Diet and Nutrition

Chef Ann Cooper’s Proposed Changes for a Healthier National School Lunch Program

The week of August 10 is Healthy Back to School Week at DietsInReview.com.

Chef Ann Cooper, also known as the Renegade Lunch Lady, has she’s made it her life’s mission to reform the way our children eat, and are fed, at school. Which is why we’re thrilled she’s a part of this special series. At ChefAnn.com, they say “She works to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms for students — one school lunch at a time.”

Yesterday, Chef Ann spoke about the National School Lunch Program Needing a Makeover. Her commentary continues now.

As for my team and I, we’d like to be spending all of our time and money feeding children delicious healthy food and educating them on where their food comes from and how it’s produced. To make this happen, the NSLP truly needs a makeover!

I believe that the following guidelines, if put into place, would help us focus on feeding children “real,” healthy and delicious food.

Make meals, both breakfast and lunch, a system where every child is fed every day. This would alleviate the need for free and reduced applications and tracking. (more…)

Posted on August 11, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Talking to Your Teen about Health

Your teen or tween may not have the perspective yet to recognize what they need to do or not to to get healthy and/or avoid falling into unhealthy habits. As a caring, involved parent, you want to provide guidance, but you don’t know what to say or how to get him or her to listen. Your child is probably listening to you less and less as he or she is turning more to the guidance of peers. Luckily, modeling has been shown to be a very powerful way of shaping your child’s behavior. They will do what you do more than they will do what you say. (more…)

Posted on August 11, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

Mocha Manual Mom Returns to Routine for Back to School

The week of August 10 is Healthy Back to School Week at DietsInReview.com.

Kimberly Seals Allers is the author of The Mocha Manual series of books, editor in chief of Mocha Manual, the fastest growing online destination for Black moms and a noted expert on issues related to mothers of color. Her first book, The Mocha Manual to a Fabulous Pregnancy, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and sparked her popular maternity tee shirt line. The series also includes The Mocha Manual to Turning Your Passion—How to Find and Grow Your “Side Hustle” in any Economy and The Mocha Manual to Military Life—A Savvy Guide for Girlfriends, Wives and Female Service members. An award winning journalist, Kimberly is a former writer at Fortune and senior editor at Essence. A divorcing mom of two, Kimberly lives in Long Island with her children.

Summer is all about running free and breaking rules. Anytime is playtime. Bye bye bedtimes. Lazy lounging days rule. And ice cream runs replace treadmill runs. It’s easy to lose your routine. That’s not always a bad thing.

For example, summertime turned my morning run on the treadmill into a group activity and a spectator sport. For weeks, my two beautiful children stood there watching me, asking every 30 seconds, “is it thirty minutes yet?”. (more…)

Posted on August 11, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Healthy Lunch Box Swaps that are Good for Your Kids

The week of August 10 is Healthy Back to School Week at DietsInReview.com.

Even at my age, I can’t help but get the back to school butterflies. I have always loved this time of year. I no longer have a need for fresh packs of pencils, new backpacks or new notebooks, but that doesn’t stop me from wandering down the aisles.

One thing that I don’t miss about back to school are the lunches. That food is still just as terrible as it was 20 years ago. I have a little girl who I mentor, and I’m just shocked every time I walk in to that cafeteria at the trays full of Crustables, corn dogs and football stadium nachos. Thankfully people like Chef Ann and millions of moms across the country are taking steps to ensure our kids are eating more filling, more nutritious foods to power them through their days.

If you are one of those moms responsible for packing school lunches, then consider these easy lunch box swaps this school year. (more…)

Posted on August 10, 2024 by Natalie K

Experts Debunk Recent Weight Loss Exercise Myth

As a nutrition and exercise expert who is “plugged in” to the digital age, I see misinformation on the web all the time. The media often misreport health information… so much that the National Institutes of Health sponsors a conference called “Medicine in the Media” in order to help journalists understand how to accurately report health research.

Food and nutrition misinformation can have harmful effects on the health, well-being and economic status of consumers. The American Dietetic Association’s position paper on misinformation says:

News reports rarely provide enough context for consumers to interpret or apply the advice given and preliminary findings often attract unmerited and misleading attention.

I believe it is crucial that Americans have accurate information based on science and evidence. (more…)

Posted on August 10, 2024 by Rebecca

Chef Ann Cooper says the National School Lunch Program Needs a Makeover

The week of August 10 is Healthy Back to School Week at DietsInReview.com.

It’s a pleasure to have Chef Ann Cooper join us during our Healthy Back to School Week. She’s also known as the Renegade Lunch Lady, as she’s made it her life’s mission to reform the way our children eat, and are fed, at school. She is currently the director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District, where she has transformed the nutritional quality of food at 16 schools serving 9,000 students. In 2006 she released Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed our Children. At ChefAnn.com, they say “She works to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms for students — one school lunch at a time.”

Sometime in late 2024 or early 2024, the government will vote to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act, which funds the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). I believe that the NSLP is in need of a complete overhaul. The inception of the program was predicated on the fact that there were malnourished children all across the country that couldn’t learn or think. As these same children grew into adulthood, they became a National Security liability, because many of them were too malnourished to become an active part of our armed forces. (more…)

Posted on August 10, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Healthy Breakfast Recipes for Back to School

The week of August 10 is Healthy Back to School Week at DietsInReview.com.

Guest blogger Rebecca Bailey returns to DietsInReview.com for Healthy Back to School Week. She is a stay-at-home mom to four little boys and is committed to fitness and health. She blogs at Life With Boys where she shares her experiences as a mom, and her journey toward weight loss and fitness.

It’s the most important meal of the day, yet so often it gets ignored or we eat something on the go that is loaded with sugar. Not exactly the way we want our kids to start the day, whether they are starting preschool, high school, or anything in between. What can we do on those rushed mornings to eat a healthy breakfast that can even be eaten on the way to school?

Plan ahead and freeze breakfast burritos. With whole wheat tortillas, scrambled egg substitute and a variety of toppings, these are easy to pop in the microwave and grab and go. Put your prepared burritos on a cookie sheet and freeze. Then place the frozen burritos in a zipper bag. This makes an easy, fast and filling meal. Try this recipe: (more…)

Posted on August 10, 2024 by GuestBlogger

To Eat or Not to Eat: How Celebrities Deal with Stress

In times of stress, most of us fall into one of two categories: The Reach-for-the-Ben & Jerry’s category or the My-Stomach-Churns-at-the-Thought-of-Food category. So it should come as no surprise when celebs like a recently divorced Madonna and a very recently dumped Jessica Simpson reveal bodies that show the consequences of their relationship woes.

The Material Girl has clearly revolutionized women’s fashion and women’s fitness. She has shown women that the weight room is not just for men and female bodybuilders. But following the recent divorce from her husband Guy Ritchie, Madonna has been hard at work being a single mother and running around the world for her Sticky and Sweet Tour. (more…)

Posted on August 10, 2024 by heather

Will the New Smart Choices Label Help You Lose Weight?

If you haven’t already, you will soon see this label on processed foods at a grocery store near you. I know, I know… anyone who has been in a grocery store in the last three years, has probably seen the “smart spots”, “sensible solutions”, “best life”, and healthy food rating systems like “stars” or “overall nutrient quality index“. It’s complicated. What do these things mean and how can they help me? Right?!

The Smart Choices Program was motivated by the need for a single, trusted and reliable front-of-pack nutrition labeling program that U.S. food manufacturers and retailers could voluntarily adopt to help guide people in making food and beverage choices that fit within their daily calorie needs. (more…)

Posted on August 9, 2024 by Rebecca

Healthy Fast-Food Eating for Moms on the Go

In a little more than three weeks, my kids go back to school. I’m sure you will be able to hear the shouts of joy all the way from wherever you may be. At just about the same time, fall sports begin. Cue the panic and the terror, because at any one time, I might have three or more places to be, often at the same time or back to back – followed by yet another school meeting/class night/yadda yadda. You know the drill, I’m sure.

There are lots of nights when I stutter around at 5:15, knowing that we’ve got to leave for boxing class in five minutes, then take someone to soccer and then pick up a cross country runner – how, exactly, will dinner happen? (more…)

Posted on August 8, 2024 by Carmen

We are Still Hungry for Change with Food Inc.

In a June blog article written by Heather Ashare, our Yoga expert and daily contributor to DietsinReview.com, she wrote about Food Inc., a film that took a hard look at food production and consumption in the U.S. I wanted to share some interesting facts I learned from seeing the movie in no particular order, but all equally astounding to me:

On average our food travels 1,500 miles from the farm to our plate

Because of the long distances that food travels, we no longer eat with the seasons and therefore eat produce that does not provide our bodies with all their nutritional benefits

Grocery stores now boast over 47,000 products to choose from – most of which can sit on shelves for weeks or even months (more…)

Posted on August 8, 2024 by Amy

Diet and Nutrition

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