Healthy Diet for Teen Athletes
Posted by admin in Healthy Diet on November 22, 2011
Teen athletes need more calories in their diets than teens who are not involved in sports. Teen’s bodies are still growing and require lots of nutritious food to maintain a strong body, healthy growth and have enough energy to compete in athletic events. Foods that are high in carbohydrates are the best foods to provide energy during exercise. Vegetable starches, whole grain, cereal, rice and pasta are excellent sources of carbohydrates for the teen athlete. It is still important that teenagers eat a balanced diet that includes foods from all the food groups.
Make sure that the teen athlete in your family always eats breakfast. Breakfast is important because the body has not received any nourishment for 8 or more hours while the teen was sleeping. Breakfast should include milk, juice and a high carb food such as whole grain cereal. Protein from whole grain toast and eggs with juice and yogurt contains all the carbohydrates and nutrients that a growing teen needs to start the day.
The best way to keep up with how much food from each group a teen athlete is eating is to use the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Pyramid (mypyramid.gov). Young athletes should eat as many as 11 servings of whole grain and cereals every day. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Top Tips For Kid-Friendly Healthy Lunch Ideas
Posted by admin in Healthy Eating, Healthy Tips on November 22, 2011
Making sure our kids eat healthy food has, rightly so, become a national obsession and I am sure, like most parents, you want healthy lunch ideas to help your kids be motivated, full of energy and reaching their true potential.
There are some really outstanding reasons for making sure our kids eat healthy and here are two of the most important.
1. Studies have shown that kids that eat a healthy lunch are more motivated at school and basically do better. This is what we all want for our kids and it is great that we have the power as parents to easily make this happen!
2. Childhood obesity is a growing problem in North America – 5 million youths aged 6-17 are clinically obese. By introducing your kids to healthy eating early on, you are gifting them with a life full of health!
Of course there are many other reasons which I won’t list. I assume if you are reading this you are already convinced of the value of providing healthy food and snacks for your family! Read the rest of this entry »