What to do When Your Kids are Offered Treats
With sports activities multiple times a week, school/social activities, birthday parties, and/or church/religious gatherings- “it’s just one” starts to add up.
You’ve gone your whole pregnancy and even early toddlerhood with confidence that your baby is getting the very best nourishment from your animal-based diet, but then you release them into the outside world and are baffled by the kinds of foods strangers want to give your kids.
Don’t worry mama, we gotchu.
Get my FREE Kid’s Snack Math printable!
A FREE printable graphic that my 4 year old and I made together that you can put on your fridge to promote autonomy for your growing child to make their own healthy snacks.
Here’s the problem
Most mainstream snacks aren’t made to support optimal exercise recovery
Low vitamins and minerals (if any)
Low protein
Artificial dyes
Concentrated fruit juice
Excess refined sugar (particularly problematic with zero protein included)
Hyperpalatable (high addictive capacity)
What’s a mama to do?
How do you prioritize nourishing an active, growing body while also helping your child not feel left out?
How many compromises are too many compromises?
Every parent will have their own boundary but in reality here’s why we think the current state of snacks are the way they are:
👉🏽Parents are busy
👉🏽 Your food budget shrinks while other spending rises
👉🏽 It’s too hard to keep up with “what’s healthy” anymore
👉🏽 Your kid only eats “kid food”
Let’s pause and think of what we want for our children:
healthy moods and relationships,
good energy
mental clarity
strong and resilient bodies
minimal cravings
and self-control around food (just to name a few)
If these are the goals- will giving them the options above help us get there? I don’t think so.
And with Halloween just around the corner, candies and treats will be pushed on your child around every corner.
Of course, the easiest thing to do is take the path of least resistance but if you’re finding yourself read this article, then my guess is that you’re doing your best to make habit changes in your family, despite how hard it may be to go against the mainstream.
Don’t let your kid miss out on the fun just because you’re working hard to keep them healthy!
Try these fun healthy halloween treats at your next social event!
What do you prioritize when it comes to providing snacks that support post exercise recovery?
These are a few of our favorite things:
Vitamin and mineral rich
Adequate protein to help repair and build muscle tissue
Adequate carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores and provide an energy boost
Adequate fats for sustained energy and satiety, but not too much that it slows uptake or protein and carbs
Electrolytes to help replenish minerals lost through sweat and metabolism
Free of artificial dyes, glyphosate, and excess refined sugar
So with that in mind,
Here are some strategies to maintain balance and flexibility and navigate the ubiquitous presence of processed “kid’s” treats.
Offer to be the volunteer coach or in charge of the snack calendar for your kid’s soccer/sport team
Give suggestions to parents or share this post (People like having decisions made for them!)
Offer to help bring snacks/treats to the event
Allow your child to pick a mama-approved treat in-advance to trade in for their other snack
Looking for the right combo to make a nourishing sports snack ?
Here’s the general formula I like to follow:
Note that there will be som overlap between these macronutrient/micronutrient categories as foods in nature don’t exist in isolation.
Hydration/electrolytes
Preferably in natural form like fruit juice not from concentrate, ideally organic but this may likely be compromised for cost
Protein source:
cheese, milk, egg, cottage cheese, meatballs, deli meat
Carb source:
Whole fruit, juice (not from concentrate), coconut water, rice
Fat source:
Although nutritionally important elsewhere in the diet, fat is the least of priorities immediately after exercise as too much fat post-workout can slow down digestion and reduce the uptake of carb and protein, leading to slower muscle/exercise recovery. Plus if you’re prioritizing a quality protein source- it likely comes alongside a nice package of fat.
Some examples of healthy after-sports kids’ snacks:
Now are these ideas that we provided “perfect”?
No, there were certain compromises that we made for the sake of cost or convenience but they are a big improvement considering where most are starting. Whenever there are other families involved, it’s a BALANCE to figure out which values you’re willing to compromise on and when.
I hope that the swaps we provided can give you an idea for how you can still lean on convenience without compromising quality, nutrition or flavor.
What is your favorite strategy for maintaining balance and flexibility when your child is offered processed foods?
What is your favorite post exercise snack to bring for you kids or your favorite Halloween treat strategy?
Some graphics and content made in collaboration with Hollie Sherfie of @the.holistic.minimalist
