Healthy Snacks for School

You can grab a bag of ready to eat snacks and that would be cheaper, no time to prepare, and your kids are happy because they just saw a commercial watching happy kids eating this snack. What is wrong with this? There are a lot of things to overcome when you decide that you want better nutrition for your kids. You must overcome a fierce marketing machine aimed at your kids, you must overcome an already lack of time, and you must overcome cost.

This is a tall order, but I you must know that it is worth it. Kids who eat junk food can fall into complications such as obesity, chronic illness, lack of energy and focus, lack of self esteem, and even depression. There was an incident when I was growing up when I was trying to lose weight. I was a very husky boy and I went jogging in a purple jogging suit I got for Christmas and there was a group of boys yelling "the big purple grape from the fruit of the loom commercials is coming to eat us". This made me a bit uncomfortable and a little sad.

I also remember there was always a box of Oatmeal Cream Pies on top of the fridge and frozen cheeseburgers in the freezer. What we snack on can make a world of difference to our kids and we must know that it is worth it. It is worth the cost and time to give ourselves and kids the best. A healthy life is made up of hundreds of smaller decisions to eat right throughout the day. Here are a few tips to making your life a little easier and get on the road to a healthier you and children.

-Try to never eat on the go, in the car, or on the run. This falls into mindless eating and you lose the ability to know when your body is full and when you have had enough.

-Don't use foods as rewards, bribes, or punishment. This gives food the power.

-Snacks need to be planned out.

-Snacks need to be coordinated with meals. Do not let yourself or child snack within 2 hours of eating a meal.