A Little Less Sugar, A Little More Ice

With the holidays upon us, it’s hard not to pretty much strap on an IV and do a sugar (and butter!) feed directly into your family’s bloodstream, right?

If I didn’t watch it, my kids would imbibe sugary foods and drinks from sunup until sundown at holiday time. {Okay, it doesn’t help that I am a mad baker this time of year.} We’re pretty good at monitoring their sugary drink intake year round, but I kick it up a notch for December. There are lots of easy ways to strike the right balance in your family’s diet amidst the holiday sugar rush. Here are some ideas.

A Little Less Sugar, A Little More Ice

We don’t ever offer sodas to our kids at home. We rarely even have it on hand for my husband and I (I almost never drink soda anyway!). But occasionally, if we go out to eat, we’ll let the kids have some, or juice, with their meal. When we do, however, I LOAD the cup with ice, so they’re actually getting much less soda or juice intake than they think they are. They dawdle at mealtime anyway, which lets the ice melt and dilute the juice or soda as well.

Limit Drinks After Dinner

Once our dinner is over each night, we only let our kids drink milk or water. No juice, nothing else. This way they’re not getting worked up into massive sugar comas right before bed, too!

Make Water Bottles Part of the Morning Routine

My kids love helping out in the morning by filling their own water bottles and stashing them in their backpacks to take to school. I’m so appreciative that our school allows kids to have water bottles at their desk all day and lets them refill as needed throughout the school day!

Alternate Treats With Water

Experts always recommend that we alternate an alcoholic beverage with a glass of water when we’re out at cocktail parties…why not adopt that same approach with your kids and sugary drinks or treats? If they have a cookie, they need to follow it up with a glass of water. It’s an easy way to up that water intake!

Try Less Sugary Dessert Alternatives

There are so many fabulous ways to prepare amazing desserts now that have much less refined sugar and other “stuff.”  Three of my favorite food bloggers, Running to the Kitchen, Oh She Glows,  and Chockohlawtay have super delicious recipes that in most cases, eliminate refined sugar altogether.

What are some ways that you try to keep your family on a healthy diet during the holidays? I just started using the Brita Bottle for Kids.

The Brita Bottle for kids is a 13 oz. squeezable and reusable bottle with a built-in filter that provides an affordable, fun and convenient solution for kids to drink great-tasting water on the go.

Available in three bright colors and a kid-friendly size, the Brita Bottle for Kids is BPA free and dishwasher safe. The Brita Bottle for Kids makes drinking water fun for kids and is a convenient way to parents to keep their kids hydrated while on the go.

My kids took the Brita Bottle for Kids to school this week. My daughter had stopped refilling her water bottle at school because she says the water there “tastes funny.” When she came home afterschool, I asked her how the water tasted at school when she drank it through her Brita. She said, “Great.” I’m happy knowing that she’ll be drinking more water at school now. Hurray for Brita!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Brita. The opinions and text are all mine.

Tagged as: #brita4kids