Attention Athletes!

If you’re an athlete and you are looking to improve your training levels or your overall athletic ability check out Sarah Coughlin’s blog called Fueling Your Day. Sarah’s blog provides athletes of all ages tips and advice for improving their diet.

The blog is easy to read and provides useful suggestions for improving one’s health. Sarah’s blog also features many links to useful websites and apps that can help athletes improve performance levels. The best part about this blog is that it not only helps athletes, but as well as anyone looking to improve their lifestyle.

As someone who works with elementary and middle school children I would also recommend this blog to students. The content is easy to follow and includes information that can be helpful for students who are interested in learning about nutrition related topics.

Calling All Parents!

If your looking for a great way to get your children or students excited about eating healthy foods you must check out the app Cooking Fun For Kids: Healthy Playful Recipes, Food Games, and Videos for Families by Bean Sprouts. This fantastic resource is a great way for children to learn about nutrition through a variety of different formats.

I would recommend this app to any parent because it makes learning about nutrition fun for your child! The videos and games included are interactive and informative for children. I also think the recipe tutorials are very appealing to children and will get them excited about making healthy meals at home.

This app is able to captivate children’s attention levels by involving them in the recipes. Teaching children how to cook their own meals and create their own snacks will get them excited about eating healthy. Children are creatures of habit. If you can make healthy cooking with your kids a weekly event they will be more likely to eat nutritious foods as they grow into young adults.

This app can also be a great resource for school snack ideas. Most of the recipes are simple and can be packed as a school snack or lunch!

Protein Packed Salads

Want a delicious way to vamp up your child’s salad? Add some protein to it to help your child grow strong and stay healthy. Salads often get a bad rap because of their bland flavor and leafy texture. Adding chicken, steak, beef, or fish to your salad will not only help your child eat more vegetables but will fill their bellies with real, natural food.

Salads with protein can be sent to school with your child for lunch or a small snack. To help save time use leftover meat from the night before as a source of protein. Protein foods help children:

• Build strong muscles
• Grow and maintain cells
• Improve metabolism
• Consume “good” calories

Many children may be reluctant to eat certain meats. Here is a list of other protein sources that your child may enjoy as a salad topper:

• Cheeses
• Cottage cheese
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Eggs
• Broccoli
• Beans

Check out this link for more protein packed snack ideas

 

Fueling Up Naturally

Parents do their best to fuel up their children with healthy breakfast food that will provide them with the energy to think and play while at school. However, when 10am comes around and children are ready to recharge, they need to count on a healthy, natural snack to get them through until lunchtime.

As parents, finding the time to prepare healthy snacks can be difficult. It is easier and more economical to pack children with to go bags of chips or granola bars. But are those foods setting up your child for success in the classroom?

The answer is NO! Mechanically processed food is usually loaded with sugar or high fructose corn syrup. This type of food can cause children to:

•  Become restless and inattentive
•  Miss out on important nutrients
•  Gain weight

Instead try sending your child to school with all-natural snacks like fresh fruits and veggies. Fruits and vegetables that are high in potassium are great choices because they will give your child the proper brainpower to succeed at school. Examples include oranges, bananas, apricots, avocados and melons.

As we all know it can be difficult to convince youngsters to consume fruits and vegetables. If this is the case with your child try packing other natural foods for snack time. Foods like chicken, nuts, turkey, and eggs can be brought to school in small containers and eaten in between meals.

In order to be successful with natural foods for snack start slow and add them to your child’s lunch box gradually.

Check out this site for all-natural snack ideas!