Close

Archive for category: Food For Thought

by

Nutrition Month O-Tip of the Week: Simple Swaps for Sugary Drinks

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

For the month of March, Nutrition Month, our O-Tip series will help you find simple ways to improve nutrition in every meal!

We all know water can get boring sometimes –but there are some great ways to make it a little more exciting, without turning to sugary drinks!  Try swapping pop or your other sugar-filled favourite for mineral water with slices of citrus fruit, hot water with lemon, or water that is infused with watermelon, cucumber or berries!  These delicious swaps are flavour-filled and better for you!

by

Nutrition Month O-Tip of the Week: Put Away the Peeler

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

For the month of March, Nutrition Month, our O-Tip series will help you find simple ways to improve nutrition in every meal!

If you’re looking to get the most out of the fruits and vegetables you eat look no further than the skins.  Though some are not edible many are, and the skins (or peels) often contain the most nutrients as they are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!  So go ahead and enjoy everything your fruit and veggies have to offer – just be sure to wash them thoroughly first!

by

Six Simple Ways to Improve Nutrition As A Team

Julie Entwistle, C.Dir. (c), MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

It is no secret that obesity is on the rise across North America.  In fact, a 2014 study shows that obesity now accounts for 8.6% of youth and 25% of the adult population.  (Després, Alméras, & Gauvin, 2014)   The leading causes of this “obesity epidemic” are sedentary lifestyles, lack of physical activity and poor nutritional choices.

With the stressful lives being led by our generation, taking time to prepare and bring healthy lunches and snacks to work is difficult.  Yet, without a healthy snack or lunch, the tendency is to purchase food that is not healthy, or to under-eat which, believe it or not, can also cause obesity as our body works to “hold onto” every calorie in fear of starvation.

Employers may ask “why do I care if my team is eating unhealthy”, but the answer is obvious:  a healthy workforce is a productive workforce and workplace absences for health-related problems (including obesity, heart disease, diabetes etc) are hugely disruptive.

Here are a few suggestions that can be implemented in the workplace to help improve the health of your staff and organization:

  1. Schedule Regular Healthy Pot-Luck Lunches — choose a day of the week and have each person bring in a healthy lunch item for a team-building activity.
  2. Bring a Colleague a Lunch — people are more likely to prepare healthy meals for others than for themselves, so capitalize on this and arrange for “bring a colleague a lunch week” and see the efforts people will go to in order to promote the health of a colleague.
  3. Recipe of the Week — each week choose a member of the team to share make their favourite healthy meal or snack and bring it in to share with the team.  Have them send each member a recipe via email for them to make on their own.
  4. Education Opportunities — bring in a nutritionist, dietician or health coach to speak to the team about how to create healthy meals and snacks to help fuel their day at work.
  5. Brown Bag Week — encourage the team to have a “brown bag” week.  Eating out can lead to unhealthy choices and lack of portion control.  Bringing your own lunch can help to ensure you are getting the nutrients you need and fueling productivity the entire day.
  6. Russian Lunch Roulette — like secret Santa, have everyone bring a balanced lunch and randomly select who gets what lunch.  It always tastes better to consume something made by someone else, so people should enjoy the surprise lunch they end up with.  Of course, plan ahead for any allergies/food requests and ask people to put sauces/condiments on the side to be added only if desired.

In the end, lead by example.  Employers have the ability to create opportunities that can help their workforce to engage in healthy habits.  Use the strength of your organizational alliance to bring people together to help them achieve healthy goals.  Everyone will benefit, including the organization.

 

Previously posted August 2015

by

Nutrition Month O-Tip of the Week: Make Room for Veggies in Every Meal

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

For the month of March, Nutrition Month, our O-Tip series will help you find simple ways to improve nutrition in every meal!

A simple way to improve nutrition is to increase your vegetable intake.  Vegetables are nutritional powerhouses full of the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to thrive.  Increase your veggie intake by ensuring you include them in every meal and/or snack. 

Some helpful examples include:

  •         Adding spinach or kale to a breakfast smoothie
  •         Adding spinach to your eggs
  •         Protein-packed salads as a meal for lunch or dinner
  •         Substituting veggie noodles (zucchini, spaghetti squash or sweet potatoes) for pasta
  •         Substituting cauliflower for rice or pizza crusts
  •         Using lettuce instead of traditional wraps
  •         Carrot sticks and hummus as a snack
  •         Kale chips instead of regular potato chips as a snack

How do you include vegetables in your meals?  We’d love to hear your delicious and nutritious suggestions!  

by

Nutrition Month O-Tip of the Week: Give the Basics a Boost!

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

For the month of March, Nutrition Month, our O-Tip series will help you find simple ways to improve nutrition in every meal!

Instead of using the less nutritional basics you may have always used in your dishes, try changing them up for a nutritional boost. 
Some examples include:

  •         Quinoa instead of rice
  •         Mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes
  •         Sweet potato fries instead of normal french fries
  •         Zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash instead of pasta
  •         Bake with applesauce instead of oil
  •         Use herbs and spices instead of salt
  •         Use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose white flour
  •         Enjoy dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate

What are some healthy food swaps you’ve tried?  We’d love to hear some more delicious and nutritious suggestions!

by

Disability and Weight Management: Helping You Tip the Scales in the Right Direction

Julie Entwistle, C.Dir. (c), MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

I find that while many of my clients initially lose weight following trauma (hospital food diet); eventually the net impact of a disability is often weight gain.  This is often the result of many factors – most interacting to make the solution difficult to isolate.  Medication side-effects, altered routines, reactive eating, friends and family that provide unhealthy sympathy foods, increased use of fast food because preparing meals is difficult, inactivity, depression, and even hormonal and physiological changes to the body as a result of the trauma.

But we do know that 70% of weight management is diet and assuming this is true, then the solution to weight management should be simple – you can’t eat it if you don’t buy it.  Purchasing unhealthy food is the first step to a weight problem.  And weight problems in disabled people are exponential.  Everything becomes harder – transfers, walking, completion of daily tasks, caregiving, and many pieces of equipment have weight limits that when exceeded result in equipment failure.

What is even more problematic is the role of the caregiver in the maintenance of weight in the person they are caring for.  When people cannot shop for food and cannot cook, then helping them to maintain weight becomes the job of the caregiver.  Just buy and prepare healthy foods – perhaps food prescribed by a nutritionist or dietician.  However, often caregivers rely on the disabled person to dictate the food choices but if people are emotionally eating, or eating out of boredom, then the caregiver cannot always rely on the individual to make the best decisions.  Often raising awareness about healthy eating starts with asking people to track what and when they are eating and drinking.  Then, problems can be identified, and a list of doable solutions can be developed. 

In one instance, in helping a client with weight loss as a functional goal, we discovered through tracking that she was barely eating breakfast and lunch but was consuming all of her calories from 5-10 pm.  We made the goal that, over time, she would consume breakfast, lunch, two snacks and dinner, and would stop eating after 7 pm.  Within a few short months, she lost 30 pounds, and this greatly improved her mobility and tolerances for activity.  Another client discovered through tracking that he was consuming far too many large bottles of pop a day.  By changing his large bottle to a smaller one, and eventually to only one pop per day and the rest water, he was able to drop 20 pounds.  In both cases, the problems, solutions, and commitment to change were made by my clients (with my guidance and support), making the results far more meaningful and lasting.  Further, the client was shown a framework for how to check and modify eating habits should they deteriorate again in the future.

by

The Warm Weather Has Arrived: What’s in Season?

The warm weather is here and summer is officially around the corner.  It’s time to enjoy freshly picked delicious fruits and vegetables.  Eating foods grown locally and in-season can improve your health, your bottom line and help the environment.  Take a look at Foodland Ontario’s Fruits and Vegetable availability chart so you can plan for the season.  Enjoy!

Foodland Ontario:  Availability Guide

by

Big Changes to Canada’s Food Guide – Will You Change Your Habits?

Last month the long-awaited revision to Canada’s Food Guide arrived and surprised many with some major changes to its design and content.  Personally, I am pleased with the changes which include a move toward plant-based proteins and I love the addition of guidelines around healthier eating habits like cooking meals at home, eating meals with others and more.  Check out Canada’s Food Guide and let us know what you think of the changes.

Canada’s Food Guide

by

My Child is a Picky Eater… Help!

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

Do you have a child that is a picky eater?  You are definitely not alone!  Picky eating is a common issue, and while it is normal for kids to have food preferences and dislikes, it can be quite concerning for parents.  The good news is an Occupational Therapist can help!

Occupational Therapists can work with families to create solutions tailored to the individual child. Some general suggestions may include some of the following tips:

  • Remove the pressure
  • Allow the child to “play with their food”
  • Encourage food exploration on their own terms
  • Maintain a consistent meal-time routine
  • Introduce changes and new foods slowly – overcoming picky eating is a very gradual process

Watch our popular video below to learn more about how an Occupational Therapist can help families overcome the picky eating problem and raise healthy, happy eaters.

by

Sports Drinks vs. Energy Drinks: Can You Spot the Difference?

Are you able to spot the difference between a regular “sports drink” like a Gatorade and an “energy drink” that is full of caffeine and sugar without looking at the nutrition label?  It might be harder than you think—and if it’s hard for an adult, think of how many kids might make the mistake.  Learn more about a concerning new study warning the dangers of “energy drinks” for youth care of CBC News.

CBC News:  U of C researcher warns parents about dangers of high-caffeine energy drinks