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Workshops
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Workshops are an integral part of my wellness offerings. I offer diverse and fun seminars that I facilitate for corporations, women's networking groups, schools, etc. I would love to be a guest speaker at your next even or meeting. Please contact me at health@heidirothbard.comApril Showers Bring May FlowersShower yourself with friends and fun on Friday, April 17 at Focus Fitness. Join me as I present "Greener Pastures"! Everything you need to know about Spring Cleaning. In the spirit of Spring and Earth Day (which is on Sunday, April 19) I have teamed up with Focus Fitness to help yogis and non-yogis alike. Learn how a cleanse can stop these crazy cravings, boost your energy, improve digestion, skin and shed winter weight. If you are ready to restore and strengthen your immune system; encourage a pattern of healthier living and eating; and create a more balanced, energized and joyful life then I hope I can inspire you to detoxify your body and mind this season. When: Friday April 17, 2009 at 11am Where: FOCUS FITNESS 1111 Lancaster Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 Cost: $20 Registration: Sign up here
Space is limited so please pre-register to reserve your spot |
Tips to Raising Happy and Healthy Children
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As parents we all have the best interest in mind for our children. We want them to have a wholesome upbringing to establish a steady base. The most primary way to fulfill that intention is by providing a safe home environment and nourishing food for our children to eat. This sounds much easier than it actually is. These days we lead very busy lives. Many of us work and provide for our family. We juggle many responsibilities and priorities and raising cheerful, contented and well-mannered children means that we will have to put in some time and effort.
Tip: You are your child's first nutrition teacher. Would you want your kids to copy your eating habits?
Kids will copy your food habits. Do you eat nutritious foods? Set an example by being a good role model. If children see their parents enjoying nutritious food, they are more likely to do so, too, as children and as adults.
Don't expect your child to like a food just because you do. Use a small helping of peer pressure to get your child to eat. If your child is going through a food-refusal stage, invite over peers with adventuresome palates, kids who like to eat new and wholesome foods. Monkey does what monkey sees.
Tip: Never let them skip breakfast
A nutritious breakfast has been proven to improve behavior and learning in school children. In the morning, the blood sugar is low after a night-long fast. This translates into sluggishness, fatigue, and a low energy state. The body therefore tries to conserve energy - including brain energy!
- Choose breakfasts that provide quick energy, as well as sustained energy. Best breakfasts contain protein, plus complex carbohydrates. Include a food high in protein, bread or cereal, a fruit or vegetable, a small amount of fat, and milk or yogurt.
- If there isn't enough time for a leisurely breakfast, prepare a "fast" one- dish breakfast that is easy to eat on the run, such as a smoothie made with lowfat yogurt or milk and fresh fruit. Or, mix cottage cheese and fruit (e.g., mandarin oranges from a can) and use it as a spread on mini bagels.
Tip: Introduce new foods
"Try it, you might like it!" Have children (and parents) take turns choosing a new food to introduce to the family.
- Offer the new food at the beginning of the meal. Serve it alongside at least one known favorite.
- No grunts, grimaces, or negative comments allowed. More precise descriptions are okay: "sour," "chewy," or the always safe "very interesting."
- Have children be on the lookout for new vegetables or fruit at the grocery store.
- Try one new food each week, incorporating different types of foods. By the end of each month, your family could have a new favorite menu!
- And, remind your children that as they grow their tastebuds change.
Tip: Make a family resolution
Make a resolution with your children to improve family eating habits. Then, get them involved in carrying it out!
- We will eat more fruits and vegetables and eat less chips and candy.
- We will order corn-on-the-cob or salad with our burritos or burgers when we eat out instead of french fries.
- We will sit down and plan our weekly menus together using the Food Pyramid.
- We will take turns picking out a new ethnic food to try each week.
Tip: Zest for good nutrition
Let your zest for nutrition inspire your children that good eating habits help them grow, feel great, and do their best!
You want your children not only to know about good nutrition, but truly enjoy eating nutritiously. With you as a guide, your children can learn to appreciate foods that make them feel good. They'll be eager to eat and enjoy nutritious food. Just remember three important points:
- You are your children's role model for good nutrition. In fact, you are their first nutrition teacher!
- You choose the variety of foods to offer them.
- You can make it fun.
May you have many happy, healthy meals together as your children learn that eating right helps them feel great, do their best, and grow!
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Food Focus - Snacks
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Snacks are everyday tide-your-kids-over-to-the-next meal items. Snacks need to be part of every child's balanced diet. After all, kids need to eat every few hours so they can concentrate on their homework and have some energy to play outside.
Treats, on the other hand, are for special times such as Birthday parties or other special occasions. Treats are special precisely because they are rare.
If we think of snacks as a mini-meal, it is easier to move away from junk food as a snack. And by providing a variety of healthy snacks, you are still giving your kids choices about what they eat.
Good choices include
Fruit, Vegetables, Yogurt, Cheese, Smoothies, Nuts, Mini-whole grain sandwiches, whole grain crackers, etc
It's helpful to designate a shelf in your refrigerator or pantry as the snack area. Let your kids know they can get anything from the designated snack area without having to ask permission first.
What to avoid
Unfortunately, we don't always have time to cut up fruit and vegetables for our children or to make after-school smoothies. If you need to pick up some quick snacks, read the label and avoid anything with these ingredients:
- High-fructose corn syrup (just another word for sugar), especially if it is one of the first three ingredients
- Partially-hydrogenated oils (source of trans fat)
- Anything with ingredients that have more than three syllables (too processed)
Check out the recipe section for more snack ideas!
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Recipes of the Month: SNACKS
- Fruit - especially if you cut it up and provide some dip. Ice cube trays provide a perfect base for several dipping options such as melted peanut butter, yogurt, etc. Don't have any dip? Cut the fruit up anyway and let the kids use toothpicks to eat it.
- Vegetables and dip - even kids who don't like cooked vegetables often enjoy raw mini-carrots, sugar snap peas, bell pepper slices, cherry tomatoes, or broccoli - especially if dip is available.
- Yogurt - try freezing the yogurt-in-a-tube. It's less messy and gives the kids an almost-ice cream snack
- Cheese - cubes, sticks, or slices. Melted on a whole wheat tortilla to be a quesadilla. Melted on a whole wheat english muffin or bagel as a min-pizza. Eaten alone or with crackers. Kids usually love cheese.
- Smoothies - mix and match yogurt flavors and frozen fruit to see what flavors everyone likes best.
- Pretzels and baked chips are an easy grab-n-go snack.
- Mini-sandwiches, whether on whole-grain bread or tortillas. Spread on peanut butter or layer on some meat for a protein-filled snack.
- Cereal necklace - string O-shaped cereal and dried apples (with holes through the pieces) on a piece of string or dental floss. Have fun wearing it, then snacking on it!
- Cottage-cheese cone - fill an ice-cream cone about two-thirds full with a scoop of cottage cheese, or chicken or tuna salad. Have the child add toppings: finely grated carrots or zucchini, chopped cucumber, or chopped olives. Top it all with a halved cherry tomato.
- Breakfast banana split - cut a banana in half lengthwise and place it in an ice cream bowl (a "banana split" bowl would be ideal). Place two scoops of cooked, cooled oatmeal, made on the "thick" side, in the middle of the bowl. Drizzle lightly with fruit-only jam or apple butter. Add a dollop of yogurt to each scoop. Garnish with fresh strawberries, cherries, and top with chopped nuts or granola.
- Pretty pizzas - use pita bread or english muffins sliced in half. Spread on the tomato sauce, then make a face or design with cheese triangles, sliced olives, strips of bell peppers, and sliced deli meats. Heat in the oven until the cheese starts to melt.
- Pancake faces - decorate pancakes using banana slices for the eyes (with a raisin pupil), raisins for the nose, a thin sliver of cantaloupe for the mouth, yogurt for a beard, and avocado slices for eye brows. Make a big batch of buckwheat pancakes from scratch and freeze for future snacks.
- Fruit caterpillars - cut up an assortment of fresh fruit (apples, strawberries, grapes, bananas, oranges). Have children skewer a mixed assortment on shish kebob sticks. Serve with vanilla yogurt for the dip.
- Cup faces - put some plain or vanilla yogurt in a plastic cup. Decorate with coconut cut into small pieces for the hair, raisins for the mouth and eyes, and a strawberry nose.
- Pepper pots - kids enjoy stuffing peppers. Take small red, green or yellow bell peppers and cut the top off. Scoop out the insides. Have the child mix cooked rice, beans, corn and chopped spinach. Spoon it into the peppers and sprinkle with grated cheese and seasoned bread crumbs. Bake at 350° for fifteen minutes.
- Sandwich characters - cut out sandwiches with cookie cutters, then decorate with vegetables such as olive pieces for eyes, carrot curls for a smile, and a cherry tomato nose.
- Cute cookies - make whole wheat oatmeal cookies with half the amount of honey or agave nectar instead of sugar and have your child decorate them with sprinkles or raisins.
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SPRING CLEANSE PROMOTION
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SAVE $100
My gift to you - sign up for a guided spring cleanse this year. You will receive 2 consultations plus meal plans for your customized spring cleanse. Pay $150 instead of $250 for a limited time only
Offer expires May 25, 2009
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