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Friday, June 30, 2017

3 Tricks to Keep Snacking Healthy and Portable












What is a Healthy Snack?

Cookbook writer Anna Thomas said it best when she stated that, "we all eat, and it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat badly”1. We’ve all heard the old saying about spoiling our appetite with a snack. It can be a daunting task to create the correctly portioned and nutritious snack that we desire our children to eat. Some people might think that snacking is even a bad thing for children to do throughout the day.

This isn’t true though!

§  A University of Florida study shows that, “healthy snack choices can provide children with some of the vitamins, minerals, proteins, and calories they need for growth, energy, and overall good health. In fact, healthy snacks can satisfy nutrient gaps and provide up to one quarter of a child's daily energy needs (USDA, “Daily Food Plan,” n.d.). Healthy snacking satisfies hunger between meals, improves concentration, and prevents overeating at mealtime”2.


Three Keys to Providing Healthy Snacks

1.     Make sure that you fill a nutrient gap for the day. (Ex: If you’re having pizza for dinner, provide a snack with carrots to fill the vegetable void.)

2.     Space snacks out so that the timing doesn’t get in the way of a main course.

3.     Review and replace what you have available for them to eat. If you have a cookie jar always full, it shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re constantly choosing the unhealthy alternative.

WARNING: Avoid providing food as a way of calming or rewarding children for something. If you do this, they might get into the habit of acting certain ways to receive a snack, and this could lead to an unhealthy relationship with food.


3 Tricks to Keep Snacking Healthy and Portable

1. Brown Bag It- Never doubt the original way of doing things. These bags can be fun because you can easily customize them with drawings or notes for your kids. They’re also inexpensive and easily portable. And on top of all that, they’re big enough to hold all the healthy snack items your kids enjoy.

2. Make It Fun- One of my favorite snacks growing up was, “Ants on a Log”. All that you needed was celery topped with peanut butter or cream cheese.  My mom would line up raisins to make the “ants”. Alone, I wouldn’t have enjoyed these foods, but when they were all combined to make a fun, creative snack, I was all in. Fun and creative snacks make replacing sugary, high-fat foods much easier. There are all kinds of neat ideas online for creative healthy foods like trail mix or even DIY protein bars. 

3. Reuse It- Tupperware is portable, and most of us use it for leftovers anyways. If you have a little bit of leftovers from the day before that your child liked, you can save money and time by repacking it for their snack. This can be a healthy alternative to throwing a few different junk food items in their backpack.

1Thomson, J. (2013, January 16). The Most Famous And Greatest Food Quotes Of All Time. Retrieved June 11, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/food-quotes-famous-eating_n_2481583.html
2Martinez, J., & Shelnutt, K. (2013, July 1). Raising Healthy Children: The Role of Snacking1. Retrieved June 11, 2015, from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1154

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Rest on Purpose for Greater Effectiveness


















Rev. Solomon Reyes said it best when he wrote, “The lazy makes rest an excuse not to work, but the diligent see rest as means to be more productive. The lazy see rest as the end of work, but the diligent see rest as a necessity to attain greater fruitfulness.” In other words, rest on purpose for greater effectiveness.

The Benefits of Rest

One of the most prominent and interesting studies on resting comes from Harvard medical professor, Dr. Herbert Benson. He saw the benefits of resting through meditation, and decided to do further research on how relaxing can help the body and mind. Through his research, he noticed several beneficial changes taking place, and said, “The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress, and is the opposite of the fight or flight response.”

When your mind rests, you can return to work with clear thoughts. With a calmed mind, you’ll be able to refocus on your tasks and create progress. Rest will also leave you in a state of peace with far less anxiety which can make you much happier and less agitated, sad, or overwhelmed.

Amazingly, Dr. Benson's team also discovered anti-inflammatory responses during rest that reduced stress and relaxed muscles. The body doesn’t have to take in as much oxygen during rest because there is no hyperventilating due to stress, blood pressure is much lower, and muscles relax.

Consequences of Not Taking a Breather

Per Dr. Benson, the immediate side effects of not resting include, “Irritability, memory loss, drowsiness, trouble concentrating, blurry vision, impaired judgement… and reduced glucose metabolism.” It becomes increasingly difficult to do jobs correctly if you try to work straight through and not take breaks.

The long-term problems associated with overworking are even worse, and include, “Raised blood pressure, suppressed immune system, increased risk of heart attack and stroke, infertility, and a sped-up aging process. Long-term stress can rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.”

6 Ways to Rest Productively 

Author Tony Schwartz recommends active or passive renewal (rest) after every 90 minutes of focused and productive work. Here are 6 ways you can rest productively.

Meditation: Taking some deep breaths while you close your eyes can be a quick and simple recovery method. You will slow your heart rate and clear your mind. Maybe count back from 10 slowly, or let your mind drift somewhere else to reach a state of calmness. For a simple, guided meditation, click here.

Naps: Naps may seem like the ultimate, lazy way to get out of working, but they’re one of the healthiest things that you can do for yourself. When you take a nap, you increase your metabolism, retain more information, and get an extra boost to recharge your battery or make up for lost sleep.

Music: Several studies have shown that listening to music can be beneficial to your overall psychological health. A good tune can change your mood and take your mind away from something that is worrying you. 

Read: Excerpts from a text or poem can take you to a positive state of mind. Books and stories let your imagination flow. Non-fiction can be a great way to increase literacy, and get your mind of your daily tasks.

Journal: A journal can be a way to get troubling thoughts out of your mind, and off your chest. You can vent about anything, and clear your worries by getting your concerns out of your head onto paper.

Exercise: Any form of movement that gets your blood pumping will release endorphins and improve mental clarity. Try going for a walk or jog over your lunch break, or take a few minutes to do body-weight exercises between classes. 


Not taking breaks from the tension that our daily activities bring can lead to some major problems, both now and down the road. To avoid the consequences of stress and fatigue, you’ve got to take a break! Create a relaxation strategy and get the recovery you need to be productive, happy, and healthy.