Skylar was complaining of some health issues in a sensitive area and I started to do a little research. After I checked her out and did some research online, I came up with my diagnosis :) I was horrified with what I found. What she had was caused by dehydration, lack of excercise and poor diet!! I felt like the worst mom EVER! In all the research I did it was very uncommon for children to have this condition, and that made me feel even worse. Here's where the "all" kicks in! In one fail swoop I completely changed the way our family eats. Out with the enriched flour, high fructose corn syrup, and processed foods. It's hard to change a lifestyle, but when you think your childs health is at risk, it suddenly becomes much easier!!
Now are you ready for the funny part? When I took Skylar to the doctor to get her issue checked out, it turns out I was totally wrong!! :) She didn't have what I thought she did, jokes on me! So here I made this huge lifestyle change, for really no reason at all :) BUT, that doesn't change the fact that I am glad we did. A few weeks later I am seeing that I need balance and to be a little more flexible, but I am still really happy with the changes we have made. I quickly wanted to post some of my favorite things that I have found in our quest to be a little bit healthier, simply in the hopes that you will do the same! What are some healthy things you give your kids to eat? I have a pretty easy time with meals, but snacks are a little bit harder for me. Here are a few of my fave things: (and just a sidenote, I am no nutritionist, but I feel pretty good about giving my kids these things!)
My kids LOVE these Annie's Homegrown Bunny Snacks. They taste just like Teddy Grahams and Goldfish, but they are all-natural and made with whole-wheat flour. You can find them almost anywhere I think, I like to buy the variety pack at Costco.
Yogurt is one of my kids favorite things to eat. I really thought I was giving them a healthy snack, not realizing that the second ingredient listed on Gogurts is high fructose corn syrup! So needless to say I was thrilled when they recently came out with Simply Gogurts. I know, I know, these still have a bunch of sugar, but they did take out all the high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors. Its better at least, right? :)
Finally, we LOVE us some hummus!! I get any old brand of pita bread, bake it in the oven for about 7-10 minutes and bake our own pita chips. My sister in law introduced me to this particular brand from Costco while I was in New York. It is our fave new snack!!
I think one of the biggest obstacles for me when it comes to eating healthy is the financial aspect. Let's get real folks, it ain't cheap!! But after talking to my husband and looking at our budget, we decided to take the money out of our entertainment fund to add to the grocery budget. I feel like it is an investment in our health, one that I am sure will pay off in the long run.
One more sidenote: I don't think there is anything wrong with yummy, unhealthy treats!! The problem in our house is that those kinds of foods were no longer special treats, they were snacks that the kids could eat all day. So take what I am saying with a grain of salt and if you ever have the Johnson's over, don't worry about what we will and won't eat!! I have decided you can't control the situation everywhere you go, and thats just fine!! I am simply trying to teach my children (and really my husband and myself too!) how to live a little bit healthier life :)
Now don't forget when you comment :) to leave me all of YOUR wonderful healthy snack ideas!!
4 comments:
We had an enrichment activity were a lady that's health only allows her to eat raw food...anyway she made us some yummy smoothies and trail mix. My favorite trail mix was on with freeze dried blueberries, dehydrated bananas, yogurt covered raisens and pecans. SO yummy and the kids love it too!
We have starting in January started to eat healthier snacks too. My kids have always been underweight, so I hadn't ever thought about it, until I started eating some of their snacks and just felt blah! So I found a great recipe for granola and we eat it on light yogurt or plain. We also will have an oz. of no salt nuts and a piece of fruit. I started letting my boys pick out fruits and vegis that they wanted to eat/try and they eat way more than they used to. It's a start.
Ohh, we do protein shakes, smoothies, and dried fruits. It is best to do those yourself or find all natural kinds so there is not a ton of sugar.
The kids don't often have snacks in our house - though all we have is a 2 year old that that would apply to right now. But still, I'm happy that we mostly stick to meal times. I have tried being more healthy with meals lately, sneaking some chopped up zucchini into the lasagna & doing most of our meals from scratch.
Since I started shopping the sales & using coupons, I've found that I have kept my food budget the same but increased the amount of food I can buy, including being able to buy more healthy foods that I always felt like stretched the budget too much in the past.
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