Healthy Food vs. Unhealthy Food: Easy Substitutions
I hear a lot of families express frustration over the quandary they face when trying to balance time AND bring healthy options into their lives. “Freezer meals are easy, but I wish they weren’t chock-full of sodium. Pre-packaged foods are convenient, but have too many calories. We’re always on the go, and the quick snacks we grab from the cupboard are unhealthy!” The fact is, America is an on-the-go society that tends to place greater importance on speed and efficiency rather than health. Companies meet the perceived needs of families with easy – but not necessarily healthy – food, and it takes a conscious effort for parents to choose better options for themselves and their children. Here are some simple substitutions to incorporate better food into your life – even when you’re on the go.
| Healthy Food | Unhealthy Food |
|---|---|
| Carrots | Cheetos |
| Banana chips | Potato chips |
| Granola bars | Candy bars |
| Yogurt | Pudding |
| Fig bars | Cookies |
| Grapes | Fruit snacks |
| Light popcorn | Corn nuts |
| Water | Soda |
See? Easy-peasy. Which reminds me…Wasabi peas are a good grown-up snack with tons of flavor and crunch. A much better choice than Doritos. Some other good ideas are to create a weekly meal plan so you aren’t stuck scrambling at the last minute (unplanned meals inevitably lead to pizza or drive-thru around our house), and keep grapes and fruitsicles in the freezer so you always have something sweet and healthy on hand.
I’m working with an organization called Champions for Kids through their Abbott Nutrition SIMPLE Service project to raise awareness about the need for nutritious food for children in need. Their goal is to mobilize 20 million people to improve the lives of children by 2020. Too many parents are limited today by money and the time they spend working to support their families, and they’re unable to provide proper nutrition for their families. The SIMPLE Service campaign is encouraging groups to get together and make snack packs for a community organization that serves children, so kids can feel more secure knowing that they have access to the food they need, and they can learn through our actions that nutrition doesn’t have to be difficult.
Next week, I’ll be posting about the snack pack I made to show how easy it really is for on-a-budget and on-the-go families to fit healthy options into their everyday lives.
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are my own.
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