Dr. Susan Saetre, StillPointe Natural Health Center, Biggest Gainer Nutrition Coach

Hi everyone,

I've been reading your journals and you are doing so well. Congratulations. We are really enjoying working with you, and find that you all have interesting and "unique" challenges!

I think some of the main challenges are time, planning ahead for meals and snacks and how to include the kids. I remember the days of getting kids off to school with somewhat of a healthy breakfast, before going to work myself, and then having to deal with dinner, activities, homework and life! It is so easy to go with fast food or processed food when things get hectic, so the challenge is how do we feed the family in a healthy way when time is limited?? This is where planning comes in. I think SarahErin suggested that you pick a day - usually Saturday or Sunday - and plan meals and snacks for the week. This takes some practice, but if you establish it as a habit, and stick with it for 4-6 weeks, it will be part of your routine. So what are some ways to accomplish this?

• Use the crock pot. Find a few meals that your family likes, use fresh or frozen vegetables, meat etc. and cook them, put them in bags and freeze enough for a family meal. That way you will have something for nights when you don't have time to cook, but won't have to resort to processed food.
• Make smoothies for breakfast. Research shows that children who eat high sugar/carb cereals for breakfast "crash" around 10 AM. If you don't have time for breakfast, use a good protein powder and mix it with yogurt, frozen fruit, bananas, juice, or whatever you and your kids like. Throw in some Dynamic Greens (powder we have here that provides the equivalent of 20 servings of fruits and vegetables) and you have a healthy, "power meal" that will keep you going until lunch. I actually take a protein drink at about 3:00. It helps me have energy for the rest of the afternoon, and I'm not starving at dinner, so I eat less. When my kids were younger (they are in college now), I used to make a blender of smoothies and put it in the freezer at night. I would re-blend it in the morning, so it took 5 minutes to get breakfast ready. Add a piece of toast with nut butter, and you're good to go in a short time.
• Plan snacks. In an earlier post, I suggested putting 3 or 4 snacks together the night before, take a lunch cooler to work and use the snacks when you get hungry during the day.

I hope some of these suggestions will help you stick with the plan, yet make life a bit easier. My confession is that I don't cook very much - my husband is the cook in our house - so I've become adept at finding fast and easy ways to get meals on the table. Have a great week.

Comments

[Dietary Supplements India]

Hi Dr. Susan, thanks for the information you have provided here. This will surely help us to improve our daily meal challenges. I request you to post more on quantity of protein by age group.