The Wellness Bitch

People need to get a clue about what to feed their kids during and after team sports. Cat Delett of Consume This First is pissed that parents often confuse snacks with treats.

By Cat Delett

Need a soccer snack? Read this now.

This is my first year in the world of kids’ soccer so the “team snack” thing came as a bit of a surprise. I guess it builds team camaraderie – okay I can see that – but can we all get on the same page about what a snack is?

This week was our turn to bring snack to the game. We brought popcorn that we popped at home. Kids love it, it tastes good, and it’s a whole grain. We didn’t bring drinks because the kids all have water with them already, and what better way to hydrate 4 and 5 year-olds than with water?

Here’s what happened after the game:

I open my bag and start handing out popcorn. Each kid happily took a bag.

Next, one of the coaches opened up a cooler and started handing out Capri Sun lemonade. Well, of course every kid took one.

Then another mom came up and said, “Oh, I picked up these doughnuts because last week there was no snack for the kids.” Every kid dropped the popcorn and grabbed a doughnut.

WTF?

First: Doughnuts are not an appropriate after soccer snack. Kids don’t need a treat for playing soccer. Playing soccer is fun. If your kid needs a treat reward for playing, do it at home, for your kid only.

Juice, lemonade, and Gatorade are not good ways to hydrate kids who’ve been running around. Even 100% juices have too much sugar for post-play hydration. Just water, that’s all kids need to quench thirst after being active.

Second: So what if one day your kid didn’t have a snack after soccer. “Oh no, my child is wasting away from running on the field and we have a five minute drive home! All we have is water! Can you make it, sweetie, can you?”

Third: Giving kids treats and junk food rather than a healthy snack after sports sets a poor food culture example . Kids will learn that exercise and active play should end with cookies, doughnuts, chips, sugary drinks, etc. I’m certain we’d all rather our kids internalize the idea that post-exercise is a time to hydrate with water, and, if hungry, some fruit, yogurt, or other healthy snack.

Don’t get me wrong, my kids get sweets and junk food, just not on a daily basis. We follow the Pollan Food Rule “Treat treats as treats.”

So let’s be clear: Snack doesn’t equal treat or junk food. A snack is real food you eat when you’re hungry between meals.

Someday I will run a marathon.

Someday I will train for one those MS or AIDS rides.

Someday waking up at 6 am to work out will be easy.

Someday I will completely give up coffee for green tea.

Someday I will have enough money to hire a personal trainer.

Someday I will switch to a raw foods diet.

Someday I will have buff abs.

Someday I will have a buff ass.

Someday I will write a best-selling book.

Someday I will be on the Today Show (and for doing something GOOD, not criminal.)

Someday I will link back to this post and say “I told you so.”

Someday I will thank you for supporting me and loving me on the journey.

Love,

The Wellness Bitch

P.S. Someday will be sooner rather than later.

Watching people run in the pouring rain from their cars into Starbucks this morning (and, yes, being one of those soaking-wet chumps), I got to thinking about what you will do in order to satisfy your addictions.

What? You’re not addicted to your morning coffee?

Yes, you are.

Typically, I make my coffee at home and bring it with me. I’m not a regular Starbucks drinker as I think their coffee  tastes like liquid petroleum and $3 is way too much money for me to spend on something that tastes like shit.

But, I had to rush out of the house on my way to the office and really felt I needed my Americano. It was pouring rain — and since I had rushed out of the house, I didn’t have the appropriate rain gear or umbrella. I was also wearing flip flops. Clearly, I didn’t watch the weather in the morning.

I weighed my choices carefully and decided I needed the coffee. So I made a run for it. Sopping wet, I joined the other drowned rats waiting in line. “Filler up, regular, ” I told the barista.

Caffeine fixed, I headed to my office. On the drive,  I got a really good idea for a blog post. But, unfortunately, I also had to pee really badly. Do you think I went to the bathroom when I got there? No. Because God Forbid I lost the great idea in the three minutes it takes to empty my post-children bladder.

So I sat in my chair doing the “pee pee dance” (as we call it in my house) and typed out a draft of the blog. It wasn’t easy. And it was painful. But I pushed past the pain.

It got me thinking about addiction — what we give up to satisfy our “needs.” And what we tolerate. I thought of the smokers who hang out behind their office buildings in Chicago in the dead of winter. I thought of the people who accept their IBS and irritability in order to satisfy their food cravings. I thought of people I know who stay in unhappy marriages and unsatisfying jobs because the money is good.

Is it all the same as running for Starbucks in the pouring rain?

Maybe.

What do you think?

Let me start by saying I’m a Jew.

And not just by birth or by blood, but also by practice. And proud.

Do you know what I’ve found funny as a Jew who talks and writes about wellness?

The many people I encounter– both Jewish and non-Jewish — who think kosher = healthy.

There was an article about this on Salon.com a few months back remarking on the trend of non-religious folks buying kosher foods, particularly meats, because they thought they were purchasing “conscious food.”

Unfortunately, these folks often are not making conscious choices –which would require them doing their due diligence in researching the practices of the companies before buying.

On top of this, and I learned the hard way, kosher  foods (or those associated with Jews) are often NOT healthy. My favorite hummus (Sabra-brand) is preserved with sodium benzoate, which is linked to cancer. And as Fooducate points out, Hebrew National hotdogs have sodium nitrate as a preservative, which is also carcinogenic, particularly for kids.

Don’t get me wrong: I love Jewish food. It’s very comforting and tasty. At our friends’ Sukkahs this week, my kids stuffed their faced with all sorts of forbidden foods: servings upon servings of challah and babka (typically off limits for my gluten intolerant kids), kosher pickles soaked in yellow #5, and MSG-laced chicken soup. (Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit. The food at my friend’s was actually quite lovely, but take your family to a synagogue family Shabbat and don’t be surprised when your kids are bouncing off the walls at the end of the evening.)

In my effort to bring a Parve dessert to my one friend’s house, I prepared a beautiful berry salad. Knowing I couldn’t bring whipped cream, I checked out the non-dairy alternative in the Kosher aisle. The ingredients listed corn syrup, colorings, and preservatives — I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. We brought just plain berry salad.

So…although it may be bad for the Jews to say so. WAKE UP CALL: Kosher does not  = healthy. Read labels. Research the company. Ask around.

Oh, how I hate to be wrong.

And I will often backtrack or sidestep or do whatever I can to get around being wrong.

Which, I warn you, I’m about to do.

A while back I posted about my love affair with baking soda. Baking soda truly is a gift. I bought a version of this book a few years back, which gives you 100+ ways to use baking soda around the house. And so many of them really do work wonders — from general purpose kitchen and bathroom cleaner to odor absorber to carpet freshener. It’s also really good to use for bath care needs. Why would you use baking soda instead of run-of-the-mill household cleaning products you get at Target, Kmart or the local grocery store? Because they’re toxic.

So after doing a little research, I decided to use baking soda on my pits instead of natural deodorant. It worked wonders! Just a sprinkle of baking soda in the pits and no B.O. the whole day through. 

I got my husband on board, my friends, my family members. After all, baking soda is a naturally-occuring, non-toxic substance. It’s actually considered a food. So it must be perfectly safe for your pits.

And I’m not saying it’s not. But I will tell you I’ve had to cut back using it because of pit irritation. And I’m not the only one. I’ve got a few complaints from people who made the switch and who’ve now returned to their deodorant. (I actually haven’t been using anything at all. Just trying to wash a couple of times during the day.)

So…in an effort to be responsible…and to avoid any potential future backlash…try the baking soda as a deodorant replacement. But if you start getting irritated, I think it’s a good idea to reevaluate. (And try cornstarch instead.)

Someone please tell me I’m reading this wrong. Or I’ve gone blind. Or I’m in an alternate universe.

Yesterday on Facebook, I saw Dr. Oz posted about his 28-day National Soda Challenge. I thought this sounded pretty cool — From the description, it seemed like a community effort to quit something that makes people sick. As Dr. Oz says in the intro to the 28-Day challenge:

Soda is an addictive stimulant, loaded with caffeine and high-fructose corn syrup; it’s making Americans sick and fat. Break the cycle of addiction…

So I read further. Dr. Oz starts with Step 1: Go Sugar Free. This is a great suggestion. Except for the fact that Dr. Oz suggests you switch from soda to diet soda.

Are you f-ing kidding me, Dr. Oz?

He claims, “If you only drink diet soda already, you’re one step ahead of the game.”

One step towards where? Cancer? Death? How do you justify suggesting people switch from one drug to another?

I took a deep breath and continued on to Step 2 hoping it would get better.

IT DIDN’T!!!!

Step 2: Go caffeine free. Okay, good start. But then Dr. Oz reminds the challenge participants:

Remember that headaches are a common symptom of caffeine withdrawal. Take ibuprofen for headache relief.

Couldn’t Dr. Oz…proponent of natural medicine…offer any other suggestions for headache relief other than medication? How about massage? Acupressure? Acupuncture? Extra rest? Deep breathing? Sure, he encourages you to add “foods rich in vitamin B to your diet, like chickpeas, spinach and whole grain cereal.” But that type of diet change is not going to offer immediate headache relief.

By the time you get to Step 4, you’re supposed to be “Soda Free.” Hooray for you!

And you know what Dr. Oz suggests if you’re still having a hard time 28 days later?

If you experience a craving, try chewing sugar-free gum.  Additionally, if you find yourself fixating on soda, find a method of distraction, like taking a walk, doing 10 push-ups or cleaning 

Look, Dr. Oz. I know it’s not you writing the content for this challenge. It’s very likely you hardly even know it’s taking place!

But the next time your assistant hires an intern to handle your social media content, try to choose someone

WHO ACTUALLY HAS A CLUE.

This is unacceptable.

If you agree, RETWEET this like crazy, SHARE this post with your friends, and go visit Dr. Oz’s web communities and point him to The Wellness Bitch. Let’s WAKE UP Dr. Oz.

UPDATE: By the way, folks, Dr. Oz’s resume includes “Honored by the New York Open Center for “outstanding research in writing and communication (and for) bridging Western and alternative/complementary medicine.” Not this time.