15 Best Free Apps For Healthy Eating On A Budget

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We have all been warned at the dinner table to eat our greens and vegetables, or else. Even though you might not have been the biggest fan of finishing your salad or green peas, your parents wanted to provide you with the most nutritious meal possible so you can grow to be big and strong. 

 

We all know that you’d prefer to fill your belly with meatloaf, steak, chicken strips or any other processed foods, but our parents knew that those foods weren’t going to promote a healthy life. Our parents knew what was best, even though eating all your greens and veggies seemed like torture, they kept your best interest at heart. If they had access to the resources that we have today, they probably would’ve used various healthy food apps to get inspiration to create healthier and more balanced meals.  

 

In retrospect, we should give our parents credit for not only feeding us balanced meals but also finding innovative ways to mix up what they were making for dinner. They didn’t have an infinite number of resources to pull recipes from. They only had a few cookbooks, family recipes, and their creativity to keep us wanting more. It’s 2019, we have the ability to access an infinite amount of resources to utilize to not only make flamboyant dishes but also to ensure that we don’t have to eat the same thing twice. 

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Black Garlic

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Dmitrii  from Kitchennin.com asks, “Do you know garlic?”  He guesses your answer will be yes. But then he assumes the garlic you know is the white garlic you are used to. However, Dmitrii is referring to the black garlic, which is more beneficial and a flavorful way to achieve a more satisfying meal. It is beginning to make a wave in the culinary industry, and due to its incredible health benefits, Dmitrii thinks it is essential you know about them, especially if you are a more adventurous eater so he shared the following information with Healthy Lombard.

What is Black Garlic?

Going into a little bit of long history about black garlic, its use as a high valued medicinal and culinary product was more popular in Asian countries like Korea, Japan, and Thailand. Korea is often said to be the place where black garlic originated from, where its process was thought to have been developed over several centuries.

According to historical records, black garlic was said to be used as a diuretic, antibiotic, digestive aid, anti-parasitic, and a wide range of several other ailments. It is widely known for the anti-oxidant properties it possesses. Read more

WHAT IS BINGE EATING DISORDER?

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Megan Barna, MS, RD, is an outpatient dietitian at Children’s National in Washington, D.C.

Eleanor Mackey, Ph.D., is a child psychologist and works primarily with the Obesity Institute and Children’s Research Institute. Dr. Mackey is also a mother of two girls. She wrote for the Rise and Shine newsletter that binge eating disorder (BED) is defined as an eating disorder marked by the frequent consumption of unusually large amounts of food, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. BED differs from bingeing and purging in that the individual takes no actions to prevent weight gain, consequently, many suffering from BED are often overweight or obese.

BED differs from other eating disorders in that it appears to be an “equal opportunity” disorder, affecting men almost as much as women, with no discrimination against race. It is also more common than both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, affecting one in every 35 adults in the United States, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.

While many people are guilty of stress eating or taking second helpings of dessert when full, for those with BED, this becomes a regular pattern says Children’s National Health System nutritionist Megan Barna, MS, RD. Eating is no longer simply to satisfy hunger, rather, it is used as a means of escape to distract from scary or stressful problems, feelings or situations.

“Actual eating behaviors are symptoms of more profound underlying factors, such as depression, anxiety, or having experienced trauma,” Barna explains. She said the food is used as a tool for rebelling, rewarding oneself, or easing anxiety or loneliness.

“A binge is indicated by a complete loss of control followed by feelings of shame,” Barna says, “binge eating disorder is marked by multiple recurring episodes.”

Individuals suffering from BED often feel deep embarrassment and humiliation about gorging but are unable to resist the compulsion to binge. This vicious cycle of bingeing can lead to even greater feelings of hopelessness and despair. Read more

Anti-Bribing Strategies for Picky Eaters

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Take a deep breath, and don’t worry! What if you could be assured that your child will get the nutrition they need without you going crazy just by starting with small steps? We all want our kids to eat nutritious foods and hope they naturally gravitate towards choosing these foods even when they are not at home. Unfortunately, we need to remember that forcing and bribing children to eat certain foods rarely instills a desired result or behavior.

Most children enter a picky eating phase at some point, and it tends to begin at the age of one or two years old. This is the point where children start to express opinions and may love a food one day and dislike it the next.

Consider these tips to help your picky eater consume a balanced diet!

  1. Respect your child’s desire for food, and allow them to ask for less or more. It’s important to not force them to eat a meal or snack or to clean their plates. This could kindle a power struggle over food with your child and a negative behavior such as anxiety with meals or sensitivities with feelings of hunger. It is important to encourage your child to stay at the table for mealtime, though, even if they are not hungry. Not doing so could promote picky eating behaviors.
  2. Involve kids, and recruit their help! There are many ways to do this: include kids in prepping meals, setting the table, cleaning up after dinner, passing and serving the food, and while grocery shopping (where they should help you select nutritious foods). For older children, skills such as cooking, like those taught in high school classes, have been highlighted in The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior for their role in developing teens into adults who eat better and choose more fruits and vegetables. For beginner cooks, we recommend giving these easy recipes from Dole a try: Banana Apple Crisp and Easy BBQ Kebabs.

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Make a Difference in People’s Lives This Fall!

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Did you know, “five percent of children in Lombard live at or below the poverty level?” (city-data.com). The Lombard Park District is hosting its annual Trick-or-Treat Food Drive on Saturday, October 19 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. Help us help others in our community by participating in this great opportunity to give back!

The Lombard Park District staff and volunteers are assigned a new area each year to collect canned and boxed foods to be donated to The Lombard/Villa Park Food Pantry. “This year staff and volunteers are assigned neighborhoods near Manor Hill Elementary and the Log Cabin at Four Seasons,” said Program Manager, Katie Manheim. “We will be dropping bags at each door the week before and picking up the filled bags at their doorsteps on Saturday, October 19.”

For those not in those neighborhoods, bags will be available for pick up at Madison Meadow Athletic Center (500 E. Wilson) and Sunset Knoll Recreation Center (820 S. Finley) and can then be filled and dropped off at either location or at the Log Cabin at Four Seasons on the morning of the Food Drive. Read more

THANK YOU APPLE CRUNCHERS!

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Dr. Cerone and Associates                         St. John’s First Graders.                                             St. John’s Cuties!

 

More from St. John’s

 

                                   

North Elementary school/tri-town YMCA kids                  SJ 3rd grade students enjoying some apples at snack break

 

 

 

 

Check out more photos on our addition blog for today.

TY Village of Lombard for supporting AC Day!

 

 

Easy Food Journaling Printable

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Megan Darmody shared with Healthy Lombard that with the holidays approaching, balance and moderation are key. Regardless of which diet or lifestyle you follow, it’s helpful to consider what you’re consuming on a daily basis. How much of what you consume is mindless or on autopilot? Whatever your goal is—tracking what you eat and drink throughout the day helps identify how balanced your diet is.  

If you’re looking to make some shifts in your habits or routines, a daily food journal is one path to a more mindful way of eating. It helps you stay accountable by tracking patterns or gaps in your diet. You simply write down every detail of what you eat in a day, from your morning coffee to that midnight dessert. You can also include water intake or your workout for the day.

 

For an easy daily food journal, download or print the printable by Kitchen Cabinet Kings below. It breaks down every meal and has categories for calories, carbs, sugar to protein. You can hang it on your refrigerator if you work from home or save it to your phone for an easy log on-the-go. Read more

School lunches to help your child power through the afternoon

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Mary Gardner, RD, LDN, an outpatient dietitian at Edward Hospital shared in the Ederd-Elmhurst Healthy Driven Blog that as adults, we’re all too familiar with the afternoon slump — that time of day when you have a few hours to go but you’re starting to crave sugar and/or nod off at your desk.Kids go through that, too. But it’s preventable (for adults, too!) if you eat the right food for lunch.

And, let’s face it, besides wanting our kids to have the energy for the school day, nobody wants a starving, cranky kid getting off the bus after school.

A mix of protein and complex carbohydrates can provide the kick your kids need to get through the afternoon and still have the energy to play (after homework’s done) when they get home.

Keep these tips in mind when you buy food for lunches:

  • Avoid refined carbs. Choose fiber-rich whole grains, such as 100 percent whole wheat bread, tortilla wraps, bagels or pita bread for sandwiches. And brown rice, beans or lentils instead of white bread, white rice, and heavily processed products.
  • Pack protein. Hard-boiled eggs, low-fat Greek yogurt, low-fat cheese, cottage cheese, and nut butter are great ways to get protein in your kids’ lunches. A peanut butter sandwich with whole wheat bread would be a perfect protein-complex carb combination. Or try a snack lunch of sliced turkey, low-fat cheese and whole-grain crackers.
  • Don’t forget the vegetables. Veggies go well with proteins like low-fat cheese or nut butter. Try easy-to-eat finger foods like sliced cherry tomatoes, baby carrots and snap peas plain or with a hummus dip, or ants on a log (celery with nut butter and raisins).
  • Fiber + carbs = energy (and a full tummy). Whole fruit – grapes, sliced apples or pears, and orange segments – are great sources of carbohydrates and fiber.  Other ideas are dried cereal, popcorn or a trail mix (kids love to help make this one!).

 

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Paleo Diet Meal Plan

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Alex from WellnessCaptain.com, a blog about how people can optimize their body, feel great and look better, shared with Healthy Lombard that right now, Paleo is one of the most popular diets worldwide – and for good reason. It’s simple, versatile and it can be adopted by mostly everyone regardless of age or gender. But what are the real benefits of this diet and how can you actually implement it into your lifestyle?

What is the Paleo diet?
To understand the philosophy behind this diet, let’s think of our ancestors: the cavemen. They hunted for meat and ate whatever fruits and vegetables they could gather. Almost every meal they ate was raw and dairy, grains or legumes didn’t exist yet (as farming only appeared 10,000 years ago).

The Paleo diet, or Stone Age diet, claims that people would be much healthier if they returned to the very beginning of humanity and its eating habits. A theory known as discordance hypothesis suggests that we aren’t genetically made to eat processed meals or foods resulted through farming (dairy, grains, and legumes). Recently, more and more studies proved that these foods may contribute to today’s most common physical conditions: diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

Most of the times, a paleo diet should come with an active lifestyle; once again, think of our ancestors who put in plenty of effort to hunt, build shelters and travel. Aside from this reason, practicing sports is particularly important because paleo diets may be high in calories (depending on how you design yours).
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