If you’re trying to get the kids out the door to school or daycare, or yourself out the door to work, you might take some comfort in knowing we’ve all been there, — more than we’d like, I’m sure. It seems these days rushed mornings are a way of life.

As a result of all the hubbub, many people skip breakfast. Is this true for you? Are you too busy rushing off to work, or focusing on the kids instead? Dietitians of Canada will tell you almost 40 per cent of Canadians skip breakfast. Does that really matter? Is breakfast really the “most important meal of the day?” The answer is Yes!

When you skip breakfast you actually increase your risk of brain drain and midday slump, and nobody needs that! Skipping breakfast will also make you less alert and less able to concentrate.

Better yet, eating breakfast is linked to healthy weight with reduced weight gain over time. Eating breakfast is important for appetite control — it helps you avoid those mid-morning munchies that so often arise. Yet another thing that eating breakfast does is help us have a better intake of important nutrients, including calcium, Vitamin D, potassium and fibre.

So, what can you do to on these rushed morning to actually fit breakfast in? Try preparing meals and snacks the night before. If you have cut-up veggies and fruit in the fridge it’s much easier to grab them and go. Try storing leftovers in pre-portioned containers so you can grab and go or grab and eat, depending on your needs that day.

If you haven’t been eating breakfast and you want to start, be sure to choose a balanced one. Include complex carbohydrates, protein and fibre to make the most out of this meal.

If you’re worried you just don’t have the time, then grab and go foods are a must. Try things like a smoothie (you can make them the night before), try having hummus, avocado, and cucumber on toast or bread. You could also try making breakfast wraps (it’s quicker than it sounds) — find a recipe here.

One thing to watch out for is having too much caffeine. This can cause increased heart rate (the last thing you need when you’re trying to get kids out the door or on a stressful commute), stomach upset, jitters, or even cause you to lose sleep. If you are a sleep-deprived parent try to limit yourself to a maximum of 400mg of caffeine a day(1), and if you are pregnant or breastfeeding then try to limit yourself to 200mg (2)(3). (This is more complicated to figure out than I can explain in this short post. Please check back for my upcoming post.)

Need more help with how to make quick, easy breakfasts happen at your house? Contact Jill, Nurture The Future’s Registered Dietitian at nf.nutrition@gmail.com

Adapted from the Dietitians of Canada's Nutrition Month Campaign Materials. Find more information about Nutrition Month at www.nutritionmonth2015.ca.

References;
1http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2013/34021a-eng.php
2http://tna.europarchive.org/20111116080332/http://www.food.gov.uk/news/pressreleases/2008/nov/caffeineadvice
3 http://www.acog.org/~/media/Committee%20Opinions/Committee%20on%20Obstetric%20Practice/co462.pdf?dmc=1&ts=20130704T0537306017

The mid-day slump. That middle of the day, the sleepy, brain-in-a-fog feeling when you don’t know how you’ll make it through the rest of this day — you know the one. Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent or always on the go, whether you work from home or commute, whether you’re on mat leave or pregnant and on sick leave, you are susceptible. So as nutrition month comes to an end, I want to stress that its theme, eating 9 to 5, applies no matter what your work situation might be.

So when you feel that slump what can you do?

·      Try moving — Do stretches, get up and play with your kids, stand up during your phone calls, whether they are work or at home. There are many ways to incorporate some movement regardless of where you are.

·      Grab a small snack — If you feel hungry, have something to eat that includes a carbohydrate to provide some fuel for your brain and some protein to give you that longer lasting energy. Examples would be: fruit and nuts or hummus and veggies, but those are not the only options.

·      Drink water — If you sip water throughout the day to help you stay hydrated it doesn’t feel as overwhelming as you having to drink big glasses of water at a time. Staying hydrated will help you avoid that sleepy feeling. If you want more flavour then just water try adding berries, melon, cucumber, mint, citrus, etc. to your water.

Remember there is a difference between snacks and treats. Treats are low in nutrients (things such as cookies, chips, chocolate). Snacks are small portions of nutrient-rich foods that will actually help you stay energized and feel satisfied. Often that mid-day slump has people reaching for treats, which won’t help in the same way that a well-balanced snack will.

When you need a break, whatever your role is, think about mindful eating. Are you really hungry right now? Check in with yourself — you might not really be hungry but instead be bored or stressed. If so, maybe try some of the other options listed above simply reaching for something to eat. However, if you are hungry be sure to focus on your food. Remove any other distractions (put down that cell phone and don’t check your emails!) Remember to sit down to eat and to keep your snack small and nutrient-rich.

Although most people struggle with the mid-day slump there are ways to get through it. Be sure you choose what works best for you and what you are in need of that particular day.

Need more ideas for beating that mid-day slump? Contact Jill, Nurture The Future’s Registered Dietitian at nf.nutrition@gmail.com

Adapted from the Dietitians of Canada's Nutrition Month Campaign Materials. Find more information about Nutrition Month at www.nutritionmonth2015.ca. 

Most have you have probably heard a variation of this title and wonder, is that really true? The answer is yes. Read on to find out why.

Learning how to eat is quite a process. There are many different flavours and textures. There are different ways of eating; finger foods, spoons, forks, knives, chopsticks, etc. When your baby starts eating solid foods they go through a huge learning curve. Parents always ask me how much their babies should be eating at various stages and my answer is always, “It depends.” As adults our eating is basically the same day in and day out, however, kids’ eating is very up and down- a lot one day and hardly any the next- and that is normal for them.

We should want to encourage intuitive mindful eating in our kids, right from the start. After all, that is what they are born doing and it is very common that when solid foods are introduced it starts to get lost. What I mean when I say “encourage mindful intuitive eating” is that you want them to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. They are the only ones who know where they are on that spectrum, and encouraging them to listen to their bodies is of the utmost importance.

I encourage parents to not focus on how much their kids are eating, this can not only become a point of stress but it also can become a place of pressure put on the kids. I always encourage parents to follow feeding expert Ellyn Satter’s “division of responsibility”, or as I refer to it “dishing out the control” –read more here.

Every baby develops at a somewhat different rate, and that is another reason why I encourage parents to not worry so much and follow the “food is for fun, under one” mantra.

The WHO recommends breastfeeding to two years and beyond (1). Up to one year of age, the majority of nutrients the baby will be getting is coming from either breastmilk or formula, or a combination there of. That being said, it doesn’t mean that you should not be offering food to your baby during this time. It does mean that your baby has a chance to learn to become a successful eater, and parents can sit back and relax and enjoy the process of your baby starting solids.

It is important to start solids during the first year. Not too early (the current recommendations are to wait until 6 months)(3), but waiting too long can also be a concern. As long as you have started the process of offering your baby solids foods before age one, so as to be sure that you are not missing their developmental readiness to accept different foods, and as long as you are offering foods that are high in iron, as around 6 months their stores will start to decrease (2), I don’t put too much focus on the “how much” and instead emphasize the fun.

One of the most important things is to focus on when feeding your baby, right from the beginning, is avoiding pressure (2). By looking at food under age one as a learning tool and “just for fun” I find it really helps parents avoid pressure. From around age one, kids start to have a more regular intake of food (3).

Parents worry, that’s what we do. So talking about starting solids as being fun is a big shift for many people. Instead of worrying about the mess, how much your child is actually eating, what they are and aren’t eating, etc. focus on providing varied textures of a different variety of foods and take some of that pressure and stress, off both of you.

Questions about how to avoid pressure when feeding your kids? Contact Jill, Nurture The Future’s Registered Dietitian at nf.nutrition@gmail.com

References:
1-    http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/exclusive_breastfeeding/en/
2-    Ellyn Satter- Child of Mine- Feeding with love and good sense
3-    http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/infant-nourisson/recom/recom-6-24-months-6-24-mois-eng.php

Mothers often wonder, and books and web pages often disagree about whether you should hide the veggies on the plate in the hope your child will eat them without noticing.  But as a Registered Dietitian and a Mom, my answers are the same: you should not.

Having a toddler means there will be power struggles day in and day out. So a main focus of my work with feeding babies through to kids and teens is to take the power struggle out of food.

I always ask parents how they’ d feel if someone hid something in their food. I know I’d be upset! I like to empower kids with choices of what they eat.

Here are a few tips when it comes to kids and vegetables:

·      Parents choose what is served for dinner, then kids choose what they eat from the foods offered. Let’s say the meal is chicken, rice and broccoli. The kids can eat as much of they want of any of those foods. If they are not choosing the broccoli that’s okay. Really. Keep offering vegetables with every meal, but remove the pressure of having to eat them. If the rest of the family eats their veggies and there’s no pressure, your kids might surprise you and choose a broccoli. If they choose a broccoli they shouldn’t be pressured to eat it. Just allow them to do whatever it is they need to do – the focus for parents is removing any kind of pressure. For example they need to try a bite, if they try it they have to finish it, everyone else is having it so that means you need to as well, etc.

·      Involve kids. Let them help choose the vegetable(s) that goes with dinner that night. Let them choose something new to try at the grocery store this week. Let them help prepare the vegetables for dinner that night. Kids love to grate, cut, wash, pull out of the fridge, etc. Depending on their age and ability.

·      Don’t hide any vegetables. Making a pureed soup? That’s great, but still tell your kids what’s in the soup. Everyone, including kids can have preferences. They may or may not like certain vegetables and that is within their right. I’m sure most parents can remember being forced to eat something themselves as a kid that they didn’t like. Let’s stop repeating that behavior for our kids.

·      Grow a garden. Having your kids choose and plant a vegetable garden can peak their interest and actually help increase their vegetable intake. If they  have seen the food grow over time and have actually helped with the process they often want to try the end result. Remember container gardening works for this or going to a community garden or a you pick.

·      Try different forms. Try offering cooked, raw, roasted, grated, cubed, etc. Providing different forms for the vegetable to be eaten in can be a real hit. Try putting vegetables in smoothies and baked goods but always tell them the vegetables are in there.

·      Be a role model. When kids see everyone else in the family eating, and enjoying vegetables and the pressure is removed from having to eat them they often will try. Be sure to include vegetables with every meal and snack. Making an omelet for breakfast? Throw in some veggies. Load up that sandwich at lunch with veggies and have some veggies and homous for a snack. Try having a salad on the side with dinner and incorporating a rainbow of colour with your veggies in the meal.

·      Presentation matters. Try serving meals with the makings in different bowls in the centre of the table. Everyone can pick and choose what they want. Try using little containers to put cut up veggies in with hummus for a snack at school or on the road. You don’t have to make vegetables look like various characters and elaborate pictures like you see on pintrest but presenting them with a little thought can go a long way with your kids. Some families find that using catchy names with their kids gets their kids to want to try them ie/ trees instead of broccoli, etc. Also, the more colour the more appeal it has – for everyone.

As with everything with your kids it’s about building trust. Removing the power from eating or not eating vegetables is so important. Don’t deceive them about vegetables being in a dish. If it is a pureed soup and it has different vegetables in it and your kids enjoy it, they may not even realize that they like certain vegetables or that they are eating certain vegetables if they aren’t in the know. In fact, it can even backfire ie/ they won’t eat those veggies again just to spite, or they don’t eat those veggies because they didn’t know that they like them.

In the end as long as you are giving them the option to try to eat the vegetables in their own time it will happen. Don’t lose patience, and don’t lose hope. If they try it and don’t like it it’s fine to spit it out. Just teach them a polite way, but that can encourage them to try more. It takes 15-20 times of trying a food to decide that you actually like it so it might take a lot of spitting it out before they know whether they like it or not.

Biggest advice for parents- don’t worry! It won’t be like this forever. When people are really concerned I end up working with them as a family to look at different ways pressure can appear and power struggles happen. We go through their diet so that I can reassure them that they are getting the nutrients they need or point them to other ways to get the nutrients as they are going through the process of learning about eating vegetables. Kids have a different eating pattern than adults and this is normal.

By taking the pressure of having to eat vegetables and making them something to be enjoyed many parents are surprised by the results this has on their family.

Concerned that your kids aren’t getting what they need because they don’t eat vegetables? Wondering how to empower your kids to eat more vegetables? Contact Jill, Nurture The Future’s Registered Dietitian at nf.nutrition@gmail.com