During the spring and the dog days of summer, it’s just too easy to eat foods that can derail a healthy diet. Decadent ice cream, moist cakes, savory pies, juicy hamburgers, French fries, and other comfort foods may be delicious, but they’re not exactly the healthiest food choices. Fortunately, there are ways to eat yummy meals and treats without sacrificing your health. Here are some tips to eat healthy for you and your family this spring and summer.
Tips to Help You and Your Family Eat Healthy
Motivation to start a healthier mindset can be as simple as your first bite. A single addition of a Meatless Monday. Or one walk around the block. Be creative and make family time wellness time. Get outdoors, plant, grill, and move. Together.
Building lifelong healthy eating habits is so much easier when introduced at a young age. Trust me!
Breakfast Time
Yes, you’re on spring break or summer vacation, but put that donut down. There are tastier ways to eat your breakfast while avoiding empty calories that merely make you feel sluggish. Choose whole-grain cereal topped with berries. If eaten on a regular basis, cereals and oatmeal helps lower cholesterol, and yes, kids can get high cholesterol too. Feast on whole-grain waffles, fruit smoothies, or yogurt parfaits. You can even nosh on French toast if you make it with wheat bread, egg whites, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Go Lean!
Enjoy that hamburger, but just make sure to choose lean meats. According to The Healthy, skinless chicken breast and ground turkey are healthier meat options. Try grilled fish and other kinds of seafood for a protein-rich meal that is low in calories. Better yet, prepare cabbage roll chicken enchiladas, a shareable meal that combines both lean poultry and veggies. It’s nutritiously packed with lean protein and vitamin C.
Munch on Veggies
Incorporate more vegetables into your meals. Try adding tomatoes, avocados, garlic, peppers, and onions to your grilled meat, chicken, or fish. The additional veggies provide you with a heartier meal without adding extra calories. Avoid fatty dressings, loads of cheese, and fried chicken on top of your salad. They pack on the calories, turning a healthy meal into an artery-clogging one. Instead, choose salads loaded with a variety of flavorful vegetables. Throw in some grilled chicken, fish, meat, or beans to add a boost of protein.
Start A Family Garden
Included in the tips to eat healthy is a creative one. But so common sensical!
Since you’re going to eat more vegetables, you can try setting up your own family garden. Having a family garden project in your backyard will allow you to spend some quality time with your kids. You should make sure that the kids are involved in every aspect of the garden so they can learn as much as they can. Let them choose what they want to plant, but only allow them to choose from the vegetables they will eat.
Once the kids’ snack garden is set up, let them be in charge of watering, weeding, and taking care of the plants. This will give them a sense of ownership and pride as the produce grows and becomes ready for harvesting. Consider installing a fence around the garden to protect it from animals. Eating fresh, organic produce in your backyard that they grew with their own hands should encourage the kids to eat healthier in life.
These healthy tips can extend to your family vacation as well. Case in point- an interactive “grow your own garden” at Walt Disney World. Children of all ages will appreciate the showcase of edible exhibits at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival. (I know i do!)
Tips to Eat Healthy – Try More Fruit
Fresh fruit is the perfect type of food for a breezy spring afternoon or a sizzling summer day. Fruit has a wide array of benefits, so incorporate them into your diet if you want to eat healthy. Eat This Not That reports that pineapple contains bromelain, an anti-inflammatory enzyme. Strawberries have the highest levels of vitamin C of any other commonly eaten berry. Raspberries are high in fiber and contain an anti-cancer chemical called ellagic acid.
Beware of Unhealthy Snacks
Snacking is the easiest way to sabotage healthy eating habits. When you’re craving a snack after lunch or dinner, try gut-healthy guacamole with yogurt or sauerkraut. Snacks like this will give you and your family something healthy to munch on when you want a snack in between meals. Avoid eating sugary treats on a regular basis. They won’t ease your hunger, but they’ll do a good job of packing on calories as well as the pounds.
If you have a huge craving for chocolate, try a small piece of dark chocolate. Studies show that dark chocolate provides anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. But that doesn’t mean you can eat a pound of dark chocolate in a day. Just like other kinds of chocolate, sugar and fat lurk inside of dark chocolate, too. So treat yourself to only one or two squares to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Spring and summer are the perfect times for your family think clean. Tips to eat healthy are the logical place to start. to Take advantage of the seasonal produce and the time you can spend together with your kids. Make a splash!
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