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The 6 Food Fuel Rules for Your Child Athlete

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One of the great things about having a blog is that I can share with my readers the experiences I am dealing with and my personal research on parenting issues and dilemmas because other parents may benefit.

Another wonderful value is the fact that I am sent plenty of resources, information and tips from brands, organizations, the government and other entities. Often times, the info and tips are insightful and quite timely.

For example, right now, my husband and I are struggling with getting our high school athlete to eat better and healthier so that he can become a more stronger asset to the team. Also, unlike training when he was in middle school, his high school cross country (long distance running) team requires that he train for a minimum of 2 hours 6 days a week and run in meets once a week. That is 6 days of running! Obviously, he will need to fuel his body properly to maintain that level of intense activity.

Heather Mangieri, a national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says there are six food rules that athletes, coaches, and families should employ to help bring about that understanding. She reveals them in her forthcoming book, “Fueling Youth Athletes” (Human Kinetics, December 2016) and it was awesome to get these tips as they came just in time for me:

1. Eat meals—no grazing. Mangieri dislikes the word “snack” because it conjures up visions of chips, pretzels, sweets, or a single piece of fruit. She would prefer to replace “snack” with “mini-meal” and encourages young athletes to eat one or two of them each day between regular meals. These mini-meals should contain at least two food groups and include a source of high-quality protein. The foods should also be filling so that they help the athlete feel satisfied until the next meal. “Eating a mini-meal makes you feel as though you actually ate a meal,” comments Mangieri, “and helps to prevent grazing and picking at foods between meals.”

2. Never use food as a reward. Mangieri, founder of Nutrition CheckUp, a nutrition consulting practice with expertise in sport nutrition, weight management, and disordered eating, stresses that you should never use food as a reward for good behavior. Using food as a reward teaches young athletes to categorize foods as good or bad and can lead to negative feelings about food. While studies show using tasty foods as a reward makes them more enticing, making kids stay at the dinner table until they finish their vegetables makes them less interested in healthy food. Instead, families should use other items as rewards for good behavior, such as books, music downloads, or movies.

“Parents can help the children be successful by getting trigger or comfort foods out of the house and filling the cabinets with healthy foods and snacks that are ready to eat.”

3. Be a role model. Giving advice is easy, but youth athletes are much more likely to do what their parents and coaches do, not what they say. “Nutrition is taught from an early age in the home,” Mangieri says. “Expecting children or teenagers to eat vegetables when parents do not is unrealistic.” The mother of three active children herself, she thinks parents should not only tell their young athletes how to eat healthfully but also show them how to eat healthfully. Similarly, coaches can do this by providing the right options for recovery or by selecting eating establishments after a game that offer healthy choices.

4. Make it a family affair. If a child needs to lose weight, it is not just the child’s concern—it is the family’s concern as well. When one child is struggling with weight, singling him or her out as having a problem can leave them feeling isolated and be detrimental to self-esteem. Mangieri recommends keeping the situation positive and focusing on how the family can eat better together. Family members should work together to eat healthier and become more physically active.

5. Create a healthy environment. Mangieri points out the obvious: you can’t eat what is not in the house. If children or teenagers come home from school or practice hungry, they are likely to grab the first thing they see. So, if the cabinet if filled with chips, pretzels, and sweet treats, there is a high likelihood the kids will choose those items. Telling kids not to eat those things will not work. Parents can help the children be successful by getting trigger or comfort foods out of the house and filling the cabinets with healthy foods and snacks that are ready to eat. “This does not mean that children should be deprived of foods they like,” Mangieri explains. “If they really want ice cream, drive to the store and buy a small cone. Feed the craving without overindulging.”

6. Power down during mealtimes. Eating well includes paying attention to what you are eating, not your electronics. When young athletes are engaged in texting conversations or watching videos during mealtime, it can lead to overeating. It is hard for them to pay attention to hunger and satiety cues when they are engaged with an electronic device. Mangieri recommends that families power down the devices, turn off the television, and focus on fueling their bodies properly.

Covering weight management, supplementation, fueling, hydration, and more, “Fueling Young Athletes” addresses the issues that families and athletes most often face, such as late-night practices, inconvenient school lunch times, demanding tournament schedules and travel leagues, and lack of sleep.

Non-Anti-Vaxxers: Your Childhood Vaccine Guide 

Yes, there is an anti-vaxxer movement but many parents still are arming their babies with protection against preventable diseases. 

The standards and requirements change often. Of course, moms and dads (and caregivers) ought to consult with their child’s pediatrician when trying to determine which vaccine to authorize.

This infographic breaks down some of the common vaccines and when they should be given. 

The Lazy Mom’s Guide to Easy & Fancy Kids’ Lunch

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Many moms, like me, start out the school year with these grandiose ideas for fancy lunches to pack in the kids’ lunch bag everyday. I even purchased a neat new bento box and a fancy sandwich box to keep the bread moist and to separate the meat. These wonderful ideas usually lapse about a month into the school year.

Womp Womp Womp. Never fret, my fellow overwhelmed, overworked and underapprecated moms (and dads), Helen Brown at our content partners at Mode.com curated some pretty neat articles and posts with great super simple and easy lunches for the “lazy” moms, as she writes:

 

Check out Fancy School Lunch Ideas for Lazy Moms

by Helen Brown at Mode

Are You Ready For Standing Desks in Schools?



Parents, standing desks soon may become the norm in classrooms. They are already used in a handful of schools nationwide as opposed to traditional chairs and desks. 

A recent study of Texas classrooms found that standing desks had a positive impact on the body mass index (BMI) of kids who use them. For two years, three unnamed Texas schools tested how standing desks might effect students’ BMI over time.

Researchers at Texas A&M tracked  around 400 kids and gave about half standing desks, while the rest had to work the old-fashioned way. The raised workspaces came with stools and bars underneath for the kids to rest their feet. 

All children wore research-grade activity trackers. After two years, the standers had overall lower BMI than the sitters. Researchers measured more than a 5 percent change in BMI between the two groups over time. 

One of the researchers, Dr. Mark Benden, director of the ergonomics center at Texas A&M, says these results shocked him. “This is crazy,” he said on first seeing the numbers. “Go back and rerun the numbers. Don’t breathe a word of this.”

Classrooms that use standing desks had kids with healthier outcomes.

After the study concluded, the Texas schools kept the standing desks and asked for more. 

Giving kids standing desks helps them burn more calories, and anecdotally, improves behavioral classroom engagement, the research concluded.

When  given a choice, parents don’t like sitting all day at work.

Recognizing the health consequences to static standing all day, Benden recommends a combination of the two.   

Read more about the study in Bloomberg

Should You Let Your Kid Quit A Sport? The Pros & Cons



The Wall Street Journal recently covered the sensitive topic on when is it time to let a child quit a sport or activity.

It’s a topic that my family is also grappling with and then I recalled this relevant post we did in the past on the pros and cons of forced team activity:

Involvement in team sports helps kids learn to work together, encourages physical activity over more sedentary pursuits and can give your child a sense of belonging when he’s accepted by his teammates. A child who is stuck playing a sport he doesn’t enjoy, however, may not reap the same benefits as his more eager teammates. When your child approaches you with pleas to allow his mid-season resignation from the team, your first instinct may be to deny him. After all, sticking it out through the rest of the season, even if he absolutely despises the sport or his team, is said to boost character and give your child a sense of responsibility. In all actuality, however, there are definite pros and cons to allowing your child to quit in the middle of the season, so the situation isn’t quite so cut-and-dry.

Pros

As a parent, it isn’t always easy to see the benefits of allowing your child to abandon a sport or activity before seeing the season through. There are, however, plenty of reasons why you may actually be making the right choice by allowing your youngster to abandon his post.

Letting Kids Explore Their Own Interests – Every kid has his own unique goals, tastes and hobbies, and they may be diametrically opposed to your own. By insisting that your child spend a full season on the soccer team that you love, you’re effectively robbing him of the chance to explore his own interests and to find something that works for him. Encouraging participation in another activity, even a solitary one, may be a silver lining to the mid-season abandonment of a sport.

Preserving Academic Performance – Just as adults can be spread so thinly between their many obligations that everything begins to suffer a bit, so can an over-scheduled kid. Rather than continuing to struggle under the burden of maintaining her grades while keeping a commitment to a sport she doesn’t find enjoyable, your child could have the opportunity to focus more energy on her classes while still having enough time to explore other areas of interest.

Focusing On Other Activities – If your child is involved with an activity that he truly loves and he wants to focus more of his energy on it than a sport he doesn’t care for, you may actually want to applaud the maturity and budding prioritization skills he’s showing.

Creating More Room for Family Time – Between school, clubs, sports and the busy schedule of harried parents, finding the time for family dinners, game nights or other collective activities can be a real challenge for every member of your household. Eliminating one thing from the schedule can make a noticeable difference, though. If your child is itching to quit soccer and everyone needs to spend more time together, his reluctance to continue could create the opportunity for everyone to spend more time together.

Ending a Relationship With a Bad Coach – Bullies don’t just come in the form of your child’s peers. Whether it’s an insatiable need to bring home a win at all times or the result of pressure from other parents, some coaches can become so obsessed with performance that they treat their players badly. In such cases, quitting a sport allows your family to completely sever ties with a coach that likes to bully his team.

Cons:

There are some good reasons for allowing a child to quit a sport mid-season, and some positive things that can result from such a switch. However, there’s also more than one drawback to letting your child walk away before the season closes.

Breaking a Commitment to the Team – If your child is a reasonably skilled player, chances are that the rest of the team has come to rely on her skills to some degree. Allowing her to leave the team in the middle of the season not only leaves them scrambling to fill the position left behind by your child, but also sends the message that she ultimately does not care about their continued success. For competitive middle and high school athletic programs, this can be a serious blow.

Forfeiture of Financial Investments – When you add up the expenses of registration fees, the purchase of equipment and other team-related expenses, you quickly come to the realization that team sports aren’t cheap. The money you’ve spent will almost certainly be a total loss if your child quits mid-way through the season.

Giving Kids the Wrong Idea About Quitting – There are times when it’s absolutely okay to quit, and others when a lesson in perseverance can be a valuable one. Giving your child permission to quit a sport halfway through the season on a whim can send her the wrong message about quitting, especially if you don’t use the experience as a talking point.

Potentially Shifting to a More Sedentary Lifestyle – Team sports promote physical activity and can keep your child fit in a way that vegging out in front of the television simply won’t. If your child quits a sport while everyone else he knows is still playing, the motivation to get outside and engage in active play may be trumped by the desire to devote attention to more sedentary pastimes.

Loss of Opportunities to Learn About Teamwork – The importance of teamwork and the power of cooperative striving for a single goal is a lesson best taught by participation in team sports. If your child quits midway through his first season and never returns to organized sports, those lessons may be a bit more difficult for him to learn.

Good luck parents.

PARENTS: Here are 18 Healthy Back to School Lunch Ideas For You

Bellyitch Rewind

This school year, parents will be challenged on getting their kids to eat nutritional lunches Check out these creative lunch options I spotted that some have already created. I’m making my grocery shopping list now to accommodate some of these ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source: http://www.omielife.com/, http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/  http://www.blessthismessplease.com/, http://greatist.com/, http://greatist.com/, http://www.potterybarnkids.com/. http://www.sandraseasycooking.com/

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Create A Productive Homework Station With this Guide

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Now that most school systems are in full swing, it’s also the the perfect time to get your student’s homework station ready to go for the new school year.

Lorena Canals,  maker of all natural, hypo-allergenic, functional and super stylish machine-washable rugs for bedrooms, playrooms, and beyond, offered some awesome tips for creating a great workstation for your child:

1. Create a homework routine – kids in the first through third grade perform best when they know exactly what is expected.  Have a specific place for storing backpacks and times for doing homework.  Use these formative years to set up good study habits. Kids will raise their performance to the bar parents set.

2. Utilize a homework notebook – track homework assignments in a notebook that goes back and forth between home and school each day.  Use this notebook to communicate with your child’s teachers to address issues with homework, notes that need signed, or praises for a job well done.

3. Stock-up on Homework Essentials—when you’re out purchasing your kids’ school supplies, pick-up extras to keep at their homework station/desk. Include items like pencils, highlighters, scissors, ruler, stapler, post-it notes, paper clips, colored pencils, markers, timer, loose notebook paper, and notebooks. Store supplies, aside from the paper, in Mason jars or a desk organizer.

4. Hang a White Board for Important Reminders—once kids go back to school, fall becomes a busy time with homework assignments, projects, and after school extra-curricular activities. Help your kids stay on track with a place to jot down notes with due dates.  Use painters tape to create a giant calendar to post each day’s activities and homework assignments.

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5. Use Magazine Files for Organizing Projects—instead of a pile of papers stacked on the kitchen table, use magazine files for organizing the important stuff. Label the files with “slips/homework to sign” or “homework to complete.” A file system helps to eliminate lost permission slips and homework. Encourage your kids to empty their backpack folders as soon as they get home and file or toss papers right away to keep the mess away.

6. Invest in a Good Chair & Lamp—help make your kids’ homework space one that is conducive to studying. This can easily be done with a simple desk, ergonomic chair, and a good lamp so your kids have plenty of light making it less of a strain on their eyes. Insure the space is free from distractions do your kids can concentrate on homework activities.

7. Add Some Colorful Artwork—if your child’s designed homework spot is decorated in their own personal style they’re more likely to spend more time there doing homework. Create a wall of empty frames that can hold a smaller piece of original art. As your child starts bring home art projects, feature them inside the frames on the wall.  Switch their artwork out monthly and store old projects away.  Surrounding themselves with a collection of their personal work will enhance creativity that will flow into their writing assignments too.

Good luck!

photo: Lorena Canals’ Rugs online and at stores nationwide ($249-$299). Visit their website at www.LorenaCanals.usand check them out on InstagramFacebookTwitterPinterest and YouTube.

Eco-Friday: 4 Mindful Labor Day Travel Tips to Follow

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Labor day is supposed to be about celebrating the worker and all of the efforts or organized unions and labor to get worker’s rights. So it is fitting that many the holiday to also relax.
Traditionally, schools return after labor day and therefore, many families will be hitting the road for last minute beach trips and visits to family that are far away. In the interest of do no harm to the planet, Harmless Harvest, the company behind the first ever “Fair For Life” certified coconut water, shared some mindful travel tips that help minimize travelers’ carbon footprint this Labor Day weekend:
 
 IT’S COOL TO CARPOOL
Labor Day weekend is an opportunity for families and friends to hop in a car and go on a quick getaway. Opting to take one car (instead of several) significantly reduces greenhouse emissions and makes for an entertaining round of carpool karaoke.
 
 SNACK SUSTAINABLY
Choose snacks that are close to how nature intended them and produced by companies that care about their ingredients. Harmless Harvest is a coconut water company that practices sustainable farming methods, which have minimal impact on the planet. Choose wisely, stay hydrated and drink up!
HARMLESS LODGING
You may not realize this, but hotels are large energy consumers when it comes to energy and water use (e.g. lighting, air conditioning, laundry). Instead of booking a room at a hotel, consider packing a tent and going camping instead. You’ll reduce your impact on the environment and be closer to nature.
SHARE A BIKE
There are few better ways to sight see than by bicycle. Leave your personal bike at home and rent from a local bike shop. Not only will your ride emit zero pollution, your family and friends will also get a great workout!  Because in the end, what’s good for you is also good for the planet.

Harmless Harvest Coconut Water is constantly thinking about ways to support the environment. The company is revolutionizing the impact the beverage industry has on the planet with its ecosystem-based business model. They produce the best-tasting coconut water around and are leading the efforts in educating consumers on ways they can reduce their impact on the environment.

So gather your friends and family, pack your tents, and plan a “greener” Labor

Save Tons on Christmas Toys with this Toy Subscription Box

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These days, you can rent about anything. From clothes, to handbags to appliances and now with the Pley app, you can rent toys!

With Christmas creeping around the corner, many parents know that all the toys they purchase for their children are usually abandon within months if not weeks after the Holidays are over.

That is a lot of money down the drain, but here is where toy rental maybe come in handy.

Pley will send your kids ordinarily expensive and the coolest toys but you get to send them back and get a new one when the novelty wears off.

It makes sense when you think about it. Kids only play with toys for a certain amount of time before abandoning them to the bottom of the toy chest. Those toys stay there until they get crushed by the weight of the toys on top of it or it’s time to go to the Goodwill to clean out the toy room.

The company was started by a parent, Ranan Lachman, who wanted his kids to spend less time in front of digital screens and more time enriching their creativity and minds with LEGO® play.  After he and his wife spent thousands of dollars getting new LEGO toys, they invented Pley to avoid breaking the bank.

Leveraging the sharing economy, Pley makes it possible for families to save as much as 70% on toys that tend to be short-lived, eliminates clutter while reducing waste.

Pley also donates a toy to underprivileged child for every new member. Nice!

Check out Pley and consider signing up today!

 

 

Boost Your Baby’s Brain with these A-Z Tips

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A Is for Attention

New research into how babies learn reveals that the everyday, loving interaction with caregivers is what matters most. The best thing you can do for your baby’s growing brain is to respond to him, says Fit Pregnancy and Baby advisor Claire Lerner, L.C.S.W., director of parenting resources atZero to Three, in Washington, D.C. Let him know that when he cries, you will comfort him; when he’s ready to play, you will engage him.

B Is for Breast Milk

It’s powerful stuff. Brain imaging studies by Brown University, in Providence, found that kids who were breastfed exclusively for at least three months had 20 to 30 percent more white matter—a type of brain tissue that’s rich in myelin, a fatty substance that insulates nerve fibers and speeds up the brain’s electrical signals.

C Is for Calming

“Helping your infant feel secure calms the brain,” says Lerner. Even if your infant continues to cry when you hold him, your touch and response helps soothe his nervous system and prevents the stress hormone cortisol from interfering with development.

D Is for Doubling

Your baby’s brain doubles in size the first year; the cerebellum, an area at the back of the brain that controls coordination and balance, triples in size. This is believed to be related to the amount of motor skills babies learn by 12 months.

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