GOOD NUTRITIOUS SNACK/MEAL IDEAS FOR YOU BUSY MOMS!

Good afternoon my friends!  Hope you're finding it to be a very productive day so far.  One of my fantastic blog followers has asked for me to talk about heatlhy, nutritious snack and meal ideas for you BUSY MOMS out there looking for some new, fresh ideas to keep both yourself and your kid(s) fueled throughout the day.  So here you go!

First of all, EVERYONE needs to eat breakfast.  It doesn't matter how BUSY you are...I start my day at 4am and still put fuel into my body so that my metabolism starts working for me right away and I have energy.  The best type of ENERGY food if you're not really a breakfast eater is a banana.  It has a great source of potassium in it and is a very healthy carbohydrate....and carbs are ENERGY!  If a banana really isn't your favorite fruit of choice...go for an apple.  What particular apple you ask?  The type YOU like!  There's no rule...just pick your favorite and go with it!  It is another good source of carbs as well.  Now for your kids, you MUST start the habit NOW of getting them to eat breakfast.  As I've mentioned before, the childhood obesity rate is out of control and I can tell you one of the main reasons is that we let our kid(s) tell us that they're not hungry and don't want to eat breakfast...well, tough!  As moms it's our job to teach our kid(s) at a young age that we need to start our day off with FUEL so that we can function properly throughout the day and be able to focus in school, play and comprehend what is being taught to us.  Some breakfast suggestions are:  oatmeal (excellent protein AND carbs...plus fiber so you stay full longer), cereal...not the SUGARY stuff, whole wheat cheerios, slice of wheat toast with peanut butter, whole wheat waffle with sugar free syrup or peanut butter, scrambled eggs (or egg whites, which my son loves), and yogurt which is a great source of calcium.  Always top the breakfast off with a huge glass of milk (hey!  do you want to grow up to be big and strong)?!  I'm talking to the kid(s) of course.  Kids 12 yrs and under it's good for it to be 2% milk...for you Moms...non-fat is perfect OR 1% milk.

Now, I'm not going to tell you what to feed yourself and/or your kid(s) for lunch and dinner because this blog would definitely be my LONGEST one yet.  But I felt it was very important for you to at least have some suggestions for the most important meal of the day which is breakfast.  So now I'm going to list snack ideas that are quick and easy for being on the go!  Sugar snap peas, apple slices, strawberries (if you're craving something sweet), grapes (red or green), blueberries (excellent anti-oxidant), raspberries, and cherry tomatoes.  Dry nuts are also a great go-to item when you need to fuel up on some energy snack...especially around 3pm when it's getting close to picking up your child from school and running them to their after school activity or if you're still at work and the vending machine is calling your name.  Some of my favorite nuts are raw unsalted almonds, pistachios (shelled), cashews, and peanuts.  These nuts are usually in the produce section of the grocery store...portion them out into baggies so that you don't nosh on too much and defeat the purpose of a healthy, quick snack.  String cheese and thinly sliced turkey meat (portioned out in a baggie) are another good source of quick and easy energy food.  Be careful with the turkey meat and the amount of sodium it has in it...if you insist on buying the packaged turkey meat, look for one that has the least amount of sodium per serving (460mg is a good amount).  Remember, a healthy diet is allotted 2400mg of sodium, anything above that will result in you retaining water and most MOMS want to lose around their mid-sections so be aware!  Lastly, if you insist on having something sweet...LOW-FAT pudding snack is fine (only about 100 cal) and can be thrown in your bag or sugar-free jello.  If you must have ICE-CREAM, go for fro-yo (frozen yogurt) instead...it's half the fat and less sugar than ice cream.  If you don't like fro-yo, then a good ice cream with the least amount of calories and fat than normal ice cream is Skinny Cow...usually only about 100-150 calories a serving and 3-4 grams of fat, but don't have it EVERY DAY!

I hope my suggestions helped you busy Moms and Non-Moms out there today and if you still have proper food intake questions, send them my way! 

Now let's move on to today's Fitness Video Blog.  Pay attention MOMMIES and DADDIES too!  Today's video blog is about going outside and incorporating a fun, fitness routine into both your child(s) and your life.  I hope you enjoy it and take some of what I show you in the video and play with your kid(s) today!  Please feel free to comment or send me any questions you may have...enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed it!  Thanks so much for reading and watching...comments and questions are always welcome.

As Always...Stay Fit and Happy!
Famisha :-)