Category Archives: Nutrition

1 Month (20 Meals) of Yumbox Daycare Meals!

Yup, this Saturday’s a fun one!

No research articles, no checking statistical integrity or inclusion criteria for control and intervention groups to formulate a conclusion, today! And I know it’s been a while since I actually published a *new* Saturday post, but with a sick toddler, I’ve had my fair share of distractions.

After getting slightly burned out by the time- and brain capacity- intensive Saturday Sproutings posts, it’s time to take a break and post about something I have been learning to adjust to, as Jia’s new routine is full time daycare for 8-9 hours a day:

MEAL PREPPING!

Nope, I’m not a gym rat referring to some uber healthy meal prep that involves a ton of brown rice, lean meats, veggies, and plastic ziploc containers, I’m talking about daycare meals. Continue reading “1 Month (20 Meals) of Yumbox Daycare Meals!” »

Oh Honey! About Infant Botulism

So my topic choice for this week was pretty much decided by mulling over which would be the simplest topic to tackle. It’s pretty straight forward, kind of like my last research post on listeria (see: Listeria Mysteria and Pregnancy).

Honey and infants. I feel like it’s pretty common knowledge that when it comes to infant feeding, though recommendations regarding allergies have shifted over the years from avoiding to now encouraging foods like peanut butter, eggs, citrus, etc., the warning to not feed honey babies under 1 year old has remained consistent. Studying nutrition/dietetics in college, the “no honey for infants” rule was a black and white issue – no honey for infants! Plain and simple. Oh, you wanna give your baby something with honey? Nope, you just don’t do it. Continue reading “Oh Honey! About Infant Botulism” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: First Day!

Today (Tuesday) was Jia’s first day of daycare. A momentous, emotional, milestone day. Lots of babies head off to day care at around 3 months old, but Jia’s start came at 18 months and 16 days. We’d gotten pretty comfortable with our time together, just the two of us after daddy went off to work in the mornings, but with our move west came what was only a matter of time. Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: First Day!” »

Listeria “Mysteria” & Pregnancy

OB/GYN – “So now that you’re pregnant, you should stay away from alcohol, illicit drugs, caffeine, swordfish or tilefish, raw fish sushi, cigarettes, deli meats and soft cheeses… gain 25-35 lbs throughout your last two trimesters, try to eat healthy, exercise regularly, take a folic acid supplement, also a DHA/Fish oil supplement, a prenatal vitamin, ….”

Newly Pregnant Woman – “Sure, yeah, ok, got it”

Somewhere along that whole spiel of overwhelming information, the deli meats and soft cheeses point may have been lost. Sound familiar?

I mentioned in this week’s WSDW post that I was considering writing about listeria poisoning (& its relevancy with pregnancy precautions) because of a family friend who recently died of listeria poisoning. If you want to read about it, the FDA recall of his suspected exposures is described here. It’s been an extremely awful and painfully devastating experience that this family has been through. And who would’ve even guessed that it could come from a popular ice cream distributor that sells to nursing homes, hospitals, and schools? It’s absolutely frightening. Mom and Dad, this post is dedicated to you.

So let’s talk listeria. Continue reading “Listeria “Mysteria” & Pregnancy” »

#SummerofDad Week 9: Food & Fun Games

We’re now wrapping up our last week at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, or as I’ve come to know it: our seaside mansion escape. Our stay has been wonderful and I’m somewhat concerned that Gabe will go into withdrawal, as the energetic, gregarious extrovert won’t have dozens of people to wave and smile at or have rolling lawns to frolic upon. But considering we—as in only Gabe and dad—are going up to visit the Grandparents in Maine, I’m sure we’ll get by. (I will now try to stop ending my sentences with prepositions.)

Next week we begin the next big travel phase, where Jenny flies to Chicago for a week and we go to Maine. This marks the first time ever that Gabe and Jenny will be apart for more than 24 hours. As I said before, it will be a learning experience for all of us. Gabe will learn to get by without Jenny, Jenny without Gabe, me without Jenny—lots of learning! But I think it will be overall beneficial. I’m glad she’s getting to go take advantage of her professional opportunities, but we will definitely miss her when she’s gone and we look forward to picking her up at the airport!

In any case, that’s for next week. This week, nothing “exciting” happened, unlike last week. (Update from last week: The dermabond has finally fallen off and the cut is healing well. I forgot how small the actual cut is.) Other than trying to keep his cut covered and out of the sun, there were some fun and interesting moments:

Continue reading “#SummerofDad Week 9: Food & Fun Games” »

Weaning from Breastfeeding

So, I was going to delay this topic for an unknown length of time because I wanted to write about other things – like, the nutritional changes breastmilk goes through after your baby is 12 months old, the physiological changes that toddlers undergo to indicate readiness to start potty training, etc. because I planned on nursing Jia until she was 18 months old.

But, since I’m getting a bit anxious to get my body back to myself I figured – hey – as long as I was reading up on it, may as well write about it! (And besides, we clocked in an entire 14.5 months of 4 nursing sessions a day.)

First Things First – What’s Recommended? Continue reading “Weaning from Breastfeeding” »

Nutrition in a Nutshell for Your Sprout: Children (5 Years+)

Child Nutrition (5 Years and Up)

So back in my public health days, I worked for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s department of Child and Adolescent Health. Much of my work was dedicated to creating an educational program that supported healthy diets and physical activity of pre-school and school-aged children. I spent hundreds of hours designing a program and performing bill analyses that were written to improve overweight and obesity in the LA Unified School District. So, for a portion of my early adulthood, this topic was my jam.

The diet of a 5-year old (and up) is very similar to what our diets, as adults, should resemble: healthy and lean meats, half of the plate consisting of a variety of brightly colored fruits and vegetables, whole grains (not refined white flour that has been stripped of its healthy fiber), etc. It’s hard enough for us to follow, but it is of paramount importance for us to get our kids off on the right foot in these early years.

If you missed previous Nutrition in a Nutshell posts, click the links below

Nutrition in a Nutshell For Your Sprout: Infancy

Nutrition in a Nutshell For Your Sprout: Toddler & Pre-schooler

So, what should be the focus for these (still) growing sprouts? Here’s a summary:^1-9 Continue reading “Nutrition in a Nutshell for Your Sprout: Children (5 Years+)” »