Ahhhh. Can you feel that? It's the collective sigh of relief. The Holidays are over. For another 11 months, we can relegate it to a lower-case letter event. Winter has begun in Rhode Island and you might be looking to get your little ones back in balance, ready to tackle the on-slaught of indoor-bound-sickness.
If you are anything like me, somewhere around December 16th, you completely caved to the Sugar Monster. Gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate with marshmallows, elves leaving chocolate in various forms and candy canes everywhere you turn. I stopped fighting it and let the Sugar Coma be the primary form of sleep for my 5 year old. There's only so much you can tackle during The Holidays.
Detoxes and Cleanses are the Retail Gold of January. We rarely think in terms of detoxing or cleasning our kids. I like to think they don't have so much built up damage, so a week or two of sugar and crap aren't going to be major. But I do think it's good to devote some concentrated effort to bringing them back into balance. This is for them and their well being but also for you; the primary ick of the Sugar Monster is erratic behavior. When you combine erratic behavior with kids you end up with a Coke and Mentos experiment.
So here are somethings you can do to help your little ones find balance (these will work for grown ups as well).
~ Throw away all the crap. Right now. It's probably stale anyway. Do not be concerned with wasting. It goes to waste in your body anyway, since none of it contains nutrients. There will always be more as long as you live in civilized society.
~ Protein and fat are not only 2 of the 3 macronutrients our bodies need but they also completely combat the effects of sugar. They will keep your child full and also extremely focused. With the current low fat craze, children are not getting enough of this vital nutrient. Dietary fat does not cause body fat. Good healthy fats can be found in avocados, egg yolks, olive and coconut oil, nuts and seeds. Protein does not need to be excessive (like high protein diets suggest) but should be "clean". By that I mean grassfed and pastured; look for these words when you buy your meat.
~Be mindful of other forms of sugar. ALL sugar spikes blood sugar and can lead to erratic behavior and lack of focus. While replacing candy with fruit certainly is beneficial, fruit contains fructose, a sugar. Yes, it contains nutrients but it can also make a child wonky. Did you know that two slices of Whole Wheat bread can increase blood sugar more than 2 tablespoons of PURE SUGAR? I got that nugget from Wheat Belly, an excellent book by cardiologist Dr. William Davis. I highly recommend reading it. My family no longer eats grains and while I realize not everyone is able to make such a drastic change, the changes in Pascal's behavior are nearly miraculous. He's focused, not needy, not starving every 10 minutes, downright pleasant and I dare say, almost logical. Highly unusual in a 5 year old.
All by way of saying, you may think you are feeding your child well with a sandwich on whole wheat, with fruit as a snack and maybe some cereal or crackers. But the body only recognizes most of that as sugar. Which leads to the inevitable high followed, of course, by the Crash. Also recognizable in this form: I'm huuunnngry. Again.
~Have a default meal. I am not an advocate of making a completely different meal for your kids. However, I personally am a very adventuresome eater and don't want to have to de-taste everything down to a 5 year old level. I think it's perfectly reasonable to keep something easy to heat up in the fridge for him. Our go-to is a broiled chicken breast and a mixture of his favorite veggies (carrots, bell peppers, string beans). Easy enough to grab should he proclaim the family meal dee-scus-ting.
~Have a vegetable tasting. I'm not going to tackle picky eaters here but I've found this to be helpful to increase veggie eating. It also will help set you up for the default meal. Buy a bit of everything you see in the produce isle. Even if you don't know how to cook it yourself (there is a youtube video out there, I assure you). Set up a weekend day to saute, steam, or roast everything up. Have your kids taste and decide on one or two. Even if they don't love it, explain this is going to be part of the default meal. Of course, the theory goes that if they help pick it out (or grow it) and help cook it, they'll have a higher investment in liking it. I live in the real world of parenting and know this isn't always true. But I do think having a lot of variety set before them and making them choose their own lesser of all evils, does help. Big hint: roasting vegetables brings out their natural sweetness. And makes your house smell really good.
~Have treats. Don't set yourself up for a huge fall by going into this saying, "NO Treats." In my humble opinion, treats are awesome. Personally, I make full fat whipped cream using only vanilla, on top of blueberries. This hardly registers on the glycemic index. I also recommend dark chocolate. It's yummy and the fat content satiates without compulsion. Look for 70% cocoa. It may take your kids a minute to adjust to the bitterness but they will. You can also introduce what I call Non-eating Treats. Which can be anything from sitting and reading a book (like right now) or a bike ride after dinner. Something that you maybe wouldn't normally have time to do. Kids LOVE when we can do something with them RIGHT NOW.
~Vitamin D. This is what we get from the sun. I don't know where you are but I'm in Providence and it's 13 degrees out today. What sun there is, I ain't seeing cause my butt is staying put here inside. Up your Vitamin D supplementation. You'll find you and your kids will be well when everyone else is hacking around you. It's sold in liquid, tincture form for kids.
~Run it off. Kids take a physical hit in the winter. If it's not absolutely bitter out, bundle up and get outside! Kids are like puppies and need to be run. Find indoor tracks, soccer fields or open gymnastics times. A great indoor outlet is wrestling. Trying adding a definitive amount of wrestling time to your day. It's a fun activity and burns off steam!
~Get to bed earlier. Honor the need to hibernate. It's cold and dark outside. Everyone but everyone needs more sleep. I can guarantee it. For a bedtime snack, try to give your child some good fat. It makes for a peaceful and long sleep.
Having a place to go "back to" when you stray off course is vital. If you can maintain balance MOST of the time, when it's derailed it's much easier to go back to. Blessings and Wellness for the New Year!
Jamie Glowacki resides in Providence, RI with her son Pascal and is the author of Oh Crap Potty Training digital book and blog.
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