5-Step Breakfast Challenge

Breakfast made a resurgence last year, when working and learning from home gave us more time to prepare and eat this morning meal. This trend is expected to continue.

FoodNetwork.com declares that “breakfast at home is back” in 2021, going on to give examples of new food products like Cinnabon’s CinnaBiscuit Chicken Sandwich and Jimmy Dean Casserole Bites. High fat, low fiber, processed frozen foods – for the most important meal of the day? Yikes!

Get your clients or students on course to a healthy breakfast habit with the Start Your Day with Breakfast PowerPoint. You could break the show up into five mini-sessions so that participants can practice adding one component of a healthy breakfast at a time:

  1. First add fruit: So many traditional breakfast foods go well with fruit, making it easy to add some to what you’re already eating. Top oatmeal, cereal, or toast with your favorite fruit.
  2. Don’t forget about veggies: Work them into breakfast at least a few times a week. Try a little salsa with your eggs or add some greens to a smoothie. You get the idea!
  3. Go all out with whole grains: Look for whole grain options of foods you already eat, like whole wheat English muffins, bread, mini-bagels, cold cereal, and old-fashioned or steel-cut oats.
  4. Mix up the dairy: Milk isn’t the only way to get a good dose of protein and calcium in the morning. Mix your cereal or fruit with some yogurt or sprinkle low-fat cheese on a veggie omelet.
  5. Make the protein healthy: Eggs get a bad rap, but they can definitely be part of a healthy breakfast. Find ways to add in nuts and seeds, nut butters, and lean meats.

Once they complete all five sessions, participants will have mastered the art of making and eating a healthy, delicious breakfast every day — for 2021 and beyond!

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Snacking from Home

Working and learning from home has changed our snacking habits, for better or worse.

With the kitchen close by, you don’t have to rely on the vending machine or what you keep in your desk drawer for snacks. You can choose from a wider and hopefully healthier variety of snack options. On the other hand, you can pop into your kitchen any time, which can make snacking too convenient. Kind of a double-edged sword.

Here are four ways to engage your clients, students, or other audiences in conversations about healthy snacking:

  1. Compare nutrient-dense vs. calorie-dense snacks. Use our 100 Calorie Snack color download or poster, which shows this concept in colorful photographs. People can see how choosing healthier options, like fruits and vegetables, lets them eat more compared to unhealthy, higher calorie choices like cookies or chips.
  2. Brainstorm about why you snack. Is it really hunger? Or could it be stress, boredom, or procrastination that’s calling you to the kitchen? Tracking can help identify patterns and make you more aware of snacking. Try using our Food and Exercise Log.
  3. Set yourself up for success. Keep the kitchen stocked with healthy options and remember MyPlate when thinking about snacks. Teach these and other tips with our Snacking Smart PowerPoint.
  4. Get support from a friend. You could text each other during the day when you’re tempted to snack, giving you a chance to determine whether you’re truly hungry and holding you accountable to make a healthy choice

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Use the code March15 to get 15% off all products now through the end of March!

A Cure for COVID Cooking Fatigue

Raise your hand if you have COVID cooking fatigue!

I confess to recurring bouts with this condition. From what I see on social media and in the news, I’m not alone.

What can you do? Buy prepared foods at the supermarket…order carry-out from local restaurants…pay for a meal delivery service. But these options aren’t always the best for your budget or your health.

How about prescribing a 30-minute video that just might cure COVID cooking fatigue? Our 25 Ingredients, 15 Meals video makes food shopping and meal preparation a breeze for even the most reluctant cooks.

Your audience will learn a lot in just half an hour, including:

  • Menu planning.
  • Shopping from a list.
  • Healthy cooking methods.
  • Money-, time-, and calorie-saving strategies.
  • Cook it once and serve it 2-3 times

Beyond COVID cooking fatigue, 25 Ingredients, 15 Meals would work well for teaching:

  1. Weight loss groups
  2. Families or individuals at risk for food insecurity
  3. Home-school students who need lessons on cooking, nutrition, math, or budgeting
  4. Addiction recovery programs
  5. Boy Scout, Girl Scout, and other youth groups
  6. Students (middle school, high school, and college)

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

New Year’s Resolutions Losing Their Shine?

This is the time of year when New Year’s resolutions start to lose their shine. People who vowed to follow fad diets are getting discouraged, finding it harder and harder to stick to them.

Take advantage of this time to re-energize your clients, students, or employees with practical, science-based messages about healthy eating. Here are three ideas for helping individuals or groups move on from unhealthy, unrealistic resolutions:

  1. Start Over with the Best:  If you kicked-off the new year with a restrictive fad diet, start over with U.S. News & World Report’s top-ranking diet. The Mediterranean diet is number one overall, easiest to follow, heart-healthy, and plant-based. It’s also visually appealing – something that’s captured in our Mediterranean Diet Class PowerPoint Show. The beautiful photographs of foods, herbs, spices, and prepared dishes will have everyone’s mouth watering.
  2. Buckle Down with the Basics:  When it comes to nutrition and healthy eating, misinformation is the rule rather than the exception. When you’re confused, it’s time to go back to the basics, bootcamp-style. Our Nutrition Bootcamp PowerPoint Show provides the knowledge needed to ditch the fads and focus on what really works.
  3. Reset with New Goals:  Do you start every year off with big goals that you never achieve? Stop, step back, and reset your expectations. Our Getting Started PowerPoint Show puts you on track to a new, practical way of looking at nutrition and diets. It starts with setting realistic goals and moves on to other secrets to success, like following a sensible, simple eating plan (MyPlate) and teaming up with others for support.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

 

Supermarket Tours with a Twist

Supermarket tours are great for teaching people how to make healthy choices. They’re fun, interactive, and hands-on. But they’re not pandemic-friendly.

When you can’t take the people to the grocery store, bring the grocery store to the people! It’s easy if you use one of our shopping PowerPoint shows:

Or get all the shows listed above in the 6 Grocery Shopping PowerPoint Tour Guides Kit. No matter who’s in your audience, this kit has everything you need, including handouts and lesson plans.

Here are some ways to add a twist to your virtual supermarket tour:

  1. Talk shopping while you cook. Record a cooking demonstration to go along with your virtual shopping tour. As you cook, talk about each ingredient. Where can you find it in the store? What can you substitute if it’s not in stock? Is there a budget-friendly option? Can you use frozen instead of fresh? What do you look for on the food label?
  2. Share your screen. Grocery shopping online is more popular than ever, but some people aren’t tech-savvy. Share your screen to show them how to select and order groceries for curbside pickup or delivery. Do a sample order that includes a variety of items from each food group so you can add tips for choosing healthier options.
  3. Build a healthy shopping list. Even if you don’t order groceries online, a supermarket’s website or app is still a valuable tool for building a healthy shopping list. Plus, a detailed list is pandemic-friendly – it can help limit the number of trips to the store and how much time you spend there.
  4. Take one aisle at a time. A comprehensive supermarket tour can be overwhelming, whether it’s in-person or virtual. Break your virtual tour up into smaller sessions where you focus on one aisle or department at a time.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Free shopping lists here.

Have Fun with Portion Control

My sons recently offered to buy dinner for me and my husband. They were ordering from their favorite burrito place and asked what I wanted. When I chose the kids meal, they were dumbfounded.

Why would you get the kids meal? It’s so small!

(Even my husband was against it, albeit for a different reason: The boys are actually paying for our dinner, and you’re ordering the cheapest thing on the menu?!)

I explained that child-size meals at restaurants are usually pretty close to the correct portion size for me and lots of other Americans. No way, mom! They couldn’t believe it.

Chances are, your clients, students, or employees would feel the same way if they ordered their favorite burrito and were served the child’s portion size. Yet portion control is key to a healthy eating pattern.

Here are some fun ways to teach any audience about portion control whether in person or on Zoom:

  1. Use pictures. The good thing about the concept of portion control is that, with the right pictures, you don’t have to say a word.
  2. Do some hands-on measuring. Plastic food models are great when you’re seeing clients or students in person. But when your audience is on a computer screen, you have to get creative. Use our Portion Control DVD/CD Set to teach the basics, but break up the lessons with some hands-on measuring.
    • Let participants take turns showing a food or beverage from their kitchen (chips, peanut butter, cereal, soda, juice, etc). First, ask them to show what they think is the correct portion size (say, a tablespoon of peanut butter or 4 ounces of juice). Next, have them actually measure out the correct portion size, using measuring cups or spoons, or even a kitchen scale if they have one.
    • Check plate size. Have participants measure the plates they use at home. Are they more than 9 inches? How about the mugs and glasses – how many ounces do they hold? Our Portion Control: Don’t Go Overboard handout would go well with a lesson like this.
  3. Show real-life examples of portion control. Record short videos to post on social media or send to your clients. For example, measure out one serving from a basket of tortilla chips you’d see at a Mexican restaurant. Or show how a huge muffin from your favorite coffee shop cannot possibly fit on MyPlate.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

3 Topics for Teens

Do you work with teens? Have you ever been asked to present to a class of high school students? Teens can be a tough audience, but the information you share might end up making a big impact on their health and wellness.

Here are three potential topics that are relevant to teenagers, along with facts and recommendations for education materials/resources that will make your job easier.

#1: Sleep

  • The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teens sleep 8–10 hours/day.
  • According to the CDC, about 7 out of 10 teens don’t get enough sleep on school nights.
  • Common Sense Media reports that 29% of teen smartphone owners say they’ve been woken up by their phones during the night by a call, text, or notification.

Resources:

#2: Physical Activity

  • Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition recommends at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity for youth up to age 17.
  • American Heart Association says that only about 1 in 4 high school students get the recommended hour a day of physical activity.
  • Common Sense Media reports that American teens spend an average of nearly 7.5 hours/day in front of screens (not including homework or school). (That was in 2019 — it’s probably worse for 2020!)

Resources:

#3: Vaping

  • While a recent CDC/FDA report shows that teen tobacco use is down, nearly 1 in 4 high school students still use tobacco products.
  • E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students.

Resources:

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

 

 

Let’s Get Excited About the New DGA

With all that’s going on in our country, it’s possible that not everyone is as excited as we are about the new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). But we’re not letting that stop us!

Here are three ways to get your students, clients, or employees excited about (or at least aware of) the new DGA:

  1. Teach it: Our new 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines PowerPoint Show and Handout Set has everything you need to share the new DGA with just about anyone. It’s eye-catching, with bright colors, crisp graphics, and beautiful photos of real food. And it’s customizable, so you can make it work for any audience or time-frame. Use this PowerPoint presentation for a webinar or break the content up into mini-sessions to use with clients or on social media.
  2. Post it: People will stop to get a closer look at our new Dietary Guidelines Poster and Healthy Eating Patterns Poster. They’re a bright and colorful way to let everyone know that the new DGA is here and show what healthy eating patterns are all about. These posters are perfect for your office, hallways, waiting rooms, exam rooms, cafeterias, and classrooms.
  3. Wear it: Make Every Bite Count is the simple, catchy theme of the new DGA. We have Make Every Bite Count wristbands in three sizes (kids, bigger kids, and adults). Send them to your clients, use them as incentives for your students, or give them away to your social media followers.

Let’s get excited about the new DGA!

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Let’s Talk Sugar

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines doesn’t lower the limit on added sugar intake, but we still have our work cut out for us. Just getting Americans to cut their added sugar intake to less than 10% of daily calories is a challenge.

Here are some ways you can incorporate the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans into your nutrition education efforts around added sugar:

  1. Under age two, no added sugar for you! The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines recommends zero added sugar intake for children under the age of two. The average toddler (age 12-23 months) consumes 104 calories per day from added sugars. That’s more than six teaspoons of added sugar, when that number should be zero!
    • Teach parents, grandparents, and all care-givers how to choose nutrient-dense, age-appropriate foods without added sugar. Use our Food Label Education materials to show them where to find added sugars on the food label. If a food or beverage has added sugar, it doesn’t fit into a healthy diet for children under age two.
  2. Teens are too sweet. Added sugar intake goes from 11% of calories/day in childhood to 15% of calories/day in adolescence. And guess what’s also on the rise as kids turn into teens? Sugar-sweetened beverage intake. Sugary beverages make up about 15-25% of total added sugar intake in childhood. By adolescence, this jumps to 32%.
    • Educate children and teens about sugar in beverages with our Are You Drinking Candy materials. Parents and caregivers have more control over what younger kids drink, so they should start early to help foster good habits like drinking water instead of soda, fruit drinks, and sports drinks.
  3. Be the example. Come on, adults! How can we expect our little ones to skip the sugar if we don’t? More than 60% of adults under age 60 exceed the recommended daily limit on added sugars. Again, it’s the sugar-sweetened beverages — they make up more than 40% of daily added sugar intake.
    • Our Sugar Math PowerPoint show covers everything adults (and kids and teens) need to know to get their own added sugar intake in line with recommendations.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

New Year, New Dietary Guidelines

Last week, I watched the virtual release of the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Here are some highlights for you:

  • There are four over-arching guidelines:
    1. Follow a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage.
    2. Customize and enjoy nutrient-dense food and beverage choices to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary considerations.
    3. Focus on meeting food group needs with nutrient-dense foods and beverages, and stay within calorie limits.
    4. Limit food and beverages higher in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, and limit alcoholic beverages.
  • The new edition of the Dietary Guidelines comes with a new call to action – Make Every Bite Count!
    • This theme was evident throughout the virtual presentation and you’ll also see it in the new materials available at DietaryGuidelines.gov.
    • There’s emphasis on the idea that “every American can take one step each day to be better off than the day before.”
  • For the first time, the Dietary Guidelines provides recommendations across the lifespan, from birth to older adulthood, including pregnancy and lactation.
    • Admiral Brett Giroir, MD, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services said this: “The good news is that the science tells us that it is never too early nor too late to eat healthy, which is why it is so important to make every bite count.”
  • Recommendations on added sugar intake did not change.
    • The Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee had recommended that intake of added sugars be limited to no more than 6 percent of calories, but “the evidence reviewed since the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans does not substantiate quantitative changes at this time.”
    • The bottom line: Americans are still advised to consume no more than 10 percent of daily calories from added sugars.
  • You can already find resources online, including an infographic about Making Every Bite Count and the Top 10 Things You Need to Know about the new Dietary Guidelines.

Find all of our new and updated materials here. Use the code 202015OFF to get 15% off and free shipping for all of our Dietary Guidelines relates resources now.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD