Toddler Nutrition

Hello parents of toddlers! So, I write this blog with a little bit of caution. Obviously I know what to do professionally but.... I myself don't have a toddler yet. What I plan on doing with this post is giving you the tools you need to set up a healthy diet for your child and some tips and tricks for picky eaters. Even though I don't have a toddler of my own yet, I have used these techniques on kids and they've worked. If you go through this post and still feel like nothing you're doing is working feel free to email you and I can help coach you through some other ideas. 

Lets start with a couple of really good resources you can use. MyPlate is a great site that's full of meal plans, recipes, and health related info for everyone from preschoolers to adults, click here to check out their site. Another really great website is Kids Eat Right. This is a joint initiative with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). They definitely know what they're talking about and it's a great site to go for when you're not sure what to do in the kitchen for any of your kids from babies to teens, click here to visit their site. 

So what should a toddler's diet look like? Every day your toddler should eat veggies, fruits, whole grains, proteins, and dairy products. If you're vegan and avoid dairy that's okay... just look for other foods that are high in calcium (like broccoli or kale) so you can help those bones grow nice and strong. When it comes to your fruits and veggies choose a variety of colors, you can even try to have some fun with it by making a game of saying the names of the colors and of the foods. 

Kids should learn to listen to their bodies' signals. Forcing your kids to finish all their food could teach them to overeat. Instead, give them small servings of a few different foods. If they finish, they can always ask for more. Starting with small servings and not forcing your kids to finish could help them a lot later in life. Speaking of starting good habits now, encourage them to drink water. Make water the first choice at meal times... if your child refuses to drink water add a little juice to give it some flavor. You can even freeze juice in ice cube trays and add the cubes to the water. Just remember, overall it's best to limit juice to 4-6 ounces a day. 

Eating healthy is key for the right kind of growth and development. However, there's a thin line that you have to be careful with.... forbidding sweets and treats might make them more attractive to your child.  I'm totally a toddler in this regards, the second I tell myself I can't have something it's all I want. The best thing to do is to not purchase junk food on a regular basis and limit your trips to fast food restaurants. I'm not saying never... but I am saying not often. On that note, try not to use food as a reward (this one is hard, I know). Use praise, hugs, special activities, stickers or quality time instead. I promise you this is a pattern that is hard to break later in life. It's better to just not start it at all. 

Now lets shift our attention to picky eaters. Most toddlers are picky eaters, it's just a fact of life. I think it's a stage where they're really trying to push every boundary and give their parents a few more gray hairs. Stay strong!! The Academy of Pediatrics conducted a study of toddlers. The study found that the average toddler might need to see a new food on their plate TEN times before they will eat it! TEN TIMES. Don't give up. Encourage them to try new foods, but don't force them. I've found that sometimes kids just need to play with their food a little first, then eventually they'll put it in their mouths. This works best when there's no pressure involved. For example, give them a piece of banana and let them hold it in their hands and squish it and do whatever their little toddler heart desires with it. If they end up putting it in their mouth, great! If not, that's okay. Try again another day. Sometimes it's a texture thing... try softening, or partially mashing things that they're refusing to eat. Other times it can be a temperature thing... sometimes very young children just prefer things (even milk) at room temperature. A change in texture or temperature might change their minds. 

Here's some basic guidelines for picky eaters...

Include Them: Children are more likely to eat something they've helped made. Take them shopping with you and teach them how to find and select foods. Try using the color game I mentioned earlier. 

Let Them Make Choices Too: Offer a choice between two healthy items and let them decide which one they want to eat. Simple choices can help your toddler feel in control (fun, little trick huh?)

Set Goals: Start off with the small and simple goal of one bite. 

Don't Give Up!: It takes the average toddler 10 times of being offered something before they'll try it. 

Offer Praise: For a picky eater, even one bite should be celebrated. 

Be Patient: Some kids just need a little more time with new foods and that is 100% okay. 

Hopefully you found this helpful. I feel like I'll have to read this blog once my baby hits the toddler age and see how crazy all of it sounds. If you have more in-depth questions about your child's diet or need other suggestions please, please, please... email me! I'd be more than happy to help out. 

Until next time!

Leslie 

2014 Health Food Trends - Cauliflower

As promised, I'm going to do a couple of posts on some upcoming trends that have been named as the next up and coming things for 2014. You'll totally be able to impress your friends with your nerdy nutrition knowledge when they bring up things like teff and freekah. I don't really know who decides these things are going to be cool every year… but they're pretty spot on. Last year it was quinoa and kale, which have become a staple in a lot of households, but honestly before last year how many people really cooked with quinoa on a regular basis or had even heard of it for that matter?! Anyways, now you'll be ahead of the game, you're welcome.

They're saying cauliflower is going to be the hot new "it" item in the veggie world. Sure, cauliflower isn't new to most, but I think people honestly have no idea just how good this little guy is for you. I remember having to eat it at the dinner table when I was little. It was one of those veggies that I had to choke down or else I wouldn't get dessert. Now, I love the stuff. Hopefully by the end of this post you will too.

It's kind of an ugly looking vegetable, isn't it?! Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable…. that always makes me think of crucifix which then makes me think of the word horcrux for some weird reason (shout out to my HP nerds!). Anyways, it's the same family as broccoli and cabbage, it's a great source of vitamin C and full of lots of other antioxidants, another little tid-bit you might not have known. These things are all great, but one of the coolest parts (yes, i realize that even using cauliflower and cool in the same sentence makes me a total nerd) I think about cauliflower are it's anti-inflammatory properties. This little veggie has high amounts of vitamin K and Omega 3s - these aid in decreasing inflammation. That's good news for those of you that suffer from things like arthritis and diabetes. Regular consumption of this bad boy just might aid in relieving some of your symptoms. Pretty neat, huh?!

Cauliflower also is a great source of your B vitamins, manganese, and phosphorous. B vitamins are essential for growth, development and a ton of other bodily functions. Manganese is another antioxidant and phosphorous is important in the creation of RNA, DNA, and ATP (ATP is the energy your body uses to do anything). Last but not least, cauliflower is a good source of fiber… which means it cleans our your digestive system and gets rid of unnecessary substances (aka it will make you poop).

So… now you know why should eat it, but what about how? I mean, you could go the boring route and just steam it and eat it, but I can almost guarantee that means you won't be eating much of it. The good news is people have gotten really creative with their cauliflower game. I've seen it roasted, curried, made into soup, added to pasta dishes, and a personal favorite… mashed and used in place of mashed potatoes. If you google cauliflower recipes right now I guarantee you'll find a whole bunch that you'll want to try. Cauliflower is no longer boring. So, get ahead of the trend and impress your friends with your cauliflower skills at your next dinner party.

Next post we'll talk about teff... I wish I could track how many of you are going to google what that is now haha.

Thanks for reading!

Leslie

Shopping Organic

Hi Everyone! Sorry for being so absent lately. I hope everyone had a great holiday! I am so excited for 2014. I love the fresh start that comes every January. This year I'm resolving to be kinder to my body, more present with my loved ones, and working my booty off with our new business. I feel like I'm having two babies this year… my business baby and my real baby.

Before I jump into the post I just want to give a little update on our business, Creating a New Norm. I am beyond excited for everything that we are rolling out. Already we have had some great clients and opportunities present themselves for 2014. Our website is taking a little longer than planned to get up… but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day, right?! Hopefully, we will have it up in the next week or two, until then you can follow our business page on Facebook for updates.

So, with the new year comes resolutions. While I was grocery shopping today I noticed waaaaaaaay more people in the produce section than normal, I'm guessing those resolutions had something to do with it. When people find out I'm a dietitian I get asked some pretty common questions. One of them is about buying organic. I decided to do a little post on just that.

 Obviously, organic everything would be ideal… but holy crap is it expensive. Is there a solution? Well, I suppose you could grow your own produce. I personally can't do this option, I've killed seriously almost every plant I've ever owned. Probably a more practical solution (at least for those of us who are green thumb challenged) is knowing what the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen are.
Some of you may have heard of these things before, but on the chance that it might be something that some of you have no idea about I decided it would be a good secret to let you in on.

The Clean Fifteen are items that have little to no pesticide residue and are safe to consume in the non organic form. Meaning you don't really need to buy the organic versions, meaning cash in your pocket. The Dirty Dozen are pretty much the opposite. The conventionally grown (read: non organic) items in this group test for AT LEAST 47 different chemicals. Ewwww, that seriously grosses me out. These are the items that you need to be buying organic. Here's the lists below:

If you want more information on the produce you're consuming feel free to visit www.foodnews.org. There you'll find tons of info about all the produce you consume. There's also information on what produce may be GMO, something some of you also might be interested in. 

This is obviously a shorter post. I really just wanted to take some time really quick to encourage you guys to stick with the goals you made for the year and maybe try to add some more fruits and veggies to your diet… the kind without the pesticides. Going organic is definitely beneficial, but can be painful to your bank account. Hopefully this list helps you find some sort of balance. 

Just to give you a little preview of my next post, I plan on talking about some foods that experts are saying are going to be hot health food items in 2014 (I don't really know who these experts are and how they decide what foods are going to be a hot commodity every year, but good for them). 

Until next time, happy reading!

Leslie