Family Living
Focus
Beaver Co.
Extension Agent
Mary Alice Gettings
ARE YOU A GRAZER?
According to Webster’s Dic
tionary, “to graze” is to feed on
grass and pasture. While we
don’t graze in the literal sense,
we humans have adopted our
own style of grazing. So, what
type of grazer are you?
• Sheepish Grazer You do
most of your grazing at home on
nuts, fruit, and cheese.
• Convenient Grazer You
make unplanned stops at con
venience stores and drive
through restaurants whenever
you feel the urge.
• Lone Grazer You consider
food secondary and pair it with
other activities.
• Freudian Grazer You nib
ble to provide comfort or relief
from stress.
What Does My
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dresses the topic of essential life
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jf' Do your children know the fol-
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• World Class Grazer You
like variety and sophistication in
your food and order several ap
petizers instead of a main meal.
Some of these ways of grazing
definitely lead to poor eating
habits, which can eventually lead
to health problems. Some of
them can be okay, if you select
healthier foods.
In fact, some research says
that grazing (or snacking) can
actually be beneficial in promot
ing better eating habits. For ex
ample, a healthy snack an hour
or two before arriving home from
work can help you avoid eating
anything you can get your hands
on while waiting for dinner.
Deprivation is one of the main
reasons why people stop “dieti-
1. How to do laundry. This in
cludes sorting and may include
sewing on buttons.
2. How to cook. Simple meals
for younger children, who will
need supervision. Older children
can even help plan menus!
3. How to budget expenses.
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ng.” A healthy snack can help to
relieve that miserable hunger
feeling that causes you to run to
the vending machine between
meals for a high-calorie, low-nu
trient snack.
When it comes to weight loss,
some research points to the fact
that snacking throughout the
day may actually help to keep
your metabolism up and run
ning.
You may be convinced it’s a
good idea to adopt the “grazing”
way. It's simple Just eat mini
meals or snacks throughout the
day. You can eat whenever or
wherever you want - at home, in
the car, and on the job. It can fit
into everyone’s schedule.
While there are many benefits
to grazing, you can imagine there
are pitfalls. You have permission
to eat whenever or wherever, but
not whatever. One of the biggest
pitfalls to grazing is “eating am
nesia,” or mindless eating. Not
only do you forget what, but how
much, you’ve eaten. Most people
forget about the bite of this and
the spoonful of that, which can
cause your calorie intake to creep
up throughout the day. At the
end of the day, you realize the
bag of cookies or chips are all
gone, and you were the only one
eating them.
The best way to avoid eating
Child Need To Know?
Begin with easy concepts at an
early age and advance with the
child’s age.
4. How to clean a room. This
begins early with picking up
after playtime. By age 7, a child
can vacuum and change sheets.
Scrubbing the tub and dusting
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amnesia is to pre-plan your
snacks. It’s not as hard as it
sounds. Taking healthy snacks to
work, in the car, or to your home
office is the first step. Some ideas
are bagels, small bran muffin,
bread sticks, low-fat crackers,
raisin bread, tuna, snack-size
dried fruit, raw vegetables, pret
zels, baked snacks, fresh fruit,
rice cakes, applesauce, unsweet
ened cereal, fat-free pudding, yo
gurt (if you have a refrigerator).
To avoid overeating, the sec
ond step is to portion out a serv
ing of the snack. When it’s done,
you should be done. Many times
when you eat while working on
other things, you lose track of
how much you’re eating. Before
you know it, the entire bag of
pretzels is gone by the end of the
afternoon. Even though pretzels
are a healthy snack, too much of
a good thing can add too many
calories to your day.
Another pitfall of grazing is
that people feel they need to eat
when they take a break. Many of
us feel guilty if we take a break
just to relax or pleasure read.
Since eating looks productive, we
turn to food, even if we’re not
hungry. Don’t eat for the sake of
eating eat only when you are
hungry.
To be a successful grazer, the
following guidelines will help
keep you on the right track;
are chores to teach, among oth-
5. How to shop for groceries.
Ask a 9-year-oid to go and get an
item on another aisle; and this
can lead to price comparisons. A
teen should be able to come up
with a list and shop alone.
• Go no longer than five hours
without foods. Waiting longer
than five hours to eat will likely
result in overeating or stopping
for fast foods, which can some
times not be healthy.
• Select nutrient-dense foods
for your snack. Nutrient-dense
foods are those which provide
many nutrients for the calories.
For example, pretzels and fruit
are much more nutrient dense
than potato chips and fruit roll
ups.
• Shop for portable and ready
to-go foods. Grocery stores carry
a variety of easy-to-pack and
smaller portion sizes of foods.
For example, you can now pur
chase baby carrots and place
them into a small plastic bag in
the morning. Small pudding and
yogurt containers (if you have a
refrigerator) and single-serving
breakfast bars can easily be
placed in your briefcase as you
head out the door.
Grazing isn't so bad, if you do
it the right way. A small amount
of time thinking ahead can help
you to be a successful grazer.
Mary Alice Gettings is a regis
tered dietitian and certified dia
betes educator with Penn State
Cooperative Extension of Beaver
County. For more information,
call (724)774-3003.
6. How to help themselves.
Self-sufficiency skills like looking
up numbers in the phone book
(not cheating and calling directo
ry assistance), making his own
doctor’s appointments, schedul
ing oil changes at the appropri
ate time, are all important things
for kids to know.
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