Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

Welcome to 2025! The Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds team hopes your winter break was joyous and restful.

A new year can be a great time to start new habits. One way to introduce healthy new habits with your child(ren) is to find something that's fun, and what's more fun than SNACKS?

One of our HBHM lessons focuses on choosing healthy snacks. The idea is to choose foods that are low in sodium, sugar, and fats.

Here is a small list of snacks that you can incorporate into your daily routine:

• Air Popped Popcorn
• Trail Mix (make your own!)
• Low Fat Yogurt mixed with fruit
• Hummus with veggies
• Apples with Peanut Butter

If you are pairing a drink with your child's snack, remember to choose beverages that are low in sugar.

Michigan went from fall to cold weather in the blink of an eye. Here are a few ways to make the best of the cold weather and keep your family healthy in the process.

• Sledding: Sledding is a great way to combat boredom and get some physical activity as a family. Load up the kids and head to your local sledding hill for some fun. To make the activity even more challenging, encourage your family to make sleds out of random things around the house. A cardboard sled competition is always a fun way to promote healthy competition.
• Do you Wanna Build a Snowman?: Building a snowman is a great way to get outside and work those major muscles. Gather up all the materials you'll need beforehand and get creative. To make it even more fun, split the family into groups and build a snowman family, with each group making a separate member of the "snow family".
• Take a Winter Hike: Many local parks have trails that are great for taking a winter hike. Bundle everyone up, lace up those boots, pack a thermos of hot cocoa, and hit the trails!

These fluffy, golden pancakes made with bananas and a hint of vanilla are sure to be a crowd pleaser on a cold, snowy weekend.

Bananas are high in potassium and fiber. The health benefits of these are:

• Potassium helps regulate heart function, blood pressure, and muscle function. It also helps the body flush out excess sodium in the urine.

• Fiber helps with digestion, control blood sugar levels, and get rid of fatty substances like cholesterol. Fiber can also help you feel full without extra calories

For this recipe and more like it, go to https://mitteneats.org/banana-pancakes/.

*Photo courtesy of the Michigan Fitness Foundation

Would you like your child to be featured in our newsletter? If you make any healthy HBHM recipes (or any of your own healthy recipes!) send us a photo of your child making, eating, or showing off what you made!

Your photo may end up in our "Caught Being Healthy" section of the newsletter.

If you're struggling with feeding your family this season, here is a list of food banks and giveaways by county. Follow this link to find food giveaways in your county: https://www.fbem.org/find-food/