Do you ever get just a little tired of hearing the constant call of kids announcing, “I’m hungry ,” or ”What can I have to eat, Mum?” I know I sure do, and if you’re not prepared, it can be frustrating, relentless and annoying to say the least. In order to save your sanity, I’ve got a few quick and easy strategies that are guaranteed to lower your stress levels, and ensure you’re not stuck for an answer … ever again!  As a parent, you know that preparation is the key to keeping things from going haywire.

So when that proclamation, “Mum… I’m hungry” is made in your house – you’ll be ready.  You’ll be armed with the most nutritious, satisfying food imaginable and a few sneaky back-up strategies too. Plus there’s a bonus.

This is for all of us – not just the kids.

When you yourself are in need of a snack or want to treat yourself, use the same nourishing, simple strategies, and notice how you feel?  And… how you look?  It won’t be long before you look and feel better yourself.  Now, that’s multi-tasking taken to a whole new level!

12 Simple Strategies:

  1. Breakfast.  Start the day well and enjoy a good, nourishing breakfast with plenty of satiating fats and protein for example eggs (of any kind) left-overs from the night before, nourishing smoothie, baked beans or a whole grain porridge dressed up with natural organic yogurt, seeds and nuts.  Or join me on ‘The Great Breakfast Adventure’ to kickstart the best day!  We start on the 11th of May.
  2. Fuel up with lots of healthy fats or protein as snacks ahead of simple carbohydrates e.g. biscuits and cake.  These foods are so much more satiating and give them the nutrients their growing, hungry bodies need.Being organised is the key to success but… not always easy. Here are some ideas to help:
  3. A well stocked pantry, fridge or freezer with nourishing snacks ready to go e.g., homemade power balls, coconut ice balls with a zesty twistbacon & egg pies, biltong, the chocolate alternative, homemade dips and pesto, chia seed pudding, rice cakes with butter or nut butter, organic coconut yoghurt, leftovers e.g. soup, sausages or other nourishing meals. If those snacks aren’t readily available, then:
  4. Pantry essentials ready to go.  Have the basic ingredients on hand so you’re ready to create some nourishing magic at any time.  Most of the snack recipes on my site take 5 minutes to prepare and no more than 15 minutes!
  5. Upgrade.  If you’re running short on time for preparing food and need to resort to packaged options, upgrade to choices that are;  few in ingredients, use natural sugars (if any), don’t use vegetable oils and use ingredients you can recognise i.e. aren’t littered with numbers.Other ideas to help fill them up:
  6. Have a ‘cook-up’ on the weekend or any afternoon. Invite a couple of buddies over, and cook up a storm together and so you don’t have to think so much about food during the week.
  7. Bring dinnertime forward.  Quite often kids get back from school and they’re hungry and fill up on less nourishing foods. Making their dinner, afternoon tea – works a treat.
  8. A savoury afternoon tea.  Alternatively enjoy a nourishing savory afternoon tea rather than a sweet one. It takes a bit of getting used to, but if you persist, you’ll see the benefits. Here are some ideas: anything with coconut, coconut & cinnamon chips, coconut milk smoothies, avocado dip or on a rice cracker, tinned sardines, nuts or a home-made granola,  popcorn heated in coconut oil with butter, salt & cinnamon, sweet potato pizzas, (using sweet vegetables helps satisfy our cravings for sweetness), kale chips, green smoothies, leftovers, pate, patties, rissoles, egg pies with tomato, parmesan and bacon. For winter time, home-made soups with nourishing home-made bone stocks.
  9. Fuel up early.  Enjoy lots of nourishing foods in the early part of the day with breakfast and lunch and snacks and there will be less hunger pains later on in the day!
  10. Avoid the processed, packaged, highly refined, nutrient-dead ‘stuff’ that literally does leave our bodies depleted and hungry and sends blood sugar levels on a rollercoaster ride.
  11. Enjoy being outside, exercising or starting a new project to help distract any thoughts of boredom or ‘false hunger cues’.
  12. Drink water. Often cues for dehydration can be misinterpreted for hunger, especially in kids.  At every opportunity give them filtered water.

The key to succeeding with many of these strategies is to include good quality fats and proteins in their whole forms. These foods in the right quantities provide great sustenance and leave our blood sugars stable.  When these foods are regularly incorporated into our day, many of the reasons for hunger disappear. The more we cram these good nutrient rich foods in, the less the desire for sweetness and the more we recalibrate our taste buds to appreciate a more natural level of sweetness in our day.

We all know kids can be resistant to change & trying new things. Here are some ideas to help encourage your kids:

Experiment with one or two strategies and see how they work. How does your family respond? How does it affect the mood of the family? And then consider adding in another strategy, and so on, until those constant naggings of “I’m Hungry!” become a thing of the past or at least a LOT less often.

To be honest, it’s been an exhausting and emotional couple of days.

Our 13 year old fractured her finger and ended up at the public childrens hospital, Princess Margaret.  It was our first visit and for which we’re very grateful was for such a ‘minor’ incident.

As many of you might already appreciate, it was a very long visit i.e. 7:30pm – 1:30am!  It was a Tuesday night, and sadly, very busy (although it’s commonly like this), head traumas, car accidents, respiratory problems, high fevers, broken bones etc.

As our daughter noticed, many parents were prepared with snacks, water bottles and overnight bags, having travelled this road before.   Not us…  a long 6 hours sitting, waiting.

Seeing so many sick young children and the tireless commitment of the nurses and Doctors doing all they could to ease the distress of each child and their parents was humbling and emotional.

And there was so much fear for the families.

Fear of the unknown.  Fear of not being able to help.  Fear of sickness.

Screams of terror from young children that I’ve never heard anything like before.  Heart breaking.  It’s an experience I’d be very happy not to have to experience again.   Following the visit to hospital, I’m now working on strengthening our daughters immunity and gut health.

Treatment.

​​​​​​​Our daughter’s treatment involved a local anaesthetic to reset the fracture along with 4 different x-rays.  Straightforward enough.

These interventions along with a couple of late nights and the mental and emotional stress she has experienced, although not obviously, definitely compromised her immunity and her gut health.

Even though it’s a ‘local’ anaesthetic, my belief is the body is a whole and once the needle is inserted into the blood stream and tissue, chemicals circulate throughout the body.

For example, some of the “temporary adverse effects that are cited and can affect people include:

Some people may have an allergic reaction. The patient could develop hives, itching, and breathing difficulties”  Some of the research showed these effects were more common in ‘higher risk’ patients.  References below.

It seems to me, even though the anaesthetic is ‘local’ as the term implies, the chemical must circulate throughout the entire body as demonstrated with the reactions given above.

Immunity.

So in the past two – three days I’ve worked hard on rebuilding her immunity and her gut health.   Something that is super important, especially with Easter here and (a little) more sugar than she’s used to.  Because as we know sugar is a Master at compromising immunity. And the arrival of winter coughs, colds and flu is just around the corner.  I want her immunity strong and healthy.

Why?

She is totally fine and from all accounts very healthy.  So why would I bother?  Because while generally our bodies are resilient, it (chemicals, toxins, stress) all adds up.

Once you know what works and the body needs, it takes very little effort to flood the body with nutrients and to rebuild health, so why not.  You never know what’s around the corner.  And prevention really is better than the cure.

Lessons. 

Sometimes it’s hard to know if all the healthy ‘stuff’ you’re doing is really worth it? Is it making a difference or is it really worth the expense or the feelings of isolation we can sometimes feel making healthier choices.

Yes.  It is. 

After this week, it has reinforced to me the great importance of making good food and lifestyle choices. Of having the knowledge to rebuild the gut and strong immunity.  It is SO important and it does make a difference.   Rest assured that any effort you’re putting into your family to keep them strong and healthy…  is invaluable.

We’ve been lucky not to experience trauma before, however I don’t think it’s luck that we haven’t had to rush children to hospital in the middle of the night with fevers or unexplained symptoms.  Healthy is a lifestyle and illness is not something we need to fear.

To learn more join me at my online and live workshops, ‘No More Sick Kids’!  Natural remedies to build strong immunity and healthy tummies this Winter. 

 

References.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265689.php
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2148940/

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