It’s Back to School Time: How to Get a Fresh Start

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As the school year begins and schedules start to change you may feel overwhelmed, but don’t let that stop you from keeping your family healthy. We all need to do our part to keep children healthy. While schools are trying to keep junk food out of vending machines, the real opportunity to educate children about a healthy diet begins at home.

The majority of school cafeterias offer unhealthy choices of food. While they may have fruit as an option, they usually feature ice cream and chips making it easy for many children to make the unhealthy selection. What is the best thing you can do as a parent?  Send them to school with a homemade lunch, it is simple, inexpensive and allows you to help your child develop healthy eating habits.

A healthy homemade lunch can consist of many things that you can get at the grocery store. For example, a turkey or ham sandwich, a small bottle of water, a package of string cheese, a bag of baked chips, baby carrots or celery, a piece of fruit, and a small cookie for dessert. You don’t need to use all of these options in one single lunch, instead change the components on a regular basis.

In addition to making sure your child is staying healthy, be sure you don’t forget about your own health! Consider making time for exercising that is within your abilities. Talk to your doctor about what kinds of exercise you can do, and begin to schedule it into your week.

Regular exercise boosts your metabolism and also produces endorphins that help you feel more energized and happy. It is important to stay motivated even when your schedule gets rough and time becomes limited.

Finally, cooking dinner at home will keep you moving, occupied and being responsible for your family’s health. Eating at home will also make it easier to control portions, and what foods you are eating. When we eat out, portions are usually much larger compared with eating at home.

Cooking at home also allows for more time with your family. Spending time together as a family is the most important factor in making sure everyone in your family is happy and healthy. Take advantage of this back to school season as a time to start fresh with eating healthy, exercise, and spending regular time together as a family.