Tag Archives: Meal Plans

Morning Eating Tips for Kids

Morning Tips:
Did you know that what we eat for breakfast can impact our day? This is because breakfast starts our metabolism to make sure that we have energy for:

  • movement
    thinking
    decision making
    learning / studying.

This is especially important for our children. While they are young and playful, it is important that each day they are in school they continue building on their foundation of knowledge. If your child is unfocused, struggling to better understand their class material, or hungry it may be linked to what they are having for breakfast. Try combining some of these foods for a healthier focused mind, all have been shown to have a profound effect on how the brain functions.: Milk, Bananas, Eggs, Wheat Toast, Berries, Walnuts, Sliced Chicken /Turkey.

If your child is getting hungry early on in the school day, introduce products into their breakfast with a small amount of fat from the dairy or meats listed. Additionally, fruits take longer to digest and therefore, provides another benefit to having one out the door.

Listed are recommended foods that you can choose and combine for the first daily meal:

Vitamin B’s: Bresoala, Prosciutto, Ham. Also try Wheat toast (with choice of butter, cream cheese, honey.)
Calcium: Milk, Yogurt, Cheese, Soy, Almonds, Walnuts, Papaya, Oranges, Cactus Pear
Various Vitamins: Banana, Orange, Apples, Berries, Pears, Melon

Fast Food on your clock!

7 Tips, 7 Recipes under 7 minutes!

 

Operating under the daily stress of working outside or within the home or trying to get a decent meal to the table in minutes can seem impossible!   You can prepare a meal in less time than what it takes to call “Take Out” drive back and forth picking up the meal. 

Cooking a meal in less than 10 minutes requires having a few staples on your shopping list and placed into your pantry on a weekly basis: Olive oil, garlic, a couple of onions, capers, olives, canned legumes, pepper flakes, hummus. Dried fruits and Nuts. Dried or Fresh herbs: rosemary, parsley, cilantro, arugula, and basil.

Always begin by washing fruits and vegetables. Place produce into a large bowl filled with water and 2 tbsp baking soda.  Rotate them in the water and take them out as needed. 

 

  1. Vanilla yogurt with flaxseed, nuts or diced fruits make a quick snack or a great dip for fruits and vegetables.
  2. For sandwiches buy a multi gain baguette and switch things up by drizzling oil, pepper, oregano onto bread, then add arugula or cilantro in addition to your other toppings. 
  3. Keep boiled eggs in the refrigerator to combine with salads, sandwiches or as a snack.
  4. Fresh fruits add taste to your meals: cherries, grapes, apples, and apricots. Washed lemons and limes for water.
  5. Vegetables cook fast:  Asparagus, cherry / grape tomatoes, Olives, Mushrooms, sliced carrots, fresh beans.  Bag of lettuce, Cucumbers, Sliced fennel or Celery.
  6. Cheese favorites:  Parmesan or feta cheese
  7. Thinly sliced: Chicken, Sirloin Tip Fish fillet all can cook within 5 minutes!

 

Here are some great recipes that can be quickly brought together in less than 7 minutes. 

7 Easy Recipes under 7 minutes!  https://eatknowhow.wordpress.com/recipes/

Burning Calories and Eating Healthy, Lifestyle Change!

The following MEAL PLAN is recommended for anyone and provides the daily intake of minerals and nutrients that your body needs to stay strong and healthy.  You can absolutely lose weight on this diet!  It’s loaded with fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and fat.  Most do not realize that eating vegetables is a trick to weight-loss, due to the amount of energy your body utilizes to metabolically break them down. 

As with any food that one consumes, read the food label to understand what a serving size is before over loading your plate and understand your meal plan when planning your grocery shopping list. 

Follow the suggested catagory on the left column for fruit, vegetable, meat, or bread.  The right side of the column provides just a few suggested food items.  (LS or Low Sodium is heighly recommended for weightloss.)  Vegetarians may choose meat substitutes, Tofu, beans, nuts or eggs.

Breakfast
Bread or Cereal…. Oatmeal LS, Total Cereal, Cheerios
Fruit…………………..Apple, Orange, Pear, Apricot, Banana, Cherries, Berries
Milk……………………Skim or 1% (8 oz), Low or nonfat Yogurt

Snack am
fruit (1-2 of choice.  1 fruit is 1 serving size), or Blend 2-3 Fruits with 4 oz OJ 

Lunch
Vegetable……………Cole Slaw, Green Salad, Veggie Salad, Pepper sticks, Broccoli
Vegetable……………LS Cream of Potato Soup  (Choice of Soup, Salad, Vegetable)
Meat (3 ounces)………Tuna, Turkey, Herring, Salmon, Beef, Chicken
Vegetable…………..(Any) Twice baked sweet potato, Aparagus saute’ EVOO & Garlic
Fruit……………… …Fruit Salad or Fruit of Choice, (Avocado & Tomato seasoned, EVOO)

Snack pm
1 0z …………………..nuts or seeds (unsalted)
Milk…………………. 1% Skim or 4-6 oz low or nonfat yogurt

Dinner
Meat (3 Ounces)………………. Chicken Patty, Pork, Beef, Fish, Turkey,
Bread……………… (Bread is optional.  Choose whole grain or wheat bread.)
Vegetable………..Lettuce, tomato and onion (cooked or raw)
Vegetable……….. Baked beans
Fruit………………. Kiwi-Strawberry or a  LS, Reduced sugar content Dessert acceptable i.e. Sherbert

Do your research before starting on a Meal Plan and altering your dietary intake.  Remember to consult with your Doctor or Dietitian so that you can make the necessary changes to a healthier lifestyle. Include various types of exercise (walk, bike swim, roller blade, team sports) to promote bone, muscle and metal health. 

For more information on how to enhance Lifestyle Change read: “How to nutritionally and effectively Down Shift to 1350 Calories per day”; “How Tea’s effect weightloss” and Flatten your Tummy for a Poolside Silohouette“.  There are a few respectable weightloss programs such as USANA’s Macro Optimizer, Reset,  which provides nutritional supplements, so that you can achieve your goal weight effectively.  Check out the various types of Meal Plans and if you should (Avoid Sports Drinks?)  It’s a 310 calorie article you don’t want to miss!

By: Kimberly Crocker-Scardicchio

Literature Research

http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/fruit-nutrition-chart.htmlhttp://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=116#stemhttp://www.ifanca.org/newsletter/2002_07.htmhttp://ezinearticles.com/?Calorie-Shifting-Meal-Plan&id=870062http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15930970?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17412526? ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed

Down Shift to 1350 Calories

Many people are interested in Calorie Shifting.  Not knowing how to properly reduce certain nutrients makes it a dangerous diet.   A 2000 calorie diet is what the average person is recommended to eat on a daily basis.  This provides an individual with an optimal diet, in which the body receives an adaquate amount of nutrition to keep going throughout the day. 
However, 2000 calories can also seem like alot to a smaller frame individual, or someone who is not active, both which would require less caloric intake. There is a healthy way to determine your caloric intake by removing certain foods without bringing on long term detrimental results to your organs, muscles and bones.              Design your 1300-2000 Calorie Meal Plan…Cut calories and stay healthy!  Eat 5 meals a day and have something to drink with and between meals.  Fluids are equally important to a successful diet.

Add 1-2 glasses of water with 1/2 to 1 whole lemon each day.  One may also drink 1-2 cups of tea each day. (Oolong tea burns over 157% more fat than Green Tea and has become the most popular tea designed to accelerate weigh loss). Also read about if you should Avoid Sports Drinks?.

Typical 2000 Calorie Recommended Meal Plan

  • 4 Fruits- 240 calories,  (approx. 60 calories each)
  • 6 Vegetables- 290 Calories, (approx. 48 calories each)
  • 5 servings Bread -200 calories, (Aunt Milles bread has 80 calories per serving)
  • 3 Milk/Dairy -300 Calories, (Approx. 100 calories per serving)
  • 2 Meats or Fish -600 Calories, (Approx 300 calories per 3 ounces)
  • 3 Fats -360 calories.   (Approx. 120 calories per tablespoon)

  • Breakfast
  • Aunt Millies Bread** (whole/multi-grain) or Oatmeal,
  • fruit,
  • 1% or skim milk, 1 tsp healthy fat (Olio butter)
  • Snack
  • fruit,
  • 1 bread (2 graham crackers)
  • Lunch
  • 3 ounce fish or lean meat, 
  • 2 slices of (bread whole or multi-grain), 
  •  salad with 1-2 vegetables Salt/Fat free dressing,
  •  bread, 
  • fruit
  • Snack
  • Vegetable, 
  • Nuts 1 oz (optional protein)
  • Dinner
  • 3 ounce fish or lean meat,
  • 2 vegetables,
  • fruit, pasta/rice (bread), 
  • skim milk, 1 oz no fat cheese (milk), 
  • low fat dessert,
  • Healthy Fat used for cooking i.e. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

**Bread: Recommend Aunt Millies Bread 2  slices is only 1 serving and 80 Calories and will save 200 calories on this Meal Plan!

 Meal Plan with reduced caloric intake. 

NEW Total: 1350 Nutritional Calories, may Reduce Calories by Removing:  

Any 3 Bread servings –160 calories,

1 Meat serving –300 calories,

1 Fat Serving –120 calories,

1 Milk/Dairy –100 calories.

Total removed Calories  -640. 

For more great articles on Nutrition Facts, Health Hints, Dietary Intake and Recipes Eat Know How.

Great Link to Check out for additional help. http://www.montana.edu/health/nutrition/healthyway.html

Tea’s Combat: Weightloss, Anxiety, Cholesterol, High bp

 “Kava kava Tea has been used to treat anxiety/nervous disorders, migraines, hyperactivity in children, insomnia, menstrual cramps, UTI and bladder problems.  Kava was used by the Germans in the 1890s for pharmaceuticals relating to blood pressure; before then, it was utilized by the Polynesians”, based on collected research at A 2 Z Health, Beauty and Fitness.

Today, Kava is used as a non-addictive way to sooth nerves and relax. In , small recommended doses, no side effects have been found for Kava. However, large dosages of Kava can have a sedative effect, which means that one should avoid alcohol, driving, and operating heavy machinery when taking heavy amounts. Talk to your doctor before consuming Kava tea if you have liver disease.

The “kava” lactones, which are the plant chemicals that produce the desired effects, have been studied in the use of relaxing stiff muscles by blocking signals in the user’s nerves.”

Additional safety studies have been done on Kava.  Negative research has been denounced by Polynesian countries who have used  the plant’s health benefit’s for 3000 years.  Leading others to put into question how the plant is processed and sold  in such countries as Germany and Switzerland.  It should also be noted that the Polynesian lifestyle has been recognized for their longevity, to which Kava has been a contributing factor.

Black Tea  is grown from a tree in higher elevations of China, India, Japan, Sri Lanka. The healing benefits of  black tea has been used throughout history for medicinal purposes. It helps relieve diarrhea, lowers cholesterol levels and helps prevent tooth decay. The tea has a therapeutic effect on gastric and intestinal illnesses because of its tannins. To get the maximum benefit for diarrhea let the tea steep for a full 15 minutes.

Black teaimproves circulation,  by opening the capillaries and normalizing blood pressure (bp).  Benefits are noticed by simply drinking 2 cups of black tea 2x’s a day for 3 weeks.  Additional benefits are contributed to the theophylline in black tea that helps improve cholesterol levels. It also has been known to expand the airways, improving on easier breathing for asthmatics.  Black tea also helps with preventing tooth decay due to the Fluoride, a trace element found in black tea, which strengthens tooth enamel.

Oolong Tea  is made by allowing the raw leaves to sun-wilted and bruise, which exposes their juices to the air, so the leaves oxidise and start to turn brown like a cut fruit. They oxidise only partially, giving them a rich, floral flavour. The tea is then dried fully; locking in the rich flavors that oolong tea is known to offer. Oolong’s unique drying process creates a tea that has many metabolic stimulating attributes, therefore, it comes in a wide range of tastes and aromas from teas very close in taste to green tea to those very close to black tea.

Health Benefits

Oolong tea burns over 157% more fat than Green Tea and has become the most popular tea designed to accelerate weigh loss!!!  Drinking two cups of Oolong tea every day helps shed stubborn pounds by boosting your metabolism and blocking the fattening effects of carbohydrates.

Large quantities of polyphenol in Oolong tea:

  • • promotes strong, healthy teeth;
    • improves cognitive functioning and mental well-being;
    • preventing eczema, allergies
    • clarifies your skin, giving it a healthy, radiant glow and
    • strengthens your immune system.
  • Studies show in Japan and USA that it may be an effective adjunct to treating Type 2 Diabetes.

Only three teas have been discussed, however, many varieties are known to bring a wide range of health benefits.  So end your day by unwinding with a cup of Chamomile tea. 

By: Kimberly Crocker

Literature Research

  • Safety of Kava
  • Anon. FDA Issues Warning on Kava Suplement. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 26, 2002.
  • Anon. Kava Use Not Linked to Liver Damage, Report Says. Vitamin Retailer, April 2002.
  • Anon. NNFA Releases Expert Analysis of Kava Safety. Whole Foods, April 2002.
  • Blumenthal, Mark. The Safety of Kava Questioned. Whole Foods, March 2002.
  • Duke, James A. Dr. Duke’s Essential Herbs. New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks. 2001.