With two teenage boys in the house, snacking occurs as long as they are awake. Although I have two healthy, slim, active teenagers, I want them to continue to eat foods that are good for them. Since they both work at Dairy Queen, I know they get plenty of soda, ice cream, and fried food during their work shifts. Between school, work, church, and social life, those boys are always on the run. Convenience often drives what they choose to eat so taking ten minutes to prepare something usually isn't an option. I had to find a way to make sure they were choosing the good foods.
First, we stopped buying soda. Okay, we stopped buying soda for them. The little fridge in our bedroom is stocked with sodas for our nightcaps but they aren't allowed in there. We instead purchased extra milk, chocolate milk mix, and a variety of great fruit juices. If the soda isn't in there, they won't be drinking it. They also have the option of filtered water from the tap, available all the time.
Second, when they open the fridge, they are not confronted with jellos, puddings, and sugary foods. Instead, they find bowls of fresh fruit, already washed, cut, and ready to eat. Right now there is a container of honeydew melon balls, a container of cantaloupe balls, and several grab-and-eat fruits like plums and nectarines. Veggies are important to a healthy diet, so they can find containers of celery, carrots, and grape tomatoes to nibble at will. Proteins are important to healthy growth, so hard-boiled eggs (already peeled) wait for teen snackers, as well as cheese cubes and cheese sticks. You might see that I've started a trend of reducing carbs in their snacking diet choices. I noticed that most of what they were eating was cereal bars and such, which can be healthy choices but too many carbs turn into sugars in the body and make teenagers sleepy. So far, they are responding well to the new choices. Since I really have no influence over what they eat away from our house, I felt it was important for our household to make changes here. And yes, I still have a hidden chocolate stash, but don't tell them.
