Sharing some ideas on how to set healthy examples for kids, teach them about health, and get them excited about nutrition.

Hi friends! How’s the week going? We’re having the dreamiest time in Hawaii; I never want to leave.

For today’s post, I’m answering a reader’s request about teaching kids about nutrition and setting a healthy example for kids as they grow up. While I’m not an expert in this (please keep in mind that I’m NOT an RD), it’s been important to me to model healthy behaviors our babies can keep for life. In today’s post, I’m sharing some of the things that have worked for us, and as always, I love hearing your input, too!

How to teach kids about nutrition

Show, don’t tell

This is my #1 tip and I could probably just end this post here. A lot of the things the kids know about nutrition, they’ve learned from watching us and how we eat, how we plan our meals, and how we shop. I don’t have to really “tell” them anything; kids are little sponges and are always soaking up information from the world around them.

I love the fact that our kiddos are adventurous eaters who seem to enjoy food as much as we do. They’re not picky and will try anything, and while they each have a giant sweet tooth (I do, too!), they also enjoy lots of fresh produce, protein, healthy fats, and nutrient-dense starches on their plates. One of my biggest goals for nutrition for the girls was to teach them about balance, which they can only learn if I model that myself. I’ll have a giant salad, but I’ll also have a cupcake or ice cream with them, and it’s no big deal. We order Domino’s pizza (they love it) and get donuts weekly. I never want anything to be *weird* or forbidden, and they know that we focus on colorful, fresh foods from the earth + room for the soul-hugging stuff in there, too.

(Their favorite snack: smoked oysters and skinless/bonless sardines. They eat them straight-up out of the can.)

This can be hard if you’ve grown up with a tricky relationship with food, but remember that kids are always watching. Enjoy treats guilt-free and don’t talk about how food affects your physical appearance. Instead, you can say things like, “I’m going to have so much energy after this salad” or “soup always makes me feel better when I’m under the weather.” Or, you could also say nothing. I find that whatever I’m eating, the girls want to eat, too. I’ll often make my portions larger because I know at least half will be “tasted.”

Eat the rainbow

I don’t think kids *need* to know the vitamin, mineral content, or

and let’s get some momentum as we head into fall!

Hi friends! How’s the week going? Ours has been a good one so far. Things kind of got shuffled around this week, but I’m here doing my thing and using this extra time to clean and study.

For today, I have some very exciting news: I’m Fit Team enrollment is open, and I would love to invite you to join us!

Fit Team – monthly strength training plans

Join here and take the guesswork out of your fitness routine for the next 6 months. It’s a 6-month subscription and you can cancel anytime.

So what is Fit Team?

Fit Team is my monthly training program to build lean muscle, burn fat, and get accountability for maximum results. No more wondering what the heck to do, or puzzle-piecing your routine together. You can get a phased, strategically-designed plan so you can finally get the results you deserve (!) and stick with a it for the long haul.

I post a brand-spanking-new fitness plan on the 28th of each month. It typically has 6-8 new strength workouts, along with cardio guidelines, bonuses (playlists, live classes with me, recipes), and video tutorials (with modifications) for each of the exercises. All workouts can be done at home with a pair of dumbbells. (I will be adding a gym-based track using gym equipment in the fall and also plan to post more follow-along videos in the platform.)

Here’s what special about this plan:

The workouts are phased and include progressive training strategies. They’re intentionally-designed and progress over time to help you achieve your body composition goals and strength improvements. They’re designed like this so you won’t plateau and you won’t get bored. Each 90-day cycle includes endurance, power, and strength components with a different focus each month.

Puzzle-piecing your routine together from online workouts and YouTube is great for general movement. But, if you have specific fitness goals or you’ve noticed that you’ve hit a wall and plateaued, it’s because you need a phased plan. I will help you continually add stressors and rep variety into your routine, so you can get the results you deserve from your efforts. If you feel like you’re doing “all the things” and not seeing results, it’s not from your lack of effort – it’s because you need a different strategy. 

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Sometimes we find ourselves in need of a little pick-me-up. I get it! We all have those days. 

Maybe you’ve had a long week or you didn’t sleep great last night. Maybe your hormones are throwing you off. You could be stressed, traveling, under a tight deadline, or not getting the nutrients your body needs from your diet.

There are pretty much a million things that could be making you feel tired. So if you’re looking for a way to fight your tiredness and boost your energy naturally, add these things to your arsenal.

#1: Eat a nutritious diet

Your body is a complicated system and it needs a lot to keep it functioning at its best. If you’re filling it with junk like sugar or alcohol, it’s going to make you pay for it, usually with fatigue. And if you’re not getting the nutrients you need from your diet, the same is true. Making bad food choices is like putting only a tiny bit of gas in your car — and then expecting it to make a major road trip. 

You might already know that I recommend eating whole foods above everything else. The closer you can get to the natural source, the better. That means choosing food with limited processing and added ingredients — and loading up your plate with lots of fruits and veggies. If you’re not quite sure what you should be eating to feel like your best, most energized self, I can help. All of my nutrition plans include meals that will supply your system with the nutrients it needs. And when you need a quick and easy way to get more goodness in, you know you can always turn to our LSF Plant Protein.

#2: Get Pep (Rally) in your step!

We all have days where you need a pick-me-up. I mean, I do!

That’s why I made our newest boost, Pep Rally! I teamed up all the natural energy-boosting powerhouses, like matcha and ginseng, to give you a pep in your step when you need it most. I can’t wait for you to try it!

#3: Move that body, girl!

A sedentary lifestyle (that basically means sitting around a lot) makes you feel even more sluggish. You don’t have to take my word for it. Studies show that getting moving on a regular basis can decrease your fatigue by 65%. That’s a pretty big drop!

My general recommendation is to get 30 minutes of exercise with the LSF App five or six days a week. But I know that if you haven’t been moving much, that can sound like a lot. Don’t be afraid to ease yourself in. Even 10 minutes a day can still do wonders — and I legit have the Daily 10 for this purpose. Getting moving can be way easier than you might think. A brisk walk around your neighborhood counts. So does literally any workout from our LSF App

It’s def possible to have too much caffeine. On top of that, certain situations — like coffee on an empty stomach — can give caffeine a bad rap, even when it’s really the other things at play causing the problems. 

All this said, I’m pro caffeine, just in moderation. Too much caffeine is going to literally jack you up, especially consuming too much at one time. But how much is too much? I’ve got you, girl.

Your recommended daily dose of caffeine

The FDA says people shouldn’t have more than 400 mg of caffeine each day. That’s roughly equal to four eight-ounce cups of coffee. 

Note that we’re saying eight-ounce cups. That’s pretty small. And if you opt for an energy drink, be extra careful. A lot of options can have as much as 250 mg of caffeine in one eight-ounce serving. 

Is going over that cap really a big deal? If you only do it every once in a while, probably not. But if you do it too much, you risk caffeine toxicity.

Plus, even a single day with too much caffeine can leave you with some pretty unwelcome side effects.

Side effects of excess caffeine

No surprise here: one of the main issues with too much caffeine is sleep problems. Besides insomnia, though, too much caffeine can cause:

• Jitters
• Anxiousness
• Dehydration
• High blood pressure
• Heart palpitations
• An upset stomach
• Heartburn

Clearly, too much caffeine can cause a bunch of problems that leave you feeling way worse than you started. You’d probably didn’t want to trade that tiredness for the side effect you’re feeling, right?

To help you avoid these nasty side effects, I recommend:

• Mixing in other stuff with caffeine. Consider what you consume along with your caffeine. I love matcha green tea because it has caffeine, but it also has L-theanine, which has a calming effect. Or you could always add some ashwagandha into the mix to ward off jitters. 
• Timing your consumption. When you have coffee or tea on an empty stomach, it can upset your digestive system. If you start your day with caffeine, eat something with it. This could be as simple as a quick shake with our protein powder or a banana. Then, mind your caffeine intake at night. It can take your body as long as six hours to metabolize even half of the caffeine you’ve consumed. If you’ve been having sleep problems, you might be able to blame your afternoon consumption. Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others, so pay attention. If cutting out caffeine after noon helps you get good sleep, that’s well worth it. 
• Avoiding too much at once. Too much caffeine can literally be toxic. And even when you don’t reach potentially health-hazardous levels, a lot all at once is often behind the jitters or nausea. Stick with about 75-160 mg at a time. That’s roughly one or two eight-ounce cups of coffee. Wait for about half an hour and see how you feel. If you’re still pooped, you can always have more. But there’s no way to undo too much caffeine other than to wait it out (yikes). 
• Getting smart about where your caffeine comes from. Some caffeine sources (looking at you, energy drinks and pre-workout) have so much that your risk for side effects is already super high. To give your body a boost without having to pay for it, look to natural caffeine sources like matcha green tea, smaller cups of coffee, or our NEW! Pep Rally Energy Boost!

Just

Matcha green tea has been around for about a thousand years. And if you haven’t tried it yet, it’s time. That might have you wondering: what is matcha, anyway? Is it different from plain old green tea? If so, is it better?

If you’ve ever wondered about any of those things, you’ve come to the right place. Since matcha is a key ingredient in Pep Rally, our new energy boost, I wanted to do a deep dive. Ready? Let’s go!

Matcha 101

First, let’s talk about the common confusion between green tea and matcha. To clear it up, let’s start with the basics. Matcha is a specific type of green tea. That means that all matcha is green tea, but not all green tea is matcha.

Because matcha is specially grown and processed, the nutrients in the tea leaves are more potent and you get more of that leaf in your drink. Basically, matcha’s a more effective vehicle for getting the goodness of green tea (think: caffeine and antioxidants) into your system.

What makes matcha so great

Let’s be clear here: all green tea is great for you. Matcha just gives you some of the benefits in a higher concentration. Here are a few of my favorite things about matcha:

It’s loaded with antioxidants

Matcha has more antioxidants than other forms of green tea. This basically means it gives your cells more resources to fight damage, helping your body stay healthy and prevent chronic conditions, cancer, and more. 

It gives you a natural energy boost

Because matcha is more concentrated than green tea, it delivers more caffeine. For reference, an eight-ounce cup of normal green tea has about 28 mg of caffeine. That’s basically half of what black tea has and about a quarter of the caffeine content you’d find in an eight-ounce cup of coffee. Truthfully, I can drink a cup of green tea and not feel the energy boost at all unless I really pay attention.

Matcha is different, though. It can pack in twice as much caffeine as green tea or, depending on the preparation, even more. In Pep Rally, you’re getting 80 mg of caffeine per serving. But because you’re getting it from a natural source, you don’t have to worry about jitters or any of the other junk that can come with a lot of the caffeinated products on the market today. 

In fact, matcha also contains an ingredient that can directly combat that edge that comes with other forms of caffeine: L-theanine.

It delivers L-theanine

Remember how I said that shading the green tea leaves during the end of the growing process made them create more amino acids? This is the amino acid we’re talking about. L-theanine is a pretty powerful tool that can help improve focus and productivity. Specifically, this amino acid can:

• Help you fight stress and keep your blood pressure stable even when you’re in stressful situations
• Improve your focus
• Support immune health

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