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Lessons Learned from Hospital Food

July 6, 2017 By Jessica Braider 4 Comments

Lessons Learned from Hospital Food

In a week full of the deepest and most profound of fears, I didn’t know whether to be proud of my son or worried for his health when he refused to eat the food at the hospital this week. Yes, the hospital. After three days of what we thought was a stomach flu, we ended up in the ER and then eventually Children’s Hospital where it was discovered that not only did he have appendicitis, but that his appendix had ruptured. All in all, a terrifying experience. I knew we had an additional challenge on ours hands when he took his first sip of the chicken broth he was allowed on a clear liquid diet and declared that he would stick to juice. I then offered him jello and popsicles, still no interest. To him, they all tasted “disgusting.” At first I thought that perhaps he was just not feeling up to the food, so I took a little taste of the broth and found that it was, in fact, disgusting. It didn’t taste real, it tasted like chemicals.

The other challenge we came across was feeding ourselves because, sadly, the food offerings for families were not that much better. To be fair, I did see signs of the hospital working to get better at it, but for the most part the offerings were pretty grim.

There’s a whole tirade here that I could go on about how I can’t understand how we expect people to heal in the hospital if we are not offering them good, nourishing foods, but, as you know, one of my goals on this blog is to offer up reasonable, manageable solutions that can help right now. So I wanted to share with you some of the work-arounds we came up with that helped all of us to get the nourishment we needed to take on the stress of what we were facing. These lessons would come in handy if, God forbid, you were to find yourself hanging out in a hospital, but they are also applicable to traveling, hanging out in a shopping mall, or just generally when you find yourself somewhere without the healthiest options.

First of all, and important note on being kind to yourself. These are the times when we just need to be at peace with the fact that the offerings aren’t ideal and that it is outside of our control. That being said, while the donut, hamburger, and fries, may sound awesomely comforting—and maybe you need that kind of comfort for one meal— in the interest of feeling your best and clearest that you can, seeking out the best options possible is worth it. So how did I do that?

When possible, bring from home. When my son wasn’t eating any of the hospital food, I called for reinforcements in the form of friends who cook and within two hours he was sipping homemade broth with a contented smile on his face. Similarly, my husband (who was the one going back and forth from home to the hospital to care for our younger son) put together meals from what we had at home and my in-laws brought a homemade dinner in one night as well.

In the cafeteria, look for color and compromise. Whenever I went down to the cafeteria I tried to look for options that were good enough, which often meant having one thing that was less than ideal, supplemented by extra fruit or vegetables. A bagel and cream cheese and some cut up pineapple. Pretzels, hummus, and a bowl of soup. To help me in my quest for healthier options, I tried to find options that had color (and by that I mean natural color not red #5), so fruit, vegetables, or foods made with fruits and vegetables, such as soup, veggie burgers, and veggie pizza. For my son, once he was allowed solid foods we tried a couple of different meals and he either wouldn’t touch them or would take a bite and then refuse to have more, but he was always willing to have fruit. So we let him focus on fruits and vegetables: apples, watermelon (from home), and green salad, and just trusted that once we got him home the carbs and protein would follow, and we were right! Within an hour of being home from the hospital he had eaten TWO homemade scones!

What it comes down to is that, for me, this experience was a lesson in letting go. In accepting that I can’t control it all and then doing the best I can with what I’ve got. And if, God forbid, I ever find myself having to spend lots of time in the hospital again, I will be sure make due with what I’ve got, ask for help, and bring food from home whenever possible.

Filed Under: Culture of Food, Healthy Eating, Life Balance, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: balanced diet, healthy eating, life balance

F’ it! Wear the bikini!: 3 Ways to silence the self-doubt and start living

May 18, 2017 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

F’ it! Wear the bikini!: 3 Ways to silence the self-doubt and start living

It is a seasonal right of passage. The weather warms up and people start to feel self-conscious about how their bodies look. We start to see ads for diets and workout plans that will “get you ready for summer.” Maybe it is just me, but I have found that even as I roll my eyes at these ads, some deep-down chord is struck and I find myself looking more closely at my thighs/stomach/butt/etc. I then I start wondering if I need to change me.

Then, this week, I saw an awesome post on Facebook that helped me wake up. A friend posted:

This year’s new mantra applied in different ways (figuratively) to different circumstances: F’ it! Wear the bikini!

If you have been following my blog for a while you will know that I have spent years working to get to a place where I am (more or less) at peace with my body. This has been a long road and I absolutely see this as a life-long journey. You see, even though I have come far in terms of my own self-acceptance and have in many way comes to peace with my relationship with food and exercise, I still have those old habits and negative thoughts buried down in there and every once in a while they come back up. My friend’s statement on Facebook helped to realize that I was in a self-deprecating rut and that I needed to get out of it so that I could relax and be present for the important things like enjoying time with my family and savoring delicious food without guilt.

As I worked to reset my attitude, I realized that over time I have come up with some tricks to shift my perspective and I wanted to share those with you. An important note: while my recent struggles have been around body image, these tricks can work with any kind of negative self-talk that you may be struggling with. Here are three strategies I use when I am working to overcome negative thoughts:

  1. Three good things. When I catch myself tearing myself down or listening to that nasty voice in my head, I try to stop myself and challenge myself to come up with three good things that have happened that day (or recently) and what my role in those good things has been. This incredibly powerful act helps me to see the good things that I am capable of, it boosts my mood, and it shuts that nasty voice in my head up.
  2. What would you tell a friend? If I am ripping myself apart, I try to pause and ask myself, “if a friend was saying these things about her/himself, what would I say them her/him?” Chances are, it wouldn’t be “yeah, you’re totally right…”
  3. Find the pattern, then break it! I have noticed that my negative thoughts tend to come up when I am stressed, over-tired, and around milestones like birthdays/graduations/big transitions when I am taking stock of things. Once I recognized these patterns it became easier to notice when they were rearing their ugly, nasty heads. What this means is that now, when I am starting to feel crummy about myself, I try to pause and ask, “is this coming from an old pattern?” If the answer is yes, then I can use my logical brain to see the other side of the coin. Once I do that, I can then move forward, usually starting with some deep breaths to calm my mind. Your triggers for negative thoughts may be different from mine. I have clients who have discovered that their negative thoughts start when they see a family member who stresses them out, on Sundays before starting the next work week, when they are at different stages in their menstrual cycle, the list goes on and on. As you go through these cycles, try to notice the patterns. What led to the feelings? What else is going on in your life? And then, as you start to identify those patterns, you’ll be better able to counter-act them with logical thinking, self-care, and reminding yourself that this a pattern, not reality.

Once you are able to shift your perspective and be kinder to yourself, you will find that it is much easier to put on that literal or figurative bikini and enjoy the life you are living.

Do you have tricks to snaps yourself out of these sorts of ruts? If so, I’d love to hear about them in the comments section!

Filed Under: Healthy Eating, Life Balance, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: healthy eating, life balance, self care, stress

Mediterranean Spinach Dip

May 11, 2017 By Jessica Braider 10 Comments

Mediterranean Spinach Dip

“I received free samples of Sabra Hummus mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Sabra and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

Sometimes the best things are simple. Super simple. That was a lesson I was reminded of as I worked to develop a recipe for this Sabra hummus recipe contest organized by The Recipe Redux. You see, I kept trying to come up with some innovative, creative, blow-your-mind-surprising use of hummus. Hummus croquettes and sweet potato toast towers were two of the almost-blogworthy recipes I worked on. Both of them were good, both of them were kind of fun, but as I sat down to write about them I just couldn’t get inspired. And then yesterday it kind of hit me: I was just trying too hard. I was making things more complicated than they really needed to be. So I pushed those two recipes aside, perhaps I’ll come back to them at another time, and decided to keep things simple.

Honestly, when I stop to think about it, making things too complicated has been kind of a theme in my life recently, as well as the hope that I can instead simplify (please tell me I’m not alone in this struggle). This recipe was a wonderful reminder for me that simple is often better. That sometimes we have to let go of our over-inflated expectations for a more balanced reality that will actually make us happier, as is the case with this rockstar, super simple dip.

So in honor of National Hummus Day on May 13th, I give you my Mediterranean Spinach Dip. A super simple, vegetarian, plant-based protein powerhouse of a snack that takes all of 5 minutes to make. Everyone in my family went nuts for this one and an added bonus is that it is another opportunity to get vegetables into everyone’s diet without cajoling or reminding. It works really well with crackers or chips, but also with crudité. My husband also recommends using it as a spread in a sandwich. Haven’t tried this yet myself, but it sounds amazing! Enjoy!


4.0 from 1 reviews
Mediterranean Spinach Dip
 
Save Print
Prep time
5 mins
Total time
5 mins
 
Author: Jessica Braider
Recipe type: Appetizer, Snack
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 3 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1 cup Sabra Classic Hummus
  • ½ cup crumbled feta
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Serve with vegetables, tortillas chips, or pita chips.
3.5.3226

recipe-redux-linky-logo

Filed Under: Feeding Kids, Healthy Eating, Life Balance, Lunch Box Food, Sides, Snacks Tagged With: appetizer, Easy, feta, healthy, healthy eating, hummus, protein, quick, sabra, Spinach, vegetarian

The 8 Steps to Healthy-ish

February 9, 2017 By Jessica Braider 4 Comments

The 8 Steps to Healthy-ish

One of my favorite parts of my day is going through my newsfeeds and seeing what strikes me—new articles, new recipes, new perspectives. I love being challenged to see a different perspective and being inspired by a new flavor combination or cooking technique. But every once in a while I come across an article or a trend that I think is damaging or dangerous when it comes to having a healthy relationship with food. This week that happened and so I wanted to share my thoughts on the term “healthy-ish.”…

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Filed Under: Culture of Food, Healthy Eating, Life Balance, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: dessert, exercise, fruit, healthy eating, Vegetables

Managing Treat Season for Ourselves and Our Kids

October 13, 2016 By Jessica Braider 1 Comment

Managing Treat Season for Ourselves and Our Kids

As much as we may want to live in denial, we are about to enter what I like to call treat season, that time of year from Halloween through New Years when there are seemingly endless supplies of sweet treats. This is a time of year that used to stress me out both because of my own treat consumption and because I felt like I was in a constant state of negotiation with my kids. In the past two years, though, I have not found it nearly as stressful and I wanted to share with you the things that I have done that I think have been helpful, both for myself and for my kids….

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Filed Under: Culture of Food, Dessert, Feeding Kids, Healthy Eating, Life Balance Tagged With: Halloween, healthy eating, holidays, kids, Thanksgiving, treats

My 8-year-old refused birthday cake and what it taught me about healthy eating for all of us

April 21, 2016 By Jessica Braider 1 Comment

My 8-year-old refused birthday cake and what it taught me about healthy eating for all of us

It is rare that I have a moment in parenting when I think: “Wow! Something is really going right here!” But this week I had a couple of those and I wanted to share them with you along with some thoughts about why they happened and what it taught me about healthy eating for all of us….

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Filed Under: Culture of Food, Feeding Kids, Healthy Eating, Picky Eaters Tagged With: control, healthy eating, kids, parenting, picky eaters

Jessica Braider

Hi! I'm Jessica. I love delicious food that is simple and easy. As a busy mom, I am always on the lookout for ways to make life easier and tastier! Read More…

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