Ha cha cha – Get Your Healthy Snacks Here!

Feb 23rd, 2011

Join us for the upcoming Let’s Talk About Healthy Snacks – free tele-conversation Tuesday, March 1, 7 CT.

Did you know that the quality of your snacks can dramatically affect….

• Your weight
• Your blood sugar levels
• Your energy
• Your emotional state
• And your stress level?

Cross my heart. And what do you think of those 100 Calorie packs?  Come to the call and find out if these snacks are for you (or not!)

Find out how to make your own snack packs – ones that help you lose weight, level out blood sugar levels, increase your energy, calm your emotions and help you manage stress. And of course healthy snacks will help you build a healthy, strong body (really, not just advertisement-speak).

We’ll get down and dirty talking about snacks – our favorites, our sinful pleasures, and then we’ll switch gears and share popcorn-brainstorm-style about healthy snack ideas and recipes.

Come to the call if….

• You’re a nutritionist or health educator (to share your wisdom)
• You’re overweight and want to lose rather than gain weight
• You’re an athlete and want to be able to perform better in your sport
• You like to cook and share recipes (especially healthy, tasty ones)
• You have a chronic health condition and need improved nutrition
• You’re a parent and want to provide better snacks for your kids
• You live a busy, fast-paced life and grab food on the go
• You like to eat!

Visit this link for more information and to sign up:  http://www.cherylmillerville.com/letstalkabout/ If you’re not sure you’ve signed up yet for the series, go ahead and sign up again.  You’ll only get one subscription if you use the same email. 

Let’s Talk About Having Fun!

Feb 14th, 2011

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be a bit serious about life—I could use more fun in my life.   But what?  How? We’re kicking off our Let’s Talk About Healthy, Happy living series talking about fun.   

Here’s who needs to come to the call, Tue. Feb 15:

• You, if you’re good at having fun (we need to hear your secrets)

• You, if you seldom have fun (we want to inspire and expand your world)

• You, if you are in the middle like me (we want to tip you onto the fun end of the spectrum)

Come to the first call in the series this Tuesday, February 15 and share your take on fun (Do you know how to have fun? Are you fun-deficient? Do you have suggestions for having more fun?)

More info about the series and signup:
http://www.cherylmillerville.com/letstalkabout/

When you sign up, you’ll receive an email with the call-in details.  If you’re not sure whether you have signed up for this series yet, go ahead and sign up.  You’ll get just one notice (unless you use a different email). 

FREE Series: Let’s Talk About Healthy, Happy Living

Feb 9th, 2011

You’re invited to join me for a free conversation series (twice a month) about health and wellness topics ranging from getting good sleep, to healthy snacking, to personal development, to eating organic, to decluttering, to healthy aging and more.  All you need is a phone. 

Here’s how to join in the conversation:

First and Third Tuesdays every month
5-6pm PST | 6-7pm MST | 7-8pm CST | 8-9 EST

More info:  http://www.cherylmillerville.com/letstalkabout/

We’ll have folks from all over joining in on the discussion—from all walks of life and full of varying perspectives. Imagine the energy and wisdom! 

Everyone is invited to join in or just listen.  All you need is a telephone to participate.

If you’re longing for lively, engaging conversation about health and well-being, visit this link to find out more: 
http://www.cherylmillerville.com/letstalkabout/

You can participate in any or all calls, and you can opt out of the series at any time.

Don’t miss it!

Please invite your friends,  family, and colleagues to participate:
http://www.cherylmillerville.com/letstalkabout/

Help for Your Kids (and YOU)

Nov 18th, 2008

Some kids learn early how to get along and stay out of trouble.  Some never learn.  A friend of mine who is a counselor and works at an alternative school shared the three skills they teach the kids where she works.

Three skills you have to have in order to stay out of trouble.  These represent a measure of maturity.

1. Follow the rules you disagree with and be productive even when you don’t feel like it. (can you let the adult be in charge?)
2. Have to be able to have an overwhelming emotion and not allow it to get you in trouble.
3. Have to be OK even when others around you are not ok.  (you have to still be able to make a good decision)

Try the TV-Turn Off Week Challenge!

Apr 26th, 2007

April 23-29 is National TV Turn-Off Week.  I bet the very thought of turning off your TV for a week scares you to death – especially if you have children!  But hey, the week is almost over so why not finish out the week with no TV?  Interesting challenge. 

Want more info?  http://www.tvturnoff.org/

Help Your Child Grow Up Healthy and Strong (booklet)

Mar 15th, 2006

Get this booklet to help you raise healthy, happy kids:
http://smallstep.gov/pdf/helpyourchildgrowuphealthyandstrong.pdf

What to Feed Kids and Adults Enroute to After-School Activities

Aug 12th, 2005

One of our members sent me this email. I have some suggestions, and I am putting it out to the group for your comments. Cheryl, I have 2 daughters age 7 and 9. They are on the swim team here in Lawrence and practice 5 nights per week from 5:45 till 7. We get home around 7:30. They get out of school at 3 then attend the After School Program till 5:15 when I pick them up to go to swim practice. They get a snack in the After School Program (not much). I’m wondering what I can feed them in the car from school to swim practice that will be nutritious (rather than drive-up food). Then, when we get home at 7:30 that seems too late for dinner especially in winter. I guess I’m just after some ideas… Thanks. —————————- My Comments and Suggestions Wow, 5 nights a week. I would guess that juggling this schedule could be a little hard on you. Having healthy convenient foods made up ahead of time will help you manage this busy schedule. In fact the recommendations I’m making are true for anybody who needs a healthy snack – kids or adults. I’m glad that you’re looking for healthy options. Healthy options can be just as convenient as junk food, if you prepare them a little ahead. Since your girls be swimming, I’m assuming you’re wanting ideas for light snacks. You can think of their snacks as mini meals. In other words, snacks can contain foods that might be eaten at regular meal times but are just packaged in snack-size packages. Here are some ideas:

• Pre-portioned baggies of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits
• Baggies of fruit (grapes, cut up apples, pineapple, etc)
• Baggies of cut up veggies with or without dressing
• Baggies of dry breakfast cereals with nuts and seeds added
• String Cheese (individually wrapped) or cubed cheese with whole grain crackers like Triscuits
• Cottage cheese (with optional chopped raw vegetables or fruit in it)
• Cup of yogurt
• Hard pretzels – the large ones
• Half a sandwich
• Mix up a sandwich spread like tuna or egg salad that is always at-the-ready and fill pita pockets for quick, on-the-go snacks

The dinner meal can fill out the rest of the nutrients they may have missed during the day. Thinking back on the day you might ask: Did they get their fruits and veggies in? Did they eat some whole grain foods like oatmeal or breakfast cereals? Cereal can make a quick nutritious evening meal too. As a matter of fact, any breakfast meal can can make a quick evening meal – especially if it adds nutrients missing from the day’s meals and mini meals. I like to make these kinds of snack kits on Sunday so I’m ready for the week ahead. That might work for you too. To streamline the process you can designate one spot in the refrigerator as snacks and foods for these two little athletes. You might put their things in a pull out container so it’s easy to assemble their mini meals and snacks. And…here’s a thought – have them assemble their own snack packs. That would be fun, and it would make them more likely to eat them. They’ll also be learning healthy habits that will serve them well in the future. To streamline your meal and snack processes even more, you can make up a weekly lists of snacks and meals you plan to have. These lists can be used again and again saving you precious time and struggle over thinking about what to have to eat. Keep them in a kitchen folder with your favorite recipes, meal plans, and snack ideas. Comments Please I know that a lot of our readers have great suggestions to add to these. Please go to the comment link below and tell us about your suggestions. You can feel free to include any identifying information you are willing to share like your name, city. Or you can choose to remain anonymous. Thanks! Cheryl

Teach Tots Healthy Habits

Aug 4th, 2005

If you have a preschooler at home, it’s not too early to start teaching him or her about eating right and being active! That’s the advice from researchers at the Children’s Hospital at Boston, who studied whether or not programs aimed at teaching tots healthy lifestyle habits really worked. Article here.

Calling all Moms!

Jun 20th, 2005

I recently discovered a free ecourse for mothers that I think you’ll enjoy if you’re a busy mom. I signed up for it because I wanted to check the quality of content and the way it’s delivered. I give it an A+. In this free ecourse you’ll receive 52 weekly pep talks all about being a mom. To find out more, go here.

Perfect Environments for Kids

May 18th, 2005

Would you feed your 16 month old baby a cup of coffee every morning?

• Would you place your 6 month old infant in front of the television news several hours a day?
• Would you allow your kid to act up so much and so often in Sunday school that the program director can’t keep the teacher position filled?
• Would you allow your teenage daughters to go before the principal 12 times a year without a family intervention?
• Would you let your teenage son drink and drive without any consequences?

These are all real life examples I’ve witnessed or heard about in the past two weeks. I know that kids today are different. I hear that frequently. I think they’re different because they’re being raised in a different environment. Raising kids is a huge challenge and parents need help and support. What are the environments that surround us all?

If you’ve been a member of this club for long, you know that the articles are about how our lifestyles and health habits are shaped by our environments (e.g., our families, messages from the media, fast food restaurants, television as a spectator sport, computers, politics, our culture, our thoughts, our homes, our cars – in short everything we come into contact with). Our habits are continually being shaped – good and bad. They’re shaped from the time of our birth when the world surrounds us like the fluid in the womb.

If We Don’t Design Our Environments, They Will Be Designed For Us

Here’s a short list of negative environments kids are exposed to on a regular basis:

• sedentary families glues to TV, computers, electronic games
• violent news and other television broadcasts
• fast food and junk food (it’s everywhere, it’s convenient, it’s what everybody eats)
• soda, junk food, and fast food in school cafeterias and vending machines
• consumerism – we’re all confronted with thousands of sales messages every week
• peer pressure in schools to wear expensive designer clothes and shoes

Here’s a short list of positive environments kids are exposed to on a regular basis:

• families who play physical games with their kids in the yard
• families who monitor the kinds of and amount of TV their kids view
• families who eat meals together and talk about the day’s events
• families who pack healthy, enjoyable lunches for their kids with occasional fast food lunches
• families who educate their kids about spending and saving and who limit their credit card debt to what they can afford
• families who teach their kids about peer pressure and encourage them to be independent thinkers as much as possible

Comments Please

I’d like to hear what you think about this topic. What negative environments do you think kids and families are being exposed to today? What kinds of positive environments can parents and grand parents create for their kids and grand kids? What as a society can we do to help support parents in raising their kids?

To comment, just go to the link for "comments" at the end of this post and let us know what you think.