Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving from the Healthy Girls Initiative!

What do you love about Thanksgiving?

I asked this question at a “Friendsgiving Potluck” pre-Thanksgiving party this weekend and the replies were standard: Food. Family. Friends.

Whether you’re still scrambling for recipes or already have made name cards for where all your guests will sit, whether you’re gathering with family and friends or giving thanks solo, whether you are incorporating some healthier dishes into your spread or looking forward to heavy gravies and pies galore, here are a few tips that can help us all enjoy the feasting while honoring our health!

1. Go for quality, not quantity:
   Eat whatever you want, but eat less of it. Want a piece of pumpkin pie…and also try the pecan pie? Huge stuffing fan? Do scalloped potatoes rock your world? Go ahead and have a small slice, serving or bite of whatever you love, but put half of the normal serving size on your plate. Don’t worry; if you really want more later on, you can have it, but it’s easier to resist overeating once you’ve tried a little of everything you love.
   


2. Stay hydrated:
   Sometimes we get so focused on feasting that we forget to drink water, and thirst is commonly mistaken for hunger! The dehydrating effects of holiday punches, wine and other libations also make it important to keep drinking water. Added bonus: Drinking water before the Thanksgiving meal will help you to feel fuller and not eat so much.
   


3. Take a break:
   It takes about twenty minutes for the stomach’s “Enough, I’m full!” message to reach the brain, so after the first round of food, try taking a break to stretch, maybe go for a walk, or even just lie on the sofa until going back to the table for seconds or dessert.
   


4. Load up on the good stuff:
   Fill your plate with the veggies, lean proteins and fruits offered at the meal. Traditional foods that may be particularly nourishing include crudités, green beans, cranberry sauce, turkey, sweet potatoes, and the filling in pumpkin pie. For healthy versions of traditional Thanksgiving recipes, check out the Mayo’s Clinic site: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/thanksgiving-recipes/NU00643
   


5. Put the “giving” in Thanksgiving:
   Give tempting leftovers like cookies, pies, stuffing, rolls and anything else that may not be part of your normal health-conscious diet (wink wink) to friends, coworkers, or to families in need. Great resources for donating food includes Salvation Army, Resurrection House (in Sarasota), and local churches.

Enjoy a healthy - and above all joyful – Thanksgiving!

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First Healthy Girls Initiative Events - Preparing for Healthy Holidays in December!

UPCOMING HEALTHY GIRLS INITIATIVE EVENTS:

Thursday, December 11th
6pm to 8pm
Venice Girl Scouts House
Holiday Hype Oasis for Moms & Daughters

Does the excitement of celebrating the holiday season sometimes stress you out? Find yourself overindulging in those holiday treats and struggling to take good care of yourself as you scramble to get gifts for loved ones and run around to different gatherings? You may need to escape the “holiday hype” by visiting our evening oasis for moms and daughters who want to enjoy a fun and healthy holiday season. We’ll learn to make delicious and nutritious, easy and affordable holidays treats; share gift ideas that support healthy lifestyles in our family and friends; practice a few stretching moves; and come up with plans for creating our own stress-free sanctuaries in our homes. Throughout the evening, two licensed massage therapists – Sandy Johnson of Women’s Wellness Massage and Terri Michelle of Prana Massage – will be giving free mini-massages to each mom and daughter. Superfood smoothies will be served.

This event is limited to twenty individuals – ten moms-and-daughter teams – so please register soon by contacting Julia Onnie-Hay of the Healthy Girls Initiative at (941) 921-5258 ex. 319 or juliao@gsgcf.org. The Healthy Girls Initiative is a project of Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Inc. offering healthy lifestyle awareness programs to girls and their adult caregivers in South Sarasota County.

Thursday, December 18th
12pm to 1pm
Venice Girl Scouts House
Lunch & Learn for Moms: Holiday Hype

Are you a busy mom getting ready for the holidays? Take an hour for yourself! Manage the stress of the season – the “holiday hype” – by joining other moms who want to enjoy a fun and healthy holiday season. We’ll enjoy an organic salad with locally-grown ingredients; discuss setting sustainable New Year wellness goals; and craft a plan for our own stress-relief sanctuaries and strategies in our homes. Throughout the hour, two licensed massage therapists – Sandy Johnson of Women’s Wellness Massage and Terri Michelle of Prana Massage – will be giving free mini-massages to each mom.

This event is limited to ten moms, so please register soon by contacting Julia Onnie-Hay of the Healthy Girls Initiative at (941) 921-5258 ex. 319 or juliao@gsgcf.org. The Healthy Girls Initiative is a project of Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Inc. offering healthy lifestyle awareness programs to girls and their adult caregivers in South Sarasota County.

Want more Healthy Girls Initiative online? Visit: http://www.myspace.com/healthygirlsinitiative !

Wellness Tip: Easy Breakfast

You’ve probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day…scientific research over the past decade backs up what Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda (the ancient Indian “science of life”), and common American folk wisdom (frequently coming from our grandmothers) has been telling us for centuries: to lay the foundation for a productive day, eat a hearty, well-balanced meal within the first few hours of rising in the morning. Eating a balanced breakfast with protein, carbohydrates, and fat can reduce fatigue and sugar cravings in the afternoon, overeating at night, and has proven to be an effective weight-management strategy.

But like most working folks, you’re probably pressed for time in the morning. Here are some easy, affordable breakfast solutions made from staples that can be prepared in advance and grabbed on the way out of the door and eaten in the car or at the desk. Of course, it’s important to take time for meals but even when it’s necessary to eat on the go, you don’t have to sacrifice good nutrition:

1 – Eggs: Hard-boil them the night or several days beforehand, keep them in the carton in the fridge, and you have an easy grab-and-go breakfast when paired with a piece of toast and an apple. Alternatively, crack two into a bowl, break the yolks up with a fork, add salt and pepper, and nuke ‘em in the microwave for a minute…voila, instant scrambled eggs! Put them on top of the toast or make a quick sandwich with two pieces of toast and you’re good to go. A piece of lettuce, tomato slice, and avocado can really jazz it up.

2 – Grains: Cook a big pot of brown rice or oats the night or several days beforehand and keep it in a Tupperware container or bowl in the fridge, so all you have to do in the morning is scoop out a cup and a half (or so) of the grains into a big mug, add some milk or plain yogurt, add some frozen berries (blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are superfoods), sprinkle some cinnamon, mash it all up, and you’ve got an instant all-natural breakfast. Want it warm? Put it on the stove for a few minutes or in the microwave for a minute. If you need some sweetness in addition to the berries, some honey, maple syrup, stevia or agave nectar are all good choices. Are you a protein person? Try quinoa, an ancient grain used by the Incans in South America; it’s an excellent source of protein and cooks faster than rice and oats.

3 – Lunch: We at the Girl Scouts “defy conformity,” right? So it’s okay to eat lunch, for breakfast! If you’ve got some leftovers from dinner, they would probably make an excellent breakfast. How about grabbing some salad from a big salad you made earlier in the week and adding a can of tuna fish or a turkey burger? Remember, the digestive fire is strongest in the morning and at mid-day, so it’s better to eat your big meal for breakfast or lunch rather than dinner, so try eating half your normal dinner and saving the rest breakfast the next day. Foods we normally don’t think of as “breakfast foods” – like vegetables – can beat a muffin or bagel for balanced nutrition any day.
4 – Smoothie: Drinking your breakfast can be the way to go if you’re enjoying breakfast during your commute or during a meeting. If the sound of a blender early in the morning won’t put your relationship with your family or housemates in jeopardy, throw some ice cubes, berries, nut butter (if you want to make a small splurge, try something new other than peanut butter, like cashew or almond butter) or whey-based protein powder, milk or plain yogurt, and maybe a banana if you’re not sugar-sensitive into the blender. Using frozen berries or bananas will make the smoothie creamier. Want to supercharge your smoothie? Add in some greens, like kale leaves, spinach, or a spirulina-based green powder to really wake you up. It’ll look green and scary, but you’ll taste the other ingredients more than the greens ;)

Wellness Tip: Sweet Superfoods

As the winter holiday season approaches and we all recover from our Halloween-induced sugar highs, try integrating some more nutritious forms of sweetness into your treats. It is well-documented that the two most common forms of sweetness in our diets - white sugar and high fructose corn syrup – actually deplete our systems of nutrients, wreck havoc on blood sugar levels, and are highly addictive. But that doesn’t mean we need to cut out all the sweets from our diets! The good news is that there are several sources of sweetness that can be substituted in recipes for goodies like cookies, hot cocoa, and even oatmeal. Check them out:

- Stevia: Available in either liquid or powder form, this zero-calorie sweetener is made from a herb that grows in the Amazon Rainforest.
- Agave nectar: From the agave cactus, this syrup-like sweetener has a lower glycemic index (GI) than most sweeteners, meaning it releases the sugars into the blood stream slower than the other options here (with the exception of stevia)…which means it doesn’t cause the intense sugar crash some of us experience from other sweeteners.
- Maple syrup: Full of B vitamins and minerals, real maple syrup isn’t only for pancakes! Try substituting it for other sugars in any recipe or even tea. A little goes a long way.
- Raw honey: For folks who suffer from allergies, there is evidence than regular consumption of locally-produced honey may help immunize against some allergens. Raw – a.k.a. unpasteurized – honey retains the many vitamins and minerals that are cooked away during the heating process, making it more nutritious than pasteurized honey.

All four of these “superfood” sweeteners can be purchased at area health food stores such as Richard’s, The Granary, Whole Foods Market, and Good Earth as well as at some regular supermarkets such as Publix and Sweetbay. The downtown Sarasota Farmer’s Market is an excellent source of local Florida raw honey.

Questions? Comments? Ideas for future tips? Hungry for more healthy living tips? Please feel free to contact Julia Onnie-Hay, Program Specialist for the Uniquely ME! Healthy Girls Initiative at (941) 921-5358 ex. 319 or juliao@gsgcf.org.

Welcome to the Healthy Girls Initiative Blog!

The Healthy Girls Initiative of the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Inc. offers free healthy lifestyle awareness programs and activities to girls ages 8-14 and their adult caregivers (usually parents) in South Sarasota County (North Port, Venice, Englewood, and Laurel/Nokomis/Osprey).

Our mission is to help grow holistically healthy girls through good nutrition, physical activity, emotional/mental wellness, and environmental health. Our vision is a South Sarasota County community where each girl is supported in laying a strong foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

This blog serves as a public forum of communication for the adults and girls involved with HGI. Any programs, activities, events or resources related to healthy lifestyles for girls can be shared here. Everyone is welcome to contribute as we cultivate a holistically healthier community, starting with our girls!