4 Healthy Eating Tips for Busy Schedules

Do you ever feel too busy? Like you are being pulled in several directions at once? Busyness is one of the main barriers to healthy eating. Busyness does not have to keep you from living a healthy lifestyle.

Fall can be a busy season, and it's time for back-to-school season! I loved going back-to-school; yes, I was that kid. I was ready to see my friends every day, meet my new teacher, and learn something new! With new school supplies in hand (or backpack), I was ready.

The preparation for back-to-school was minimal as a kid. Go shopping with Mom for new clothes and shoes. The biggest decision I had to make was color-coding my school supplies for each class. I got matching folders for homework, binders or notebooks, and textbook covers. I remember science was always green. Did y'all do this?

As adults, back-to-school preparation is a whole different ball game. This is true if you are going back to school as an adult, taking college or graduate school courses, or, if you're sending kids back-to-school. To make this transition easier, here are some nutrition tips to ease you into back-to-school season and beat the busyness.

1) Prep ahead.

The morning rush can be just that - rushed! Think about ways you can make the morning less of a frenzy. Can you make tomorrow's breakfast or pack a lunch tonight?

Action steps: Try packing tomorrow's lunch tonight. Try a make-ahead breakfast; I like making granola on the weekend for a quick and easy breakfast.

2) Cook once eat twice.
When you're cooking dinner, think about making a little extra. Then, you can turn last night's leftovers into tomorrow's lunch!

Action step: What recipe can you double to make leftovers?

3) Eat the rainbow.

I like using the MyPlate model to build a healthy lunch. Aim for at least 3 of the 5 different food groups to get a variety of nutrients. Try to include at least one serving of fruit or vegetables every time you eat.

Try to "pack a rainbow." This means packing a colorful lunch, which helps you build a tasty, healthy, and satisfying meal. Colorful food is visually appealing, and helps you avoid a boring desk lunch.

Action step: Pack a colorful meal. Try making a salad or a rice bowl with lots of veggies. Try a spinach wrap instead of a sandwich.

  

4) Pack healthy snacks.

- Snacks are small portions of food that fuel us between meals. We want snacks to be quick, portable, tasty and nutritious! The afternoon lull can tempt us to re-caffeinate or grab a dessert from a vending machine. If you packed a snack, you are prepared to resist the vending machine temptations.

Action steps: Try packing peppers with hummus, fruit salad, veggies and cheese, or peanut butter and fruit for a tasty and satisfying snack.

Are you excited for the new school semester or are you dreading it?

Did you color code your school supplies? Or, is that a type-A personality tendency??
How do you prep for success during busy season?

I'd love to know your thoughts. Comment below or on social media.

For more tips, encouragement, and recipes for a healthy lifestyle, you can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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Reader Favorites: August

Thank you for all of the love this month! August is one of my favorite months; it's the beginning of a new semester. This month, the temperatures have been giving us glimpses of Fall!  I love Fall! 

If you missed any of the posts this month, here are the top favorite posts you visited in the month of August. Enjoy!

I'm a Registered Dietitian (RD). I seek out a lot of mentors in the dietetics profession. I started learning about nutrition and shadowing RDs in high school. I continues to learn from coworker and mentors. Dietetics is a broad profession, so I want to share some of my experiences and tips for future RDs. Hope you have a great semester!

Becoming a Registered Dietitian: RD Exam

Becoming a Registered Dietitian: How to Succeed in Your Dietetic Internship

It's no secret that I love cooking. Apparently you do too! I started taking cooking classes to learn new skills and recipes. My friend, Christy, has gone to most of the classes with me. It's been a blast! 

I started this series to give you a sneak peak of what to expect if you attend a cooking class. I looked for reviews of different cooking class, and couldn't find any. If you plan to attend a cooking class, I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences so you can better know what to expect. I also include personal cooking tips and techniques.

Cooking Class: Pasta

Cooking Class Series: Part 1

Cooking Class Series: Part 2

I've started some new blog series this year. I like to share my favorites with you because I love reading "favorites'' posts. In my monthly favorites, I focus on what I'm watching, cooking, eating, reading, and loving each month. Hope you enjoy!

RDtipoftheday Favorites: August Edition

RDtipoftheday Favorites: July Edition

The "Let's Celebrate" series is my way to celebrate every month. I love food and holidays, so I wanted to highlight everything that is happening with food for the upcoming month.

Let's Celebrate August

I'm big on goals. This series entitled, State of My Goals, keeps me accountable to my goals and keeps you updated on my progress through the year. I hope it encourages you to think about what you want to achieve and check in on your progress every month.

State of My Goals Address: July Edition

I like to write nutrition-related posts, since it's my career. I'm a RD, but I'm not your personal RD. So, I offer great, general tips for health and nutrition. Let me know if there are more topics you would like me to cover. Comment below with your topic suggestions.

7 Tips for Healthy Eating on a Budget

Let me know if there are any nutrition-related topics you would like me to cover. You can comment below or tag me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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July Reader Favorites

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Thyme Blueberry Crisp

Healthy Snack Ideas

It's back to school time. Do you know what that means? It's August, and . . . it's Kid's Eat Right Month. 

What is Kids Eat Right Month?
Kids Eat Right (KER) month was started in 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). The purpose of KER month is to educate family, caregivers, communities, and policy makers about the importance of nutrition and optimal health for children and their families.

Since I work with pediatrics patients, this is a busy time of the year with children returning to school. As a Registered Dietitian (RD), I want to ensure that children are fueled in a healthy way to grow, play, and succeed in school.

The most frequently asked questions I get this time of year are questions about feeding children healthfully. The mostly commonly asked question is "What's a good snack?" for my child. So, today I'm talking about healthy snacks!

What is a healthy snack?
Snacks are small amounts of food. The portion size depends on your age with smaller portions for toddlers and larger portions for older adolescents and adults.

For school age children, teenagers and adults, the goal is to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. The more specific goals is 2 servings of fruits and 3 servings of vegetables per day. If you eat 3 meals + 0-2 snacks per day, this averages out to at least one serving of fruits or vegetables at every meal and snack. So, I like to think about having fruits or vegetables as snacks. If a fruit or vegetable does not fill you up, pair it with something. You can add hummus, salad dressing, cheese, peanut butter, almond butter, nuts, or yogurt.

What are some healthy snack ideas?
Here are three quick and easy snack ideas. These make fruit and vegetables the star and are cute for an after school snack.

Vegetable Flowers

My vegetable flowers is made with the following ingredients: hummus, sunflower seeds, carrots, bell pepper, basil, and parsley.

Directions:

1) To make the vegetable flowers, wash all your produce.

2) Spoon hummus on the plate.

3) Arrange baby carrots around the hummus in a spiral shape like flower petals.

4) Sprinkle sunflower seeds on the hummus to represent the sunflower's seeds.

5) Cut a long strip of bell pepper to be the flower stem.

6) Arrange two basil leaves on either side of the bell pepper to be the flower's leaves.

7) Arrange parsley under the bell pepper to represent grass.

Enjoy!

*Note: Steps 5 and 6 are optional. They create visual appeal but are not necessary for a deliciously snack.

Cute Caterpillars

My vegetable flowers is made with the following ingredients: red seedless grapes, green seedless grapes, candy eyes, and royal icing.

Directions:

1) Wash all grapes.

2) Thread grapes on toothpicks or skewers.

3) Attach eyes with royal icing.

Enjoy!

Note: You could also use reduced fat cream cheese or nut butters, like peanut butter or almond butter, to attach the eyes. You could also make the caterpillar's eyes with raisins or mini chocolate chips. Also, make sure your kids or guests know that there are toothpicks in the caterpillars.

Enjoy!

   Rainbow Hummus

My rainbow hummus snack is made with the following ingredients: orange bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, green bell pepper, hummus, peanuts, parsley.

Directions:

1) Wash all vegetables.

2) Slice off the bottom of the orange and yellow bell peppers to create clouds.

3) Cut the green bell pepper in half to make the pot for the "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

4) Slice thin slices of bell pepper (approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices). Then, cut the slices in half to make half-moon shapes for the arches of the rainbow.

5) Arrange bell peppers on the plate to make the rainbow and clouds.

6) Spoon hummus on the plate.

7) Place your green bell pepper "pot" on the plate.

8) Place peanuts on the hummus to represent the "gold" in the pot.

9) Place parsley on the plate to represent the grass that the pot of gold is sitting on.

Enjoy!

If you have any healthy snack ideas, share them below in the comments.

August is Kids Eat Right Month™, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Academy Foundation's chance to highlight the fight for our children's healthy future. Find out how you can get involved!

Stay tuned all this month for more on healthy eating and Kids Eat Right Month. For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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RDtipoftheday Favorites: August Edition

Welcome to RDtipoftheday's favorites August edition. This is my blog series that highlights some of the best things I've been watching, reading, listening to, cooking, and eating. These are a few of my favorite things this month.

Eating & Cooking

I love something about Summer and fantastic produce. I especially love watermelon. Watermelon day is August 3rd, so celebrate. I bought a watermelon shirt last year; I thought it was very dietitian appropriate. I also found this watermelon cake! So fun!

image via Google

Cooking in Julia Child's kitchen. What a cool experience! I might need to add this to my bucket list. You can rent it for $639 https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/10698076. Julia Child's birthday is August 15.

In a world with a lot of excess, it's nice to simplify. Here are some tips for building a minimalist pantry.

Well, you can't exactly eat these, by they look delicious!  

What's the Difference? Learn the Truth About These 21 Common Ingredients via TheKitchn

16 Kitchen Skills Every Home Chef Must Know per RealSimple.

Reading

With school starting soon, my attention is focused on feeding children well and Kids Eat Right Month. Here are some answers to your questions about the new Dietary Guidelines. 

Watching

I was recently on the news promoting Kids Eat Right Month and healthy nutrition for children. Here is the video if you want to know more. Have a great, healthy semester!

Encouraging
Some people love physical activity. Others find it difficult to include physical activity into their schedule. We know the benefits of physical activity. So, here are 7 workouts you can do in 20 minutes. 

I've recently started bullet journaling to keep myself organized. Do you bullet journal? How do you keep yourself organized? I'd love to hear your tips. Feel free to leave a comment below.

For all the bloggers, it can sometimes feel like you are writing to yourself. Here are some tips for how to write on the Internet and not lose your mind. 

Here are some tips for using Google Keyword Planner for SEO.

I hope you enjoyed these tips, recipes, and all of my favorites from this month. Let me know if this is a feature that you would like me to continue by commenting below. And, let me know if you have something you want to be featured. Thanks! Have a great weekend!

For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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July Favorites

Kids Eat Right 2015 Roundup

Happy Kids Eat Right Month! As a pediatric registered dietitian (RD), I often get asked many questions about feeding children in a healthy way. This month we discussed many topics about healthy eating with a focus on teaching children how to eat healthy. Luckily, these principles can be applied to children of all ages (including adults who are kids at heart)! 

Here are 3 easy steps to promote healthy eating for you and your children.

1) Purchase healthy foods.
If you want to eat healthy, you need healthy food options. Want to know more? Here are 8 tips for healthy eating on a budget.

2) Prepare healthy meals.
You have the healthy foods. How do you make a meal? I love the MyPlate model for building a healthy plate. Here are 3 tips for building a healthy meal. 



3) Cook with your kids.
Teach your kids life skills. Everyone needs to know how to cook to survive. Cooking at home provides so many opportunities to learn. You learn about where food comes from, flavor combinations, and cooking techniques. You experience different textures and flavors. You learn budgeting and math skills (adding, subtracting, time, and fractions). You also learn that working on something produces great results. If the results aren't great on your first attempt, you learn resilience, patience, and perseverance. It can be said that everything you need to know you can learn in the kitchen. 

4) Be a role model.
If you want your kids to eat healthy, show them how. Role model eating healthy meals and snacks. Encourage your kids to be active. Even better, go outside with them! Be an encourager by role modeling. Be a teacher and show them how it's done!

I hope you've enjoyed this month learning more about healthy eating and Kids Eat Right Month. For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

Kids Eat Right Month: Tips for Getting Kids in the Kitchen

We all want our children and family to be healthy. How can we support our family's health? One way is healthy eating. Healthy eating starts with your food section and cooking choices. You have the opportunity to teach your children about healthy eating. For more about, age-appropriate kitchen skills and tips for smooth cooking, check out this interviewed I did to provide tips for healthy eating for children for Kids Eat Right Month. Today's interview provides helpful information on the benefits of having kids help us in the kitchen. Check it out!

Stay tuned all this month for more on healthy eating and Kids Eat Right Month. For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Kids Eat Right: 8 Healthy Lunch Ideas

I was interviewed to provide tips for healthy eating with children for Kids Eat Right Month. For more information on how to give your kids a healthy start, here are 8 Healthy Lunch Ideas, using MyPlate to build a healthy school lunches, and tips for teaching your kids about fueling themselves in a healthy way with meals and snacks.

Stay tuned all this month for more on healthy eating and Kids Eat Right Month. For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.