How to Make a Balanced Breakfast Smoothie for Your Kids

Download Recipe: Balanced Breakfast Smoothie Recipe

In today’s video, you will learn how to make a balanced breakfast smoothie for your kids.

Hi, I’m Shani Mara Breiter, Dietician for families, kids and teens. Welcome to Yummy TV. The place to be to create a healthy lifestyle that you and your family will love. I have helped hundreds of families just like yours, and I can help you too. Subscribe to my channel and go to my website at ShaniMara.com to get great tips that you won’t find anywhere else.

So, the problem with most smoothies today, that I see, whether they’re store-bought or made at home is that there’s so many carbohydrates so your just … Your kids are getting a sugar rush in the morning. That I’m not a proponent of. The carbohydrates come in the form of a whole bunch of fruits or sugary yogurt or added honey and Agave. And lastly, juice. So my suggestion is that your carbohydrate comes from just some fruit, but not tons of it. And not multiple kinds of carbohydrates.

So, the key though to making it really nutritious is to make sure that you add in the protein and the fat. And that’s what I find is often missing in the smoothie. Maybe there’s a little bit of milk, but that’s not an adequate amount to actually, hold your child over or your teen over, until their morning snack at school. So the benefit of having the protein, is it helps to steady the blood sugar, keeping them more satisfied, longer. And the same thing with the fat. It actually helps them to stay satisfied. So, I really recommend that you work on this balance. And, there is one other bonus food that I would add into the smoothie, if you can get away with it. Which is, pre-washed baby spinach. Because even though it will change the color of the smoothie, it will not change the flavor, guaranteed. I have tried this with so many kids, and there’s never a problem. They may not like the color, but there is no difference in the actual taste of the smoothie.

The reason why I like a balanced breakfast smoothie for your kids, is because some kids are just not big breakfast eaters. But if you make them a really good nutritious smoothie, they’ll eat it and you won’t get any pushback. So, let’s talk about how to actually do that. The key is to take a balanced plate, like a balanced meal, and actually make that into a balanced smoothie. So first, take a look at this diagram, which shows you a balanced plate. And if you notice, there are four categories. There is the protein, right? There is the carbohydrate, which is either the grain or the fruit. And for our purposes for the smoothie, we’re going to use fruit. And then, you have healthy fat. So, the key is, is to balance it in the smoothie.

So, let’s break that down a little bit further. For the protein, you have a few options. You have some plain yogurt that you can use. Or you can use a really nice quality organic grass-fed whey protein. Or you can use vegan protein powder if your kids would prefer that. So that’s the first category. The second category is the fruits, and the typical fruits to use that are really good are bananas and berries. And I recommend that you can buy them even, frozen. And if you can’t get frozen bananas then go ahead and once they become super ripe, peel them, cut them in half and freeze them. And you’ll get a really nice consistency in your smoothie. So if you combine that with your kids favorite berries or mixed berries, you’re good to go.

And the third category are healthy fats. So those are things like, you can put some flax oil, you can use some avocado. And another thing that I love, another food that I love, are fresh nuts, raw nuts. Such as cashews, or almonds or something like that. There’s one other item that I’m a huge fan of, which is coconut butter. So if your kids like the flavor of coconut, or even if you’re not sure that they do. Go ahead and try it and see what they think. I have included a recipe with details down below.

So now here’s how you actually put the smoothie together, here’s the recipe. And remember, check below because I actually, give you the details of the quantities of each ingredient. So, you’re going to start with some nuts and put them in the blender. And then you’re going to add some water, and you’re going to blend that up until it becomes a pulp. So, I want you to blend and blend and blend more. I want it so that it’s really pureed in there, before you add any of the other ingredients. Because one sure way to have your kids not eat it, is if there are little pieces of nuts in there. So blend away and spend extra time blending. Then, when you’re done with that, when you have that pulp, is when you add all the other ingredients. Mainly your protein source, whether it’s the protein powder or the yogurt. So those are the two things that I would recommend. And then, you add in the fruit and the healthy fat. And that’s when you do your second blending.

So blend, blend, blend. Once that’s blended, what I would do is, I’d actually taste it to see how does it taste? At that time, you can also add in the spinach. So once that’s all blended, then you add in the ice. The ice will bring up the volume of it, and it will give it that consistency that your kids will really like. Blend that really well and then, you’re good to go.

I have a little trick with one particular product, that if you don’t want to add in tons of fruit and sugar and juice. There’s this great sugar substitute that is all-natural that has no weird aftertaste. And the brand is called “Lakanto”. It’s spelled L-A-K-A-N-T-O, and it’s a Monkfruit sweetener. So you can buy this online at Amazon and simply just, add in a couple of spoonfuls and there’s zero grams of sugar in it and it’s going to make it a little bit sweeter, and your kids will love it.

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How to Address Your Concerns about Your Childs Weight

In today’s video, you will learn how to address your concerns about your child’s weight. I’m Shani Mara Breiter, Registered Dietician. Specializing in helping families, kids and teens. Welcome to Yummy TV, the place to be to create a healthy lifestyle that you and your family will love. I have helped hundreds of families just like yours, and I can help you too. Subscribe to my channel below, and go to my website at ShaniMara.com to get great tips that you won’t find anywhere else.

Now, let’s talk about the matter at hand. You’re concerned about your child’s weight, and you don’t know how to address it. The reason you might feel concerned is because number one, you went to a pediatric appointment recently, and the Pediatrician expressed concern about the growth chart. Or, maybe your child, you recently went clothes shopping and there was a challenge because your child did not like how they were feeling in their clothes. Or, maybe they’re comparing themselves to their friends.

Another reason why this might be a concern to you is that you’re noticing eating habits, you’re noticing cravings, and you’re noticing portion size concerns with your child at home. All these are very, very valid.

Here is the challenge in addressing it with your child. If you talk directly to your child about this, you could actually create negative feelings within your child about their body that can ultimately lead to disordered eating. And, emotional challenges, which is something that we definitely want to avoid. The key here instead, is to make this a family affair and to begin to address this without even talking to your child about it. Again, it starts with you.

Here is what you don’t want to do with your child in this situation. You do not want to talk to them about their weight, or their body. You want to make sure that your spouse, that their siblings, and grandparents, that nobody talks about their weight or their body image in any way. The reason is because again, this can really affect them during their lifetime, and we want to avoid that like the plague. That’s number one.

Number two is, do not put your child on a diet. Don’t talk about diet, don’t buy diet foods, don’t do anything like that. Number three is, don’t compare them to others. To your sibling, to yourself, to anything like that. Those are the three things not to do.

Here is what you do want to do. You want to have healthy foods available at home, both for meals, and for snacks. That’s number one. Number two is, you want to provide healthy balanced meals for dinner especially, but also for breakfast and for lunch. I do talk about this a bit in other videos, so check it out. Number three is, you want to provide family sit down meals, where you can provide the balance, and you can plate it in the kitchen. Number four, is that you want to model healthy habits around food for your kids, so that they can see because they’re going to watch you. They watch everything that you do. Lastly, if you really feel like you need help, then get some professional help so that you can really zero in on the challenges that you’re having, a make a quick shift so that the stress dissipates, and it doesn’t create a problem moving forward.

Remember, healthy family nutrition starts with you, and not with your kids. If you liked this video, please subscribe below. And, also go to my website at ShaniMara.com, and sign up so that you an get great tips that you won’t find anywhere else. Thank you so much for being here today, you are the best part of Yummy TV. See you in the next video.

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The #1 Challenge with Kids Nutrition Today

In today’s video, you will learn the number one challenge in kids’ nutrition today and how to change it. Please stay til the end. I’d love you to get these great tips that you can apply immediately.

Hi. I’m Shani Mara Breiter, dietician. Welcome to Yummy TV, the place to be to create a healthy lifestyle that you and your family will love. Consider me like your family dietician, for you, your kids, and your teens. I have helped hundreds of families just like yours learn about nutrition in a healthy, doable, and yummy way.

Subscribe to my channel and go to my website at ShaniMara.com where you will get great tips that you won’t find anywhere else. Now, before we begin, remember that healthy nutrition starts with you rather than your kids and you can begin to make healthy lifestyle changes for your family without even talking to your kids about it yet.

The question for the day: can you guess what the number one challenge in kids’ nutrition today is? Do you have any idea? Because I see it all the time in my practice. Any ideas at all? Well, the answer is the carbohydrate load that the average kid diet has on a daily basis. What do I actually mean by that? Carbohydrates are foods that have some form of food sugar in them. Carbohydrates are very important. We must have carbohydrates. They’re important to a balanced meal. However, many times multiple carbohydrates can appear in meals including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. My recommendation is to begin to balance meals and snacks rather than give so many carbohydrates at one meal.

Carbohydrates are food that, again, have some form of food sugar. An example of them would be all fruits, for example. Whether it’s fresh fruit or dried fruit or frozen fruit or fruit juice. There all have some sort of fruit sugar called fructose in them. Another category would be grains. Grains include bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, chips, crackers, cookies, all those kinds of things, any sort of grain or starch. The next category is dairy, in particular milk and yogurt. Many times yogurts have added sugar into them.

Next category are sugary beverages. Those are really to just drink because they’re yummy and kids like them, but keep in mind that is a liquid form of carbohydrate. Then, you have just … you know, sweets that kids like. You also have sweeteners, whether it’s granulated sugar, evaporated cane juice, honey, molasses, maple syrup, date sugar, coconut sugar, whatever the source is. They’re all carbohydrates. The key is to balance the meals and to not give so many carbohydrates at one meal.

Reason why you wanna balance meals, rather than having such carb-heavy meals and snacks, is because it can actually affect your kids’ health, and here’s how. Number one, it can cause them to crave more and more carbohydrates. I don’t know if you’ve seen that with your kids, but the more carbohydrates they have, the more they want more. It can also affect their energy. It can affect their mood, and it can also cause some sort of weight related issue if that is at all a concern for you. It does behoove you to begin to balance meals.

Now, let’s take each meal and break it down. Let’s take … let’s start with breakfast. An example of a carbohydrate-heavy breakfast could be a bagel with fruit juice and fruit and yogurt that is flavored with some granola on top. Every item in that breakfast is a carbohydrate. An example of a more balanced breakfast would be eggs with some fruits and maybe some avocado along with the eggs and a piece of toast. What you’re doing is you’re cutting back on the amount of carbohydrates that you’re serving. That’s breakfast.

Let’s move on to lunch. An example of a carbohydrate-heavy lunch could be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some fruit and, say, a cookie and some sort of chip or cracker. If you notice every single item there has a carbohydrate as opposed to doing a lunch that say is a sandwich with some sort of protein in it such as turkey or maybe sliced chicken and then you do a serving of vegetables and little bit of fruit. Maybe a couple times a week you give some sort of sweet, but you do a small amount, like maybe a Hershey’s kiss or something like that because kids do need to be kids and have something fun to eat. That gives you an example of the difference.

Now, let’s look at afternoon snack. Here’s an average example that I hear. It could be some sort of corn puff, like Pirate’s Booty, or it could be a potato chip along with some fruit. Again, it’s two carbohydrates. Or it could be leftovers, such as leftover pasta, something like that. My suggestion, instead, would be to balance it. Have one carbohydrate with, say, a protein or a fat such as fruit with some nut butter, or fruits with some nuts or some cheese, or many some guacamole dipped in some carrots. It’s a balance, so that rather than giving two carbohydrates, you’re giving one carbohydrate.

Now, let’s look at dinner. An example of a typical dinner could be a bowl of pasta maybe with a few carrot sticks on the end. That plate is not very balanced. What I might suggest you do, is rather than a whole plate of pasta, do a quarter plate of pasta with a quarter plate of some sort of protein, whether it’s chicken, fish, meat, eggs, something like that, and then fill up the other part of the plate, the other half of the plate with vegetables. It could be cooked, raw vegetables, a combination, and that way you get more of a balance and you’re not giving such a heavy carb load to your children. Those are examples of meals and snacks and how to make the changes. I hope that this is helpful for you.

This does take pre-planning on your part, but balanced nutrition for your kids is so worth it, so I recommend you take the time and begin to do it. Also remember that healthy nutrition starts with you and not with your kids.

If you like this video, please subscribe below and hit the like button. Also leave a comment because I would really love to hear topics of interest to you that I can cover in future videos. Also, go to my website at ShaniMara.com and sign up so that you can get great tips that you won’t find anywhere else. Thank you for being a part of Yummy TV and for watching today. See you in the next video.

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5 Myths About Helping Your Child or Teen Lose Weight (And What to do Instead)

As a parent, you may wonder how to help your child or teen with their weight. On one hand,  you worry that if you say nothing, you could miss a chance to help your child with their health. On the other hand, you risk shaming your child or possibly causing a pattern of disordered eating. What it the answer? Here are 5 common myths about how to help your kids lose weight and what to do instead.

 

Myth #1: Talking to your child about their weight will help them lose weight.

Simply put, don’t make comments about your child’s weight. Here’s why. Although well intentioned, comments about a child’s weight can lead to unhealthy dieting behaviors or eating disorders. It can add to a chronic dissatisfaction within your child or teen with their body. Parent’s comments are even linked to an increased risk of obesity. Encouraged dieting can lead to a higher risk of lower self-esteem and depression.

shani-croppedWhat to do? Focus your conversation on healthy eating habits, rather than body and weight. Talk less and do more. In other words, provide healthy snacks and meals at home, model healthy behaviors around nourishing your body and set an example by being physically active. Sit down to enjoy healthy family dinners together. When your children are young, little conversation is needed. Instead, simply take action in rebalancing meals and provide healthy foods at home. With an older child who is overweight, wait for your teen to bring it up to you and support them by asking them how you can help. Overall, focus on lifestyle shifts and eating patterns, rather than weight. Make healthy eating a family affair.

 

Myth #2: Children who are overweight should be put on a diet.

Here is the reality….Unless medically directed, the goal is to slow or stop weigh gain through a lifestyle shift, not a diet, so that your child can grow into his or her ideal weight. This is the beauty of being a child.

 

Myth #3: Children who are overweight are genetically predisposed, so there is nothing you can do about it. 

Although genetics can influence weight, it is only a small part of a larger equation, mainly affected by environment.  Kids can and do maintain a healthy weight when nourished in a healthy and balanced way with whole, fresh foods and less processed and packaged foods.

 

Myth #4: My child has no hunger on/off switch and is always hungry.

Although this may be true when eating a diet high in starches, grains and sugar, this patterned way of eating can shift when decreasing processed grains and sugar and instead balancing meals with more protein, vegetables and healthy fats. For example, rather than a dinner plate consisting of a plate of pasta, provide 1 quarter of the plate pasta, a quarter of the plate protein and half the plate with vegetables (cooked and/or raw).

 

Myth #5: Eating is a healthy way to self soothe.

Emotional eating is turning to food for comfort, to relieve stress or to reward. It comes on suddenly, often with specific cravings, often leads to mindless eating and may leave behind feelings of guilt or shame. Does your child or teen turn to food when sad, stressed, out of boredom or when procrastinating before starting after school homework? The key is to help your child learn the difference between eating because they are physically hungry rather than for emotional reasons or out of habit. Help your child learn to recognize this difference. If they are not physically hungry, encourage him or her to talk about their feelings or find an activity other than eating when not physically hungry.

Unless induced by a medication that makes it challenging to lose weight, every child and teen can live at a healthy weight. The key is to provide a supportive environment with whole foods and balanced meals and seek help when needed to support the process.

6 Common Mistakes When Helping Kids & Teens Lose Weight

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