If you are constantly fighting to get your kids to eat their fruits and vegetables, then this tip is for you. One of the things I love best about summer is all the fresh product that’s available. Getting our children to eat them though can be a different story. Why not make it fun and surprise them with a delicious frozen treat this week that looks suspiciously like a milkshake. No need to tell them that it’s actually full of stuff that’s good for them like fruit, yogurt and milk.

Both fresh and frozen fruits are great in smoothies. We like berries, bananas, pineapples and peaches a lot in ours. Of course you can mix and match just about any fruits. Just toss whatever sounds good to you in the blender. Start with some fruit and flavors that you know your child loves. Got a child who likes strawberries and vanilla ice cream? Make a smoothie from frozen strawberries and vanilla yogurt along with a bit of juice or milk. For chocolate lovers, try blending frozen banana and chocolate milk.

From there, once you have them hooked on smoothies expand their flavor horizon by including various other types of fruit including strawberries, mangoes and various melons. One thing to keep in mind is that kids like their frozen treats sweet. There’s nothing wrong with adding a little sugar or honey to their smoothies.

My daughter’s favorite right now is this strawberry pineapple smoothie recipe, but she also enjoys a yummy banana smoothie or even mango and pineapple ones. Give a few different smoothie recipes a try until you find a favorite for each member of your family.

If your child isn’t big into milk and yogurt, make a smoothie with orange juice instead. Rice, almond and soy milk are good dairy-free alternatives. Once your kids have their smoothies, don’t forget to make one of these healthy frozen treats for yourself. Your body can use those vitamins just as much.

You can even sneak some vegetables into your smoothies. The now famous green smoothie is a good example of that. Start with something simple like adding some carrot juice to your favorite fruit smoothie. Cucumbers, celery and even spinach are other good choices. You may want to skip the milk and yogurt in a smoothie made mostly from vegetables. Just add some apple juice or the likes instead.

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There is no “secret” to losing weight. The factors that contribute to weight loss haven’t changed since mankind first evolved - you need a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. Children especially can struggle with making the right changes - partly because they don’t know exactly what to change and also because they haven’t been taught many good habits by their parents or caretakers. This is where weight loss camp can be highly beneficial. Here, trained professionals work with kids and teens to teach them how to eat healthy as well as how to enjoy exercising.

Many of you have probably heard a lot about carbohydrates and dieting. The popular diets that told people to eliminate all carbs from their diet to lose weight has led to many people wrongfully believing that reducing or eliminating carbohydrates is a healthy way to live and lose weight. While it may help people lose weight initially, it is not a sustainable, healthy dieting method. The truth is that we need carbs to be healthy. The problem comes when we need to select healthy carbs to eat and avoid the bad ones.

First, a little education. Carbohydrates are one of the three macro-nutrients essential for a healthy diet. These are protein, fat, and carbs. Proteins are things like meat, nuts, dairy products, soy and seeds. Fats come from meat (animal fat) and also from oils that are derived from plants. Fats can also be found in things like butter and cooking oil and some fruits and veggies, like avocados.

A good daily diet should consist of roughly 20-25% protein, 20-30% fats and 50-60% carbohydrates. Given that, you can see why eliminated carbs is not a good idea and why it is important to choose the right ones when we do eat them.

This brings us to the question of the hour - where can healthy carbs be found? For the most part, carbs come from plants and some fruits and vegetables. The problem with they typical American’s diet, however, is that they get the majority of their carbs from things like crackers and cookies that involve a lot of processing.

Cookies are not bad in and of themselves. In fact, a cookie every once in a while isn’t going to make anyone obese. The problem with things like cookies and other mass produced “sources” of carbohydrates is that the healthy part of the food, the wheat, loses a lot of its healthy-ness during the production of the food. Today’s foods are processed and then processed again, sugars are added to make things taste better, and in the end we have a “source” of carbohydrates that has been transformed from something that is a necessary part of a healthy diet to a food full of unhealthy carbs that our body doesn’t really need.

So, the rule of thumb is that if you have a difficult time tracing back that carbohydrate choice to Mother Nature, then the product likely has minimal nutritional value. So, which are healthy choices?

1. Vegetables
2. Fruits
3. Whole Grain breads, rice and pasta (made with the whole grain kernel and not entirely out of flour) without a lot of added sugar or fat
4. Nuts & seeds such as almonds, sunflower seeds and pistachios

The next time you head to the store to shop for your family, keep the above in mind. Additionally, if you’re in the process of investigating “fat camps” for your child, keep the list in mind as you look at samples of the food that they serve. If you don’t see menus that are based on healthy carbs, you are probably better off looking elsewhere. Most weight loss camps for teens employ or consult with a professional nutritionist, however, so most, if not all, should serve plenty of foods that are healthier than most kids eat at home.

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Heart Health concern shouldn’t be limited to adults. Today, more and more kids are overweight and many are dealing with obesity which can have adverse effects on how their heart functions.
There have been so many technological advances that have made life easier today, which has been a great benefit, but as with anything, all the good doesn’t come without consequence and in this case it is laziness among many of today’s youth.
Here are some tips to ensure that your child is on track to keeping their heart healthy:
Get Out More
Today, kids are inside more than ever. With television, video games, computers, and a multitude of music players, kids do not feel much of a need to get outside to enjoy themselves. You should encourage your kids to get outside more. In fact, get out there and join them! Your heart matters too!
Get Involved in Sports
Sports are a great way for kids to get exercise (and they are fun). It may take some time for your kids to find a sport that they like but there are so many options that they are bound to find one that suits them.
Work
Working can also be a great heart healthy activity for kids. Of course, younger children cannot get your typically jobs. But many kids can do yard work or house work. These activities will keep them active, teach them work ethics and maybe even make them a little extra cash- what child doesn’t like that?
Be Creative
The point is to get your kids active so the options are endless. Your kids may not always be motivated to be active, but you can help them get into more healthy habits which will benefit them for years to come.

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