more inclined to do so themselves. Don’t keep too much temptation in the home either. Always have fresh fruits and vegetables available for snacking and after school snacks.

Pack Right
If you prefer to pack your child’s lunch or if your school does not offer lunch programs, you should always remember to plan ahead when selecting groceries. A rushed parent may be more likely to grab quick pre-packaged meals that are not very nutritious. Get a little creative with your packing as well. Little kids will love fruit cut in funny shapes and other inventive ways parents devise to keep brown bag lunches fun. Also the availability of insulated lunch boxes allow for refrigerated items like yogurt and fruits to be sent along for lunch.

Involve the Children
Older school children may not want to be a part of any idea you have but getting your kids involved in creating fun snacks and lunch time foods can help make it less dramatic to train your kids to avoid junk and eat healthier. Teaching kids early any life lesson and then doing it yourself as a parent will help your child to grow up with the right knowledge that may be less influenced by growing peer pressures.

How To Choose a Healthy Cereal

Cereal has been a beloved food for many generations by kids and adults alike. Most kids go for the sweeter, more colorful, more fun free prize kinds of cereals. So do many adults. It can be a hard item to resist at the grocery store. The marketing tactics are big business for the cereal industry. However, when choosing a good and healthy cereal for your breakfast, you have to start looking beyond the box and the gimmicks and head straight for the nutritional label. It can seem a bit of an annoyance to have to review all the choices we have these days plus add the labels to the mix but once you start doing it, you will find it makes it easier to make healthier choices.

Cereal is often eaten as breakfast or as a snack so choosing a healthy kind will ensure you are eating well all day long. On the contrary, if you are choosing not-so-healthy cereals to eat, you are filling your body up with empty calories, a load of sugar, and not much nutritional value in your diet.

When choosing a cereal, you need to look for various factors to make sure that one cereal covers a lot of bases. One of the factors at the forefront of cereal is to find one that is made with whole grains. Eating whole grains can improve your health and has been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease. You should have at least one serving of whole grains per day but more is better. Cereals made with refined grains haven’t been shown to have any health benefits at all. Whole grains have also been shown to help with weight reduction.

You also want to find cereals that is low in sugar. To do so, look at the ingredients list on the nutritional guide. If sugar is listed in the top few ingredients, the cereal likely has a lot of sugar. The farther down on the list of ingredients, the lower the amount of sugar. You also want to read the label to look for cereals with no saturated fat or trans fats.

Many people feel that when you take all those things away, you will only find a cardboard-tasting cereal that you will not want to eat. However, there are many tasty cereals that are nutritious and the varieties keep expanding. Getting creative, you can add taste and extra nutrition by incorporating fresh fruit into your meal. You can also add nuts or dried fruits.

Eating a fulfilling and nutritional breakfast is a great start to any day. Eating the right kind of breakfast will help you maintain energy and avoid the mid-morning sugar slump. Even kids can learn to enjoy healthier cereals instead of getting addicted to sugary from a young age. They just need the encouragement and the good example set by their parents and will likely follow their lead.

Diet Plans

Diet plans! Atkins, Body for Life, Nutri-System, Take Shape for Life, Weight Watchers, The Zone–just a few of the many programs to help you lose weight. How can you possibly decide which one is right for you? How can you determine their value?

Disclaimer 1: As you’ll read with any plan, consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.

Corollary to Disclaimer 1: Get a physician.

Does your weight yo-yo up and down when you go on and come off plans? I will take some in-depth views of the different plans and give you the pros and cons of them, from my perspective. I have battled weight issues for over 20 years, lost 40 pounds on one plan almost 10 years ago, only to see 30 of them return!

The first plan I will look at is called Take Shape for Life, and uses the Medifast products.

Disclaimer 2: I am currently using this plan, which is why I’ve chosen it to lead off the discussion. I know people who have been successful with several other plans, so I am striving to be as objective as possible, and when it sounds like I’m getting into a sales pitch, I’ll mention that and make my best attempt to back off!

If you are interested, I am currently blogging about my life on this plan here. After 48 days on the plan I lost 25 pounds!

What is the Take Shape for Life plan and what is it good for? The plan is a low-calorie, low-carb, high-protein diet for those who want to lose 25 pounds or more, in a short time, and keep it off. It is designed for those who don’t want to think about what they are going to eat and either aren’t cooks or don’t want to spend a lot of time preparing food. In other words, it fit all of my requirements!

Not all, actually. I also look for a plan that has balance, that isn’t focused on one ingredient or one food to reverse bad eating habits that I would continue to follow. In a discussion with an uncle of mine, he mentioned that one author said the problem with America was that the people wanted to continue unhealthy and self-destructive habits and just add a pill or supplement to counteract them and keep them out of trouble. I thought, yeah, we want to have our cake, and eat it too!

My top 5 criteria in choosing a plan:

1. Must have a variety of foods to choose from, with balanced nutrition

2. Preparation time should be minimal (whether I choose the foods or they supply them)

3. Must be easy to follow (there’s my cake!)

4. Should not be too expensive (I can’t afford a private nutritionist!)

5. Should have a plan for maintenance after my weight-loss goal has been achieved.

I will use these criteria in reviewing the different plans.

Other factors that influence me:

I’ve read The China Study and have tried to follow Vegan diets in the past. I don’t eat red meat intentionally, though I’ve had a slice of pepperoni pizza once or twice a year. I don’t eat much meat either, though chicken is awfully difficult to give up. I would say I eat meat maybe twice a week, on average.

The Facts Of Glutamine

Glutamine is one of the 20 amino acids (protein building block) formed by the human body.  It is considered a non-essential amino acid and one of the only amino acids which directly crosses the blood-brain barrier.  It can be found in the body circulating in the blood and stored in the skeletal muscles.  While it is naturally formed by the human body in some situations such as injury or illness it may become essential to supplement glutamine by taking supplements or eating foods which contain glutamine acid.  Glutamine and glutamine acid is found in protein rich foods such as fish, red meat, beans, nuts and dairy products.

What Does Glutamine Do for the Body?
When you body needs more glucose as an energy source it will convert glutamine into glucose.  Your body also used glutamine to control blood sugar levels, improve mental function and maintain muscle mass.  Serving as a source of fuel for the cells lining your intestines glutamine plays an important role in preventing these cells from wasting away.  Glutamine is used by white blood cells and plays an important role in the immune system.  It has been known to reduce healing time after operations.

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Are You Getting Enough Of These Valuable Superfoods In Your Diet?

Everyone knows the importance of diet and exercise in the overall health of our bodies.  What many people are just learning about are the positive benefits of certain superfoods.  With increased research and technology scientists have discovered that there are a group of foods called “superfoods” that are rich in certain nutrients, having high levels of antioxidants that help your body fight damage from free radicals.  If you are not familiar with the basic superfoods and how they can benefit your health take a few minutes to go over the following list to see how eating a diet rich in these foods may help reduce the risk of cancer while promoting good cardiovascular health.  Remember that to truly gain the most benefit you must be sure to eat a balanced diet and follow the advice of a medical professional before making changes to you exercise routine or adopting a new diet. Read more