Summer vacation. I have a love/hate relationship with it. For my children, summer vacation symbolizes freedom, fun and testing my patience. Without the structure of a school day routine, it can be easy for children to fall into bad habits, such as watching too much TV, playing countless hours of video games and reaching for those infamous sugary snacks. While children might enjoy this freedom, spending too much time engaging in sedentary activities like these can quickly lead to unhealthy lifestyles. To prevent this unhealthy lifestyle here are a few tips on how I keep my children healthy over summer vacation and save my sanity at the same time!

 What’s for Sunday dinner?  I want to have a family dinner that is healthy and not too time consuming. And I don’t want to spend a lot of time and energy cleaning up after a busy weekend. Sunday nights are now becoming MYOP - make your own pizza nights!  

Imagine you’ve just been to your doctor for your annual physical and he or she tells you that you have prediabetes.  Don’t let the “pre” in prediabetes fool you into thinking it’s not really a problem now.  Eighty-six million Americans have prediabetes—that’s 1 out of 3 adults! Of those 86 million, 9 out of 10 of them don’t even know they have it.  Without intervention, 15% to 30% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.  With numbers like that, it’s important to learn about prediabetes and take action.  

Kids Aid, The Backpack Program is more than feeding hungry children and youth on the weekends.   

The holidays can be a tough time practice good health and stay on a budget while enjoying holiday celebrations. 

Celebrate the season by practicing healthy eating and physical activity to feel your best, and to create life-long habits.

The holidays are right around the corner - that means celebrations with friends and family, holiday parties, and most of all, delicious food! However, if you’re not strategic about how you indulge this season, you might end up with a bigger New Year’s resolution than you were hoping for. On average, people gain 5-10 lbs. between November and January, and typically don’t lose this weight the following year. 

In recent years, there have been many changes to the school lunch program. We have seen the “food pyramid” changed to “my plate.”  Locally, there have been recipe and staff changes.  The most significant change has been the move back to the “good ol’ days” of from-scratch cooking – and it is happening right here in Mesa County D51 schools! 

We want to hear from you. What factors contribute to a healthy community? What can we do better? 

This is the first in a three-part series that will give you nutrient information on protein, carbohydrates and fat. First up: protein.

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are."

-Brillat-Savarin

Balance is the key to enjoyable eating and maintaining a healthy weight. See what I've done to help achieve that balance (and lose almost 100 pounds!)