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Wellness Pediatrician

Pediatric Lifestyle Medicine Resource for Wellness in Children

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5 Healthy Plant-Based Halloween Snacks

5 Healthy Plant-Based Halloween Snacks

October 28, 2020

Strawberry Oat Milk

Strawberry Oat Milk

July 23, 2020

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wellnesspediatrician

I’m a pediatrician certified in lifestyle medicine promoting wellness in children through healthy lifestyle habits. *Informational, not medical advice

When my kids asked me if I enjoyed playing the flu

When my kids asked me if I enjoyed playing the flute as a kid, I had to tell them the truth. My answer was an unequivocal "No." Back then, it honestly felt like a chore. My mom had been the one who "made" me do it because she thought it would be good for me to learn another instrument. I took weekly lessons that I didn't love. And let's not even talk about practicing. It felt like just another thing I had to do on my long list of things I had to do. I was already aspiring to be a doctor and studying to get good grades was a huge priority for me. Sure there were some highlights like the Disneyland trip I went on as part of the band, but mostly playing the flute felt like drudgery. So as soon as I was on my own and off to college, the flute went in the closet and stayed there. Until 2 years ago. I originally pulled it out because now the roles are reversed and my kids are playing the piano and don't love practicing. I wanted to model for them that there is some joy to be found in mastering something that is hard and that practicing is the way to get there. Focusing on a hard task to achieve mastery is sometimes called "the flow state." While some may think I'm a mean mom for making my kids play the piano even though they don't enjoy practicing, I now know that being able to experience "the flow state" is good for mental wellbeing and achieving mindfulness. It's also an important life lesson. I honestly would let them shift to something else if they truly hated it. There are definitely other ways to experience the flow state aside from the arts. Sports is another one. But I know that when they aren't "practicing piano" I see them playing it for fun. And enjoying it. I am now so thankful I learned how to play the flute all those years ago because I now love playing. I am taking lessons again and look forward to my "me time" at the end of my day when I get to practice. Maybe my mom knew all this back then and wanted me to have this lesson so many years ago. If so, it was a lesson I needed then and value now. Thanks mom. #doctormom #metime #flowstate #mindfulness #mentalhealth #piano #flute #practice #lifelessons #tbt

Sometimes teens just have to hear it from someone

Sometimes teens just have to hear it from someone else, right? I can’t tell you how many times I have had a parent say after I have given advice to a teen, “That’s the same thing I’ve been telling them!” If you have a teen motivated to make a change this new year you may want to have them check out this book “The Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook.” It was written in collaboration with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and can be found in the bookstore on their website. It is written for teens and talks to them about the many direct benefits of a healthy lifestyle. There are recipes that they can make themselves and is full of actionable advice. It does have a wealth of info and might be overwhelming for a teen who isn’t already motivated to make a change so would be ideal for a teen ready to take action. If this sounds like something your teen might want to check out, link in bio. #aclifemed #pediatrics #lifestylemedicine #teenhealth

Alert! You’ll want to save this one. This recipe

Alert! You’ll want to save this one.
This recipe checks all the boxes: ✅ Kid-friendly ✅ Easy ✅ Healthy This Raspberry Oat Crumble Bar by @nutritionstudies was easy enough that the kids could make it and we all couldn’t get enough of it! (I did help with all the stove and oven parts but they were able to do the rest.) These bars would be perfect as a breakfast or a snack. Try this next time in place of coffee cake or pre-packaged pastry for breakfast. Or in place of packaged fruit snacks or granola bars for snack. When trying to make substitutions to eat more whole foods, it’s helpful to get your kids involved in the process. I also find it helpful to bookmark a few go-to recipes to have available when you get the urge for something sweet. My favorite app to do this is the Paprika app. This one certainly fits the bill. Recipe link in bio. https://nutritionstudies.org/recipes/dessert/raspberry-oat-crumble-bars/ #kidsinthekitchen #kidscook #glutenfree #plantbased #vegan #wholefood #snack #breakfast #doctormom #doctorkids #paprikaapp #eattherainbow #plantbasedkids #vegankids #kidfriendlyfood #toddlerfood #wholefoodsnacks #plantbasedfamily #toddlerrecipes #kidfood

I usually get a “You’re crazy!” look when I

I usually get a “You’re crazy!” look when I suggest this to people. But if you are looking to incorporate more plants into your family’s typically meat heavy diet, hear me out on this one. (If you are already plant-based, scroll on.) This is what I was talking about yesterday when I said make small changes to make lasting change. I started off my plant-based journey trying to make big changes immediately. I still remember the black lentil tacos I served right after returning from a plant-based nutrition conference that I thought tasted good but the rest of the family gave it a big double thumbs down. While it was a big change for me to start eating a whole foods plant-based diet, it was an even bigger adjustment for my husband. I have to give him credit because even though it was way out of his wheelhouse, he has worked at making changes in his cooking...but in a way that works for him. And lentils will never be part of that plan. Take for instance his tacos. His taco recipe started off as all ground beef. Then he switched to ground chicken. Now it is half ground chicken and half tofu. Can you tell from the photo? I can’t either. In fact, for most of the recipes my husband cooks that include ground meat, he now makes them with half tofu. He finds that using the super firm high protein tofu works the best since it is already fairly dry. @traderjoes has this and it comes in the same kind of packaging that you would find fresh mozzarella packed in. (The extra firm tofu will also work but you need to press it for 15 minutes first under a heavy pan.) While I love eating tofu in its traditional form, many people look at those big white blocks in the store and walk on by not knowing what to do with it. What you may not have realized is tofu is like a shape shifter and comes in different textures. It also takes on the flavor of whatever it is cooked with which is why the 1/2 ground meat substitution works so well. What do you think? Would you try this? #tofu #learningtobeplantbased #taco #tacotuesday #plantbasedgoals #learningtobevegan #vegangoals

Did your family’s health habits change in 2020?

Did your family’s health habits change in 2020? Maybe it was endless snacking or less physical activity or a regular bedtime went out the window. Maybe you want to make a change but don’t know where to start? You might be thinking, “Yes! I’m ready for a change!” But what about the rest of your family? What if they’re not? As a parent you probably know that the more we push, the more they resist. How do you overcome this? My strategy is make small changes and make it fun. Let me help you get your family to a place where your kids will have fun with adopting healthful lifestyle habits and you can begin your path together as a family towards wellness. I created the Family Wellness Toolkit eBook to make it easier for you to take those small steps in the right direction to make a lifestyle change with your family. The Family Wellness Toolkit was designed to highlight these 5 areas of lifestyle: Eat a whole food plant predominant diet
Move regularly
Sleep adequately
Relax and manage stress
Connect with others You can find out more details and download it for free in the link below or click on the link in bio: https://www.wellnesspediatrician.com/toolkit/ So what do you think? Are you ready? #kidswellness #eattherainbow #lifestylemedicine #lifestylemedicinepediatrics #pediatrics #wellnesspediatrician #newyearsresolution #2021resolution #healthykids

I was pretty impressed by this plant-based dupe of

I was pretty impressed by this plant-based dupe of a lox and cream cheese bagel. 🥯 My daughter made this with @miyokoscreamery fish-free cultured vegan cream cheese found @traderjoes. She added fresh dill, thinly sliced red onion (soak in ice water for a few minutes to remove some of the pungent taste), and Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning. My kids love weekend bagel bars (and so do I !) because I just toast the bagels, put out some toppings and they go to town. Easy for me. Fun for the kids. Win win! What are your favorite bagel toppings? #kidsinthekitchen #vegan #plantbased #bagel #traderjoes #breakfast #kidscook

My kids planned a 3 person quarantine-style sleepo

My kids planned a 3 person quarantine-style sleepover party for New Years for the two of them and me. So cute! 🥳 They had a whole list of activities written out and attached to a clipboard. (Um, yeah they get that from me 🙋🏻‍♀️). After face painting and playing games, their last activity was: “Explain your favorite thing COVID-19 brought.” While it makes me sad that their childhood has been marred by this virus so much that they even included it in their sleepover party plans, it was really eye opening that from the perspective of a child, there was a silver lining to all of this: time. We were in fact all unanimous that “time with family” was our favorite thing. The funny thing is, there was actually no more hours this year than any other year. The difference was staying at home forced us to prioritize time for each other. As we enter into a new year with the hope that it will bring about some semblance of normalcy again, let’s not forget this valuable lesson from 2020. We have the time. It is our choice how we use it. Happy New Year!

We escaped! Just barely. Have you ever done an es

We escaped! Just barely. Have you ever done an escape room before? As a team you solve puzzles to escape from a room typically with a specific theme and accompanying story. It's a fun activity to do for team building or with friends and family. We did one virtually over the weekend and it was so fun! Even the kids got into it and were able to solve some of the puzzles. The virtual experience is a little different because you have to direct the person in the room what to check, what to place where etc. It's a great way to connect with friends and family when we can't see each other in person. Fun New Year's Eve activity? This is the Oz room @mindtrapescaperoom in Temecula last year when we took our staff on our yearly retreat. The one I did virtually this weekend was Excalibur. Both rooms I think would be appropriate for school aged kids and older with adult supervision and assistance. I have been to a few escape rooms and this particular place is my favorite- intricate decor, fun puzzles, and the tech is great. If this sounds like something up your alley (or even if not! Try something new!) or you want to support a small business check out the link in bio. #connect #escaperoom #activitiesforkids #virtualescaperoom

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