Winter Break is upon us, and we’re wishing our Downey Unified family a wonderful holiday season, creating memories with your loved ones.
The holidays can also mean a lot of sweets, extra snacking, and heavy holiday meals. It’s a time of year we greatly enjoy, and we love the holiday treats and food just as much as you do, but we have some tips to keep our families feeling their best despite the change in diet.
Sugar Rush
If you’re baking holiday cookies and stuffing stockings with candy, and your little ones or teens get a sugar rush, help them balance out their sugar intake the rest of the day with protein and fiber-rich food. Try to limit any additional sugar for the rest of the day and/or the day after (sometimes not possible during the holidays, we know, but we have some healthy snack ideas you can try to sneak in listed below).
Healthy Snacks
Keep everyone’s energy up with these healthy snack ideas, including some high-fiber and protein-heavy options, during the holiday break:
- Carrot sticks
- Apple slices
- Oranges, tangerines, and clementines
- Pear slices
- Almonds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Roasted chickpeas
- Baked sweet potato fries (if you have any to spare from your holiday dinner)
- Greek yogurt with fruit
- Cottage cheese and avocado toast
Get the Energy Out
The holidays are a cozy season, but we often have great weather here in California, even in December. Take a break from the movie marathons, baking and gift wrapping, and enjoy a family stroll or head over to a local park. This will help your little ones burn off any excess energy from any extra sugar consumption and provide quality family time.
Enjoy
At the end of the day, the holidays are a busy season and while we hope these tips help, we ultimately just wish all of our Downey Unified family a wonderful winter break. We look forward to seeing you all in the new year!