Is your child (not so child anymore) going off to college? As parents, it’s hard for us to not be packing lunches anymore or having a say about what foods our grown children are choosing. Yes, it’s nice not to have to really worry about it anymore and allow them a sense of freedom, but as a health conscious parent myself, I know how important it is for my grown children to be fueling their bodies with the right things!
A steady diet of pizza and burgers can lead to lower grades, illness, fatigue, higher risks of depression, anxiety, irritability, difficulty concentrating, menstrual problems and sleep disturbances. At the end of the day, fast food and unhealthy food in general, simply don’t provide our children with the nutrition they need to perform well in school. Developing a balanced and nutrient dense diet at a young age helps set our children up for a lifetime of healthy eating and less incidence of illness and chronic diseases.
Most likely, your child will be getting most of their food from an on campus dining hall. In recent years, most colleges and universities recognize that their students have diverse dietary needs and offer a wider range of traditional, vegetarian and vegan options. Dining halls can seem overwhelming for students, especially those who are making food choices for themselves for the first time.
Here are some tips to help your student conquer the dining hall:
Plan meals ahead of time to avoid last minute decisions when you’re starving!
Remember to eat from all food groups, especially focusing on colorful fruits and veggies.
Experiment with options to decide what you like and don’t like (don’t be afraid to try new things!)
Redefine dessert – don’t always reach for processed, packaged goods but look into eating fruit or fruit based desserts like smoothies, juices or fruit popsicles.
Drink more water and pay attention to the amount of added sugars in other beverages.
Try to avoid vending machines!
Pack healthy snacks and plenty of water when you know you’ll be on campus for extended periods of time.
Your student will likely be sharing a space with a roommate in a dorm. Dorms are known to be on the smaller side and usually don’t have big refrigerators.
Here are some things to keep on hand in dorm rooms:
Store healthy foods like fruits (apples, bananas, mandarins, pears), veggies (cucumbers, grape tomatoes, mini peppers), no sugar added dried fruit, whole grain cereal, granola or oatmeal at room temperature
Stock your fridge with healthy options like baby carrots, low sugar yogurt, bagged, pre cut veggies and single serve hummus or guacamole
Have healthy snacks on hand like popcorn, Rx bars, Larabars, rice cakes and nut butters
If your student’s dorm contains a microwave, here are some easy and quick meals they can try:
Eggs can be hard boiled, scrambled or made in a mug
Single serve brown or white rice
Baked potatoes or sweet potatoes
Oatmeal
Frozen veggies with beans
If your student will be living in an apartment where they have access to a full kitchen, here are some tips to help ensure they’re eating as healthy as possible:
Plan meals ahead of time
Make a list of ingredients needed for meals and choose a day to go grocery shopping
Try to stick to the list as much as possible to keep your budget healthy and avoid impulse buys that are usually not healthy!
Try out a new fruit or veggie each time you go grocery shopping
Buy items you use a lot of in bulk
Find items (like pre cut or frozen veggies) that make cooking easier and quicker
Batch cook so you have meals that last you a few days or all week
With these tips, your student should be able to make healthy choices on campus. Don’t forget to let your student know that it’s ok to indulge every once in a while and most importantly, encourage them to feed their souls by surrounding themselves with people who are positive and doing things that bring them joy!
Marwa Ismail, Health Coach, uses her training from Institute for Integrative Nutrition and MindBodyGreen to empower patients in making sustainable lifestyle changes to better their health & wellness.
Do you have a picky eater? I know how hard it can be when your child only wants to eat foods from the same food group, or worse, the same food over and over again! Most of the time the food your child likes isn’t very healthy! What is a parent to do?
Here are some tips that can help you get your child to
try a variety of foods.
If you’re like us, you resonate with compartmentalizing this process (and some good old bullet points). And, if you have tips of your own, drop them in the comments–we’d love to learn from you!
Prepping
We know “the plan” is everything thus prepping both mentally and in practice will make this hurdle much easier to tackle.
Shop wisely. As parents, we are the ones buying food for our children. If there is junk food at home, we are the ones buying it! Fill your fridge and pantry with real food – your kids will get used to it!
Minimize the choices. Try to avoid asking your child the ever popular open-ended question: “what do you want to eat?”. Instead, choose two or three options so they can make a choice and not feel overwhelmed with too many options.
Get your kids in the kitchen with you. Involving your kids with simple tasks in the kitchen can give them a sense of accomplishment and more desire to try their creation.
Cut down on snacks. Kids who snack too much throughout the day won’t be hungry enough to eat real food, let alone try new foods. When snacking is a must, avoid fruit juices (these are essentially sugar water) and focus on whole fruits and vegetables.
Meal time
Once you’ve wrapped your head around tackling these tips, there’s not much that’s more important that putting them into practice–at the dinner table.
Sneak in the good stuff. Try to incorporate more veggies at all meals. This can mean adding finely chopped veggies to your meat sauce or including them in delicious smoothies.
Talk to your children in words they understand. Keep conversations about food at the level of the child. Avoid complicated words and explanations. Keep it simple and let your child know what that particular food will do (or not do) for their bodies and minds.
Eat as a family. Life is busier than ever! However, studies have shown that families who eat together tend to eat healthier foods than families who don’t. Connect with your children and nourish your bodies.
Get creative. Food can be fun and silly! Arrange food in different shapes and funny faces. This makes your child more likely to try it and forms a positive relationship with food.
Mindset is everything
If there’s one thing we’re learning about all aspects of health, wellness and recovery, it’s the power of our minds!
Shifting their mindset (and yours) from what they can’t eat to all the delicious foods they can eat!
Don’t ban everything. Avoid putting foods into “good” & “bad” categories. As long as your children eat healthy foods most of the time, an occasional treat is not the end of the world!
Tell your child how valuable they are. Try to get into the habit of letting your child know how special they are, with their unique gifts and potentials. Teach them to love themselves and to nourish their bodies in the best way possible.
Be consistent & patient. Some of these tips may not work the first time and not with every picky eater so you may need to try many different strategies before you find what works for your child. Be consistent and pack your patience. Keep offering healthy options and stay strong!
Marwa Ismail, Health Coach, uses her training from Institute for Integrative Nutrition and MindBodyGreen to empower patients in making sustainable lifestyle changes to better their health & wellness.
As summer approaches and family/friends gatherings ramp up, we tend to crave refreshing, simple bites that don’t take forever to prep and leave us feeling light. Whether you’re going to a graduation barbecue, attending a backyard gathering or are just enjoying a lazy summer day, make sure to check out these recipes that will hit the spot with their simplicity and focusing on cool, refreshing tastes!
Marwa Ismail, Health Coach, uses her training from Institute for Integrative Nutrition and MindBodyGreen to empower patients in making sustainable lifestyle changes to better their health & wellness.
Winner, winner instant-pot-apricot-ginger-chicken-thighs-dinner. Fun(ny), no? It’ll come together in a minute here.
There are countless reasons to focus on ingredients and recipes that have anti-inflammatory properties. Said differently, focusing on tons of veggies (known for their anti-inflammatory properties), a mix of proteins, and healthy fats. Making meal choices through this lens helps reduce inflammation in the body and supports cells functioning optimally. This way of eating can be especially helpful for those who have autoimmune conditions.
Here are some suggestions when trying to adopt an anti-inflammatory meal plan:
Eat organic (non-GMO) as much as possible
Include small amounts of healthy fats at each meal (nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado, salmon, grass fed meats, pasture raised eggs, flax, chia, hemp seeds)
Eat high fiber, low glycemic carbs
Focus on non starchy vegetables
Opt for clean and lean proteins (hormone free, pasture raised beef, lamb, free range chicken and turkey, wild caught cold water fish (no farm raised fish)
Include anti-inflammatory spices like ginger and turmeric
Build your plate around majority veggies, and a healthy mix of protein and healthy fats
Avoid inflammatory foods: sugar, dairy, trans fats, soy, corn, legumes and nightshade veggies
Lifestyle
Like so many other things, lifestyle choices play a role in how much inflammation we have going on in our bodies. To help lower inflammation it’s important to make sure we are moving our bodies as much as possible, getting good quality (and enough sleep), and remembering to slow down. Incorporating activities like yoga, tai chi, meditation and deep breathing help keep stress levels at bay and alongside that, inflammation as well.
After exploring these recipes, prepare to be pleasantly surprised how delish anti-inflammatory meals & snacks can be. Cheers to eating your way to less inflammation!
Marwa Ismail, Health Coach, uses her training from Institute for Integrative Nutrition and MindBodyGreen to empower patients in making sustainable lifestyle changes to better their health & wellness.
If you’ve recently been diagnosed with SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) and been asked to follow a specific protocol in an effort to help calm symptoms down—we’ve got you. It is absolutely normal to feel overwhelmed, not knowing where to start. Quite a few patients that I have worked with have completed this protocol with great success. It all starts with having solid recipes to reach for while being prepared in the kitchen with SIBO compliant ingredients on hand.
The purpose of a SIBO diet is to temporarily reduce the amount of fermentable carbohydrates in your diet and help improve your SIBO symptoms. By temporarily reducing or removing fermentable foods that your bacteria love to eat, you reduce the amount of gas they produce, therefore reducing the symptoms you feel while simultaneously treating the overgrowth and healing the gut.
Check out this SIBO specific meal plan roundup (categorized by meal type) that will make your life a lot easier while following the SIBO diet!
Have fun experimenting with these recipes and finding your favorites! You won’t feel restricted while following the SIBO diet with these delicious and versatile recipes.
A caveat for our SIBO patients: low FODMAP is one way we treat SIBO. We also use the SIBO Specific Diet, which is more restrictive than low FODMAP, so your doctor may recommend that route, depending on your health history. As with any treatment plan, consulting with your doctor is the best first step.
Marwa Ismail, Health Coach, uses her training from Institute for Integrative Nutrition and MindBodyGreen to empower patients in making sustainable lifestyle changes to better their health & wellness.
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