Yoplait Light- Do the Swap (Giveaway)

When trying to lose weight, it can be really difficult to maintain a new diet if you make many drastic changes all at once.  The weight may drop off quicker, but what good is it, if it all comes back once you can no longer maintain that diet?  I find that making small changes, 1 or 2 at a time, allows you to change your lifestyle, without feeling like you are depriving yourself.  The weight will come off a bit slower, but you will be happier and healthier in the end.  Yoplait Light also feels the same way and has created a "The Yoplait Light Swap" as a way to remind people that by making simple substitutions, like swapping one item from your diet per day for a 100 or 110 calorie Yoplait Light, you can cut unwanted calories and help yourself feel great about daily diet choices. Through swapping tips for food, fitness, and fashion, the "Yoplait Light Swap" can help remind you how rewarding one simple change can be.   Here is some information from Yoplait Light:

• Yoplait Light yogurt offers 33 different options to choose from in fruit, pastry and dessert flavors that contain around 100 calories or less, providing endless swapping options.


• Visit www.Facebook.com/Yoplait to share your favorite food, exercise and fashion swaps, find recipes and quizzes. Alison Sweeney, host of "The Biggest Loser" and author of The Mommy Diet, offers this Top Swap Tip on how she maintains her weight with a hectic schedule.


• "I'm all about easy solutions, and making simple swaps in my diet helps me lead a healthy lifestyle while juggling everything else. I swap a slice of my favorite red velvet cake after dinner for a cup of Red Velvet Cake Yoplait Light which can save me almost 300 calories, without even thinking about it."


• Swap your way to fabulous with the following tips from fashion guru, host of the Style Network's "How Do I Look?" and correspondent for NBC's upcoming series "Fashion Star," Jeannie Mai.


• Swap the bus for a 15 minute walk on the way home, and you can save 60 calories.¹
• Boost your confidence in seconds by swapping more low-key flats for a pair of colorful heels.
• Expand your wardrobe without breaking the bank by swapping clothes and accessories with your girlfriends. 

Giveaway

Yoplait Light and My Blog Spark have put together a prize package to help one of my readers begin to make simple changes. Included in the package is:

• (1) VIP coupon for a free cup of Yoplait Light yogurt
• Insulated tote bag
• Water bottle
• Sunglass holder
• Hardcover planner
• Ballpoint pen

To enter:

Mandatory entry:  Tell me a simple swap you can feasibly make to improve your health.  Promise me you will do it :)


Extra ways to enter (leave a comment for each one you do):

- subscribe to The Happy Wife
- follow The Happy Wife on Google Friend Connect

- Like The Happy Wife on facebook (you can also click the like button on the right hand side of the blog)
- share this giveaway via your blog or other social networking site.
- Follow me on Twitter

The giveaway will end on Tuesday, October 18th, sometime after 9PM.  You can enter until I choose the winner.  The winner will have 48 hours to get back to me or a new winner will be chosen. 


Disclaimer
Thank you to Yoplait Light and My Blog Spark for providing a prize package for one of my readers and for myself in exchange for sharing this information with you.

10 tips and tricks to get your kids to eat more vegetables

I know that there are many parents out there who struggle to get their children to eat more vegetables.  As I child, I hated vegetables and remember telling my mom that I was going to be a "meatatarian", someone who never ate veggies.  Once I was out on my own, I realized that I did not like a lot of vegetables growing up because I did not like how they were prepared and I was only introduced to a handful of them.  Here are some ideas to get your little ones to eat more veggies:

1- Encourage them to pick some vegetable seeds or starter plants to grow their own veggies in your garden.  This tip may be a bit late for this year, but you can always plan ahead for next year.  Growing and tending to a plant gives your child a feeling of ownership.  When harvest time comes, they will be excited to share their "creation" with the rest of the family, and likely to eat it themselves.

2- Let them choose a new vegetable each week at the grocery store or farm market.  We discovered a few years ago that my entire family loves beets, but only after my then 4 year old asked if we could buy the red bulbs when we passed them in the produce department.  If they choose something you are unfamiliar with, ask the farmer or a worker in the department if they have any suggestions.  If they don't, or even you just want some more ideas, get online when you get home and do a search for how to best serve this new vegetable.

3- Try new recipes.  If they do not care for certain veggies plain or if you tried them one way and they disliked them, do not write them off completely.  Try to find another recipe that has the same veggie in it, maybe in a less prominent role, or even just with different complementing ingredients.  My husband and I grew up hating Brussels sprouts, but when I found a fabulous recipe for them one day in the newspaper, my entire family now ASKS for them.

4- Try different cooking methods.  This goes along with #3.  If your child does not like the slimy feel of cooked spinach, try mixing some raw, baby spinach in with a salad or substituting it for lettuce on a burger.  For me, I hated broccoli growing up because it was boiled, but I absolutely love it now that I steam it. 

5- Let them have dip.  I always suggest kids not learn that the only way to eat veggies is smothered in dips, but sometimes this is a great way to begin introducing them to children.  Set out a tray full of dipping veggies (raw broccoli, baby carrots, celery, etc) and several cups of dips, such as ranch dressing, hummus, or French onion and let them dip away.

6- Sauces and cheese are okay, too.  For hot veggies, sprinkle a little cheese on top and let it melt or spoon on a little hollandaise sauce.  Again, the goal is to enhance the flavor of the veggies though, not overpower it.

7- Use a little secret seasoning.  I am also not a fan of hiding veggies on children, but I know that some kids simply refuse them no matter what.  In this case, finely chop up raw broccoli so that it looks like seasoning and use it liberally in sauces, macaroni and cheese, etc.  You can also use shredded carrots in meatloaf and in sauces typically undetected.  Mashed potatoes are another great way to add some veggies in virtually undetected.  Add some cooked cauliflower to the potatoes before mashing and they instantly blend right in or serve orange carrots by adding a few mashed carrots in to the potatoes.

8- Make it fun.  Get creative and use veggies to create a face on a plate that they can snack on or let them be creative and use veggies to decorate a pizza crust before you bake it. 

9- Involve them in the preparation.  Even the youngest child can wash veggies, but older ones can help peel and mix recipes together.  The more involved they are in the preparation, the more likely they are to partake of the finished results.

10- Take advantage of serving what they do like.  If you still find you have a child that will not eat more than 1 or 2 veggies, be sure to always have those veggies available to them.  As time goes on, try adding other veggies to their favorites a bit at a time.  If they like steamed broccoli, add a few red pepper slices next time or if they love corn chowder, add a few sliced carrots.  If they reject the new addition, they can pick them out.

The struggle to get kids to eat their vegetables is one that seems as old as time, but it can get better.  We all know they are good for us, but even many adults choose to avoid them.  Be sure you, and your spouse, and setting good examples and try some of the above tips and just see if it doesn't get a t least a little better.

***Disclaimer***
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Peas and Thank You blogging program for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Wellness Wednesday: Eat your breakfast

Every Wednesday, I plan to post some information regarding health (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) and achieving/maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Each week will include a challenge so that together we can all begin to live healthier lives.

I have chosen to start with a topic pertinent to physical health, eating breakfast. Breakfast has often been touted as the most important meal of the day, yet many of us choose to skip it and/or allow our children to leave home without it. Skipping breakfast can play a part in obesity, high cholesterol, high blood sugar levels, inability to concentrate, and lack of energy. Studies have shown that eating a healthy breakfast helps bring our blood sugar levels back to normal which in turn, helps to control our satiety (feeling of fullness) and energy levels. In fact, not only is eating breakfast important, it should also be the meal in which we consume the majority of the day's calories. It is not uncommon for many of us to do just the opposite of this by skipping or skimping on breakfast and eating a huge dinner. When you think about though, we NEED the extra calories in the morning when we are starting our day's activities, not in the evening when we are beginning to settle in.

So what is a healthy breakfast? You want to include as many different food groupos as possible (grains, fruit, vegetables, dairy, and protein), but definitely include whole grains and some protein in order to ensure feelings of fullness as the day progresses. There are many breakfast ideas and recipes on Mr. Breakfast's website and he even has a page dedicated to healthy breakfast options. Also, on MoneySavingMom, there is a recipe for a healthy, frugal breakfast of Baked Oatmeal. Some other meal ideas are an egg cooked to your liking, some whole grain toast, an orange, and a yogurt; whole grain blueberry waffles with a slice of lean ham and a glass of skim milk; or a scrambled egg on a whole wheat muffin and a slice of cheese with a banana.

A healthy weight, a reduced risk of diabetes/heart disease/high cholesterol, and the ability to concentrate and have the needed energy for your day are great motivators for eating breakfast and ensuring that your children eat it as well. From personal experience, I know I just feel better and tend to be in a better mood, on days when I have eaten breakfast. I also lost 80 pounds over the course of 2004 and one of the major changes I had made was to eat a healthy breakfast every day. I have since gained much of that weight back, and while I did have 2 children during that time (December 2006 and June 2008), I also stopped eating breakfast every day. My challenge for this week for myself and for you, is to eat something for breakfast every day and to try one new recipe from the Mr. Breakfast website. Of course, the healthier the breakfast the better, but the goal right now is to just get in the habit of eating breakfast every day. Bon appetit!