Recharge and Relax
Yummy Foods That Fill You Up
WebMD FIT Kids Slideshows
Don't Skip Breakfast
A healthy breakfast helps you pay attention in school. It also keeps you from being hungry and wanting to snack on unhealthy food -- like chips and cookies. Eat some oatmeal, whole grain cereal with nuts, or whole wheat toast with peanut butter. These foods are packed with nutrition to keep you full until lunch.
Talk to Your Parents
It's hard to eat healthy if the snacks you find at home are cookies, chips, and other unhealthy treats. So talk to your parents. Ask them to buy healthier food like fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, and yogurt and 2% milk. You can even offer to go grocery shopping with them to show them what foods you'd like to eat. That way, when you're hungry, you can eat something you like that's good for you.
What’s In Your Lunchbox?
Redo your lunchbox. Pack or ask your parents to pack foods that are good for you and that will keep you full for a long time. A sandwich on whole wheat bread will make you feel fuller longer than white bread would. That's because whole wheat bread has fiber. Fiber is good because it takes time for your body to digest, so it fills you up.
Foods With Lots of Water In Them
Fruits and veggies are filled with water. That means you can eat a lot of them, and they will keep you full. When you have a choice, pick foods with lots of water in them. For example, you could eat just a 1/4 cup of raisins -- which are dried grapes -- or 2 whole cups of fresh grapes with lots of water in them. The grapes will keep you feeling fuller, longer.
Healthy Fast-Food Fix
Eat healthy when you eat fast food. Order a tasty grilled chicken sandwich with extra lettuce, tomato, and pickles. Have apple slices instead of French fries. If you order pizza, skip the pepperoni and sausage. Get your pizza loaded with veggies like broccoli, mushrooms, and olives. Then order water or 2% milk instead of soda.
Protein Power
If you're hungry, don't grab a cookie. Your body digests sugary foods quickly. When you eat a cookie you'll be hungry again soon. Instead, eat foods that have a lot of protein, like chicken, peanut butter or cheese with crackers, yogurt, or scrambled eggs. These foods keep you full because your body digests them slowly.
Fill Up
When you're really hungry, you may want to eat and eat until you eat way too much. Before scarfing down a meal, try having a piece of fruit, a cup of soup, or a small salad. These foods have a lot of water. That means they'll start to fill your stomach so you won't feel like you're starving. Then when you eat your meal, you won't end up eating too much.
Make the Healthy Food Switch
It's not hard to pick foods that are better for your body. Some of your favorites come in tasty, healthier versions. Just make a few changes. Have Canadian bacon for breakfast instead of regular bacon. Drink reduced-fat milk instead of whole chocolate milk. Eat spaghetti with tomato sauce and a little bit of cheese instead of gobs of cheese and butter.
Build a Better Dessert
Dessert can be yummy and healthy. Instead of eating two scoops of ice cream, eat one scoop of frozen yogurt and put lots of berries on top. Or make a sundae out of chocolate pudding, raspberries, and a sprinkle of almonds. Put pineapple chunks, strawberries, and grapes on skewers to make fruit kebabs. Then dip them in reduced-fat vanilla yogurt.
Share With Your Friends
Now that you know more about healthy eating, get your friends eating healthy, too. When they come over to hang out, ask your parents to serve sliced apples or carrots instead of chips and cookies. Fill bowls with whole grain tortilla chips and salsa. Or make trail mix from nuts, whole-grain cereal, and dried fruits like raisins. Show your friends that healthy food can taste great!
More Reading on WebMD Fit Kids
- Fruit Bite: Watermelon It's not just for summer picnics. Find out more about this giant melon!
- What's a Bedroom for? Sleep! That's what! Turn your room into the ultimate sleep zone to get better zzz's.
- Ugh! I Hate Gym! Tips for making gym class bearable and even enjoyable!
- I Heart My Heart Look for this symbol to make yummy choices that are good for your ticker.
- Unplug Yourself Cut the cord on TV, video games, and the computer and discover a happier you.
Reviewed by Kathy Empen, MD on November 10, 2011
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REFERENCES:
Aronne, L. The Skinny: On Losing Weight Without Being Hungry, Random House, 2010.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, January 29, 2010.
Chitra, U. Public Health Nutrition, January 2007.
Duke University Health System.
Duyff, R. American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, John Wiley and Sons, 2006.
National Institutes of Health.
The Nemours Foundation.
USDA.
Wahlstrom, K. Topics in Clinical Nutrition, December 1999.
Woodward-Lopez, G. Obesity: Dietary and Developmental Influences, CRC Press, 2006.
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