My Trouble with Mini Eggs... - Designed For You Nutrition

It is that time of the year again when the chocolate bunnies and jelly beans are out in full force. Mini eggs used to be my weakness. I would open the bag and I couldn’t stop eating them until they were gone. I will admit that there was a time when I was a total sugar junkie. I had secret stashes all over the place – in my purse, in my house and even at work. Over the years, things have changed and I have been able to form a more ‘healthy’ relationship with sugar. It took time and patience with myself – it didn’t happen overnight. I learned to deal with those cravings with new strategies. Sometimes it was exercising, calling a friend or putting a serving of chocolate into a bowl and NOT going back for seconds. Some days were tough. Some days I succeeded and some days I didn’t. The good days were just as important as the bad days in my learning curve though. The good days showed me I could do it and the bad days, when I felt nauseous afterwards, reminded me why I needed to keep working on the goal of reducing sugar.

As a parent, I try to instill in my children the importance of making healthy choices. I would like for them to avoid having to break nutrition habits later in life like I had to. We spend time discussing food choices in a way that has just become a natural part of our conversation. I do not want them growing up with food issues that stem from being overly conscientious or to completely ‘rebel’ when I’m not looking. I do still allow them to eat candy and indulge in treats from time to time – yes even the artificially coloured, stain your lips blue kind of candy. The reality is that they are kids and I don’t want to deny their requests all the time. The more I say, ‘no,’ the more appealing the candy becomes. I know that as a family we normally eat really well. My children will be just fine and so will I if we pop open a bag of mini-eggs once in awhile.

With all this in mind, I thought I would share some ideas to fill your child’s Easter basket with. While I do allow some candy, there are so many other wonderful things to include in a fun basket.