I’ll admit, sometimes I’m not the best about making healthy choices. I’m a mom who’s always short on time, and sometimes that means hitting a drive thru for dinner on the way home. But I know that instilling healthy habits in kids while they’re young is important, so I’ve tried to make small, healthy changes around my house. Here are just a few of the simple things that I do everyday to try to keep my kids healthy.
- Serve every meal with fruit. In our house, the girls’ plates don’t hit the table until they have fruit on them – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, melon, you name it, they love it. And I love that they gobble it up.
- Take a family walk before/after dinner. Getting outside and exercising can be hard in the summer months, but lately we’ve had luck around dinner time. The sun is going down and it’s just the right temperature to go out and walk. Hazeline can’t walk long distances yet, but she seems to enjoy the fresh air.
- Keep healthy snacks in view. It might be an eyesore to leave things out on your kitchen counter tops, but my girls are a lot more interested in healthy foods when they are out and available. Just yesterday Greenleigh begged, repeat – begged, me for a banana. If there had been cookies on the counter, I’m sure she would have wanted them instead, but they weren’t there. Out of sight, out of mind.
- Skip the juice boxes; have a smoothie. Juice boxes have their time and place (who hasn’t been to a kids birthday party where the juice boxes are freely flowing?), but when we’re home, I’d prefer they have healthier beverages, like this Orange Creamsicle Smoothie. So simple to make with 1 1/3 cup OJ (frozen into cubes), 1/4 cup OJ concentrate, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt. Just blend and voila! A much healthier alternative.
- Stick to your child’s bedtime. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – my kids thrive on routine. Some deviations can’t be avoided, but if we’re home, we stick to the same bedtime and it makes life so much easier. I can always tell when Greenleigh hasn’t gotten enough sleep…those days aren’t pretty.
- Keep them hydrated. The South Florida sun can take a lot out of you, especially if you’re as active as my girls. But when you live in a warm climate, it’s not just summer that you have to worry about – it’s year round. And so often the girls get wrapped up in what they’re doing and forget to drink enough water. It normally requires a lot of reminders from me, but I’ve found that using colorful cups or fun twisty straws often gets their attention and helps me win the hydration battle.
How do you keep your kids healthy? I’d love for you to share your tips!
As a member of Clever Girls Collective, I was selected to participate in the Healthy Habits program sponsored by Kimberly-Clark and Colgate-Palmolive. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own. #healthyhabits #cgc
Great tips, I would love to be able to get out and walk after dinner. My schedule doesn’t allow much time after I get out of work and before bedtime, but I will for sure try to incorporate it into our schedule. We’ve really cut back on juice boxes, and rarely drink them, instead it’s almost always water – which for a 6 year old can get boring, so we’ll add some smoothies into the mix to change it up!
I’m totally with you – it’s hard to find the time to walk at night. I feel better after I do it, but there are days when it isn’t possible. And that’s okay. I figure that we do what we can and that just has to be good enough.
I try to never admonish him for running, even if it is in less-than-appropriate places. 🙂 I make protien (and fruit, like you) a part of every meal. I try to buy good food- whole grains, grass fed meats, organic fruits and veggies- when I can.
Love this post, Jen! 🙂
See, I’m not great about buying organic, whole grains, grass-fed, etc. I try, but they can be cost prohibitive and occasionally hard to find. I do try to buy lean red meat and substitute chicken where I can. Greenleigh’s favorite thing in the world are the Morningstar Veggie Chicken Nuggets, so we have a lot of those. But I guess that’s why I do all these little things. Sure, it would be great if I could do it all, but sometimes I only have the time/energy/money to do the little things. A few little things is a step in the right direction, right?
Great tips! I need to do the walk after the meal. That is such a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the tips!! Thankfully my boys love their fruits! And they’ll always prefer a smoothie over juice which is great! We also try to go on as many walks as possible. Whenever the day allows and we have nothing else to do we walk to the park (some days twice a day!)!
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Great tips. Your Orange Creamsicle Smoothie sounds like a tasty alternative to juice boxes. I think we all strive for simple ways to keep kids healthy. I actually posted a similar post on Friday. Please swing by when you have a chance.
Improving Your Child’s Nutrition is Not as Hard as You Think
http://bookwormmama.com/improving-your-childs-nutrition-is-not-as-hard-as-you-think/