Articles

Fussy Eater Frenzy
Leap Into Spring With Renewed Energy
Build Immunity This Cold and Flu Season
New Year, New Leaf, New You

Fussy Eater Frenzy - How do I get nutrients into my kids?

By Stephanie Forgues, New Leaf Wellness

I know it, I’ve seen it - we’ve all got a picky eater in our family. I urge you - Don’t give up!

There are several ways to introduce your kids to good quality healthy foods. Here are 10 tips to try so you can be sure your kids will “Grow up big and strong” as the old saying goes.

Practice what you preach. Monkey see, monkey do. Kids look up to their parents, if their parents model healthy choices, kids will likely follow.
Try try again - if it doesn’t work the first time you present it, prepare it a different way next time. Didn’t like it raw? Lightly steam it. The baked version didn’t go over so well? Try it in a soup. Doesn’t like meat? Don’t fret about their iron and protein intake - give them beans to try! Kids love to pick them up, put them in a line on their plate, and count them. Let them play with their food if it means they are trying something new and nutritious.
Make it fun and get creative. Decorate their plate using the colours of their foods to make a rainbow, something you should teach them anyway. The different colours in foods all have diverse nutrients with delicious health benefits their growing bodies crave.
Expect that they will like it. If mom or dad is sending something in the direction of a picky eater’s mouth and their faces are cringing with anticipation that it will be rejected, they likely will tighten their lips before it gets in. Smile and make ‘yum’ sounds while you eat it, then try it on them.
Share enthusiasm about making healthy food choices. Let them hear you talking about new foods you’ve tried or how certain foods make you feel.
Make it available. Use a small chunk of Sunday afternoon to wash and chop fresh fruits and vegetables (kids can help with some aspects of this job). Dust off that veggie tray you reserve for potlucks and bridal showers, and fill it up. This gives them easy access to healthy snacks throughout the week. A kid will likely never come home from school and peel and chop a handful of carrots. Have it handy and see what happens!
Little dippers - veggies are more appealing to kids when they can be dipped - again this is making it more fun, right?! Make or buy healthy dips to get that added boost of nutrients. Try hummus, guacamole, bean dips, or nut butters.
Let them choose some of the produce at the grocery store - or coming soon, the local farmer’s market! If they are part of the decision process, it may tweak some interest as to what these new foods taste like.
Make health a family affair, talk openly about why we eat healthy food. I think the saying ‘You will grow big and strong’ is old school, and they’re just not buying it anymore, try something new such as “this food is good for your brain and will help you learn and focus at school, or be faster in sports, or makes your hair super shiny, or this is a food that has nutrients to put you in a good mood when you feel grumpy” - again, be creative here. It’s your child; you know best what works for them.
Don’t force it. Encourage them to try new things but if they really don’t like it, ease up on them and give them credit, what’s most important is that they tried it and at least some got into them. If you force them to eat things they don’t like, they may develop food issues as they grow into adults, which could lead to weight problems or other emotional problems. Keep food experiences as positive as possible.

Now go prep some healthy snacks and get your family excited about making healthy choices to ensure you all live life well.

Leap Into Spring With Renewed Energy

By Stephanie Forgues, New Leaf Wellness

Spring is in the air, a time for cleansing, energizing, and moving forward, a time to enjoy more sunshine and a time to tweak that soggy attitude that may have developed over the cold winter months.

If the warmer weather and the longer days of sunshine aren’t enough to get you moving outside, use these foods to kick start your energy and get active!

Get to know the good carbs - Complex carbohydrates give you sustained energy to get you through your day free of afternoon slumps. Try varieties of whole grains such as spelt, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, oats, and rice. Also energizing with plenty of nutrients are potatoes and carrots.

Abandon the refined sugars that are stripped of their original nutrient structure. These health robbers actually give you a short burst of energy but then send you crashing soon after causing a vicious cycle of sugar dependence and health problems if you’re not careful.

Familiarize yourself with the legume family, also amazing healthful sources of complex carbohydrates- so many to choose from and they are all so versatile. The possibilities are endless when it comes to chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, and the vast array of other beans that come in dry form or canned. You can make dips, spreads, soups, stews, salads, or simply throw them into a wrap surrounded by veggies!

Speaking of vegetables, eat more of these, fruits too, to get the fibre your body needs to improve your digestion, since a sluggish digestive process can make you feel slow and lazy, get things moving on the inside to get you moving outside!

An apple actually has the same effect at perking you up in the morning as a cup of coffee does, but with far more health benefits! So crunch happily while you clear away the grogginess.

Perk up with water! You can be dehydrated before you even feel thirsty. Your body tells you to drink water in ways you may not notice. Some signs are that you feel listless, dull, or have a headache. Be sure to drink drink drink.

There’s nothing better than a power walk to refresh you through the day - the benefits of this I can list for pages and pages but here are just a few:

It’s an aerobic activity that will get your heart pumping, and that’s vital!
Breathing fresh air is much better for you than sitting in a stuffy building all day
Sunshine helps your body manufacture the &slquo;happy vitamin’, Vitamin D
Walking is a great way to connect with friends or family
You will burn more calories and have more effective weight loss when you speed it up a notch
Clears your mind so you can think smarter and be more productive
Enhances your digestive process to get toxins moving out

March is National Nutrition month, but of course I think it’s a great idea to celebrate nutrition every day!

Nutrition is the pedestal in support of a healthy lifestyle, without proper nutrition, we can’t fully live life well.

Build Immunity This Cold and Flu Season

By Stephanie Forgues, New Leaf Wellness

Winter is here and so is the dreaded cold and flu season. Don’t surrender to it, arm yourself from it!

A healthy immune system will usually resist a cold and flu with ease; however, several factors contribute to a weakened immune system, opening the gateway to illness. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to;

Busy lifestyles, stress, lack of sleep (new parents can relate!), and not eating enough wholesome natural foods.

Protecting yourself from the common cold and flu is quite simple. There is a vast array of foods that will protect you, helping you cope with that stress, keeping you energized, and keeping your immunity up, reducing the chance of you becoming sick. Nutritionists like to call them Super Foods. And here are just a few of Mother Nature’s best!

Pomegranates - ‘Tis the season for this beautiful and mysterious fruit, it can be intimidating if you’ve never eaten one before but once you try it, you will be hooked. They are rich in Vitamin C and potassium and are loaded with a variety of antioxidants (our vital cell protectors). Don’t worry, most grocery stores provide instructions near the bins on how to access the wonderful nutrients inside.

Garlic - Small yet potent, these little white bulbs pack a huge dose of immunity. Add to a stir fry, soups, stews, or salads.

Onions - Another stinker, yes I know, but your body will thank you when it walks through winter’s wonderland without even getting a sniffle.

Ginger - Not just a cure for nausea, ginger is also a traditional treatment for cold and flu. Make tea using fresh ginger or add it to a stir fry.

When you are dealing with extra stresses, and/or lack of sleep, you are more susceptible to catching the bugs that go around; you will need even more nutrients to ensure you get that immune system boost. For some extra back-up for your immunity, try these supplements:

Echinacea - This works best when taken at the very early stages of a cold or flu, take Echinacea the minute you feel that scratch in your throat or your nose starts running.

Vitamin C - This super vitamin promotes the healing of every possible condition or ill health. Research shows that Vitamin C helps our body produce more white blood cells to fight infections. Make Vitamin C your best friend for the season. Try to buy Vitamin C containing Bioflavonoids, they help enhance the action of Vitamin C.

Vitamin B-Complex - The Bs need to be taken together in a complex formula for them to work properly. Try eating the foods containing the Bs to reduce the negative impact stress has on your body. Vitamin B can be found in whole grains, fresh vegetables, legumes, eggs, nuts and seeds.

The non-nutritive culprit when it comes to keeping you sick is SUGAR, simple sugars, the refined stuff that is in cakes, cookies, and even some sauces, as these toxins deplete the body of Vitamin C, making it easier for the sick bugs to creep into your system.

Of course, drink plenty of water, this is not news to you I’m sure! Lastly, ensure you eat a rainbow daily; try to eat assorted colors of fresh produce as they all have different life boosting nutrients to protect you.

With a little effort of eating the right foods and avoiding the bad guys, you can get through this season without a sniffle.

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New Year, New Leaf, New You

By Stephanie Forgues, New Leaf Wellness

Happy New Year!

There’s no better time than the start of a new year to turn over a new leaf. Most of us make promises to ourselves that we will join a gym, go on a diet, or quit a bad habit as our New Year’s resolution, but how many people actually follow through? The good intentions are there but a gym can seem daunting to someone who has never tried it before, and the membership costs might not be possible for those of us on a budget; a gym can feel intimidating with all those buff people there who ‘know what they’re doing’.

You can go on a diet but how do you know which one works? Which one will leave you feeling so restricted that even the thought of french fries makes you cringe with guilt if you give in to the temptation...even just once?

What if I told you that a lifestyle overhaul wasn’t really that difficult to achieve? What if I told you that if your body has the sufficient nutrients it requires, you can kick a bad habit such as smoking? What if I told you that knowing a few simple steps can change your life, turning you into a new improved-and-in-control-of-your-own-health well person?

It’s a fact that people who know better, do better. If you don’t know what you’re doing, or why, you will have a difficult time achieving the results you are looking for when it comes to wellness.

Many diets out there today are one dimensional, asking you to cut carbs, or cut fats, the problem there is that you are not being properly informed about what you should do and why, you aren’t being taught how to manage your ‘diet’ on your own. When it comes to your health, be a leader, not a follower.

This is your body, your mind, your life, and you are in control. Knowledge is power. Learn everything you can to help you become a healthy shopper for yourself and your family, eat nutritious foods, and definitely - get active! Quality of your life is much better than just simply living.

You don’t have to leap, take baby steps; you can’t change everything in one day. Start with drinking more water and eating more fresh fruits and vegetables - if you look in a bag of fast food, you’ll notice there isn’t much brightness to what’s inside; fresh vibrant colors give you protection against disease, and energy that takes you through your day (among many other benefits!!!) Incorporating more produce into your life is simple - cut them up ahead of time and put that veggie tray to use that you usually save for parties; you’ll feel (and be!) much healthier than if you continuously slip your hand into a box of cookies or crackers.

These changes are not difficult, they may be just different. The more you concentrate on putting natural wholesome foods into your body, the better you will feel and gradually you’ll want less and less of the nutritionally void foods...try it and see! You deserve to live life well.

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