empowerme

Add extra nutrients to your salad by adding garbanzo beans (or any type of bean).

Choose low-fat or fat-free milk or 100% juice to get vitamins, build strong bones, and reduce the risk of illness. Aim for 3 cups of milk a day and drink only 100% juice.

Eggxactly! Boil, scramble, or poach eggs and serve on whole-wheat toast - they're packed with nutrition.

Keep it Colorful. Challenge yourself to try fruits and vegetables of different colors. Make it a red/green/orange day (apple, lettuce, carrot), or pick one color and see how many fruits and veggies of that color you can find.

Add more fiber to your diet - eat whole grain breads and yummy beans.

Balance the food that you eat with physical activity to help your body grow

Avoid Double Meat and Bacon. A serving size of meat is 2-3 ounces - about the size of a deck of cards.  You're probably getting well over that with a single meat patty.  Bacon is also high in calories and fat.

Check out a fitness magazine to find new ideas and ways to stay motivated!

Improve your coordination and balance by lifting one leg to the side or back while balancing on the other leg.

Get others involved! Bringing more fruits and vegetables into your life can be a challenge. Invite your friends to get together and host an 'Iron Chef'-style challenge with recipes that include veggies. Create a cookbook of recipes and have everyone bring the dish they submitted so people can taste them.

To gain the maximum benefits from play time, engage in moderate to vigorous activity at least half the time.

Caffeine in cola drinks can make you pee more frequently and lose more body fluids than you are gaining.

It’s all about balancing the food that you eat (energy in) with physical activity (energy out) to help your body grow.

Choose foods that are low in saturated fat - take a look at the food labels to know what you're eating!

Walk everywhere you can. All you need is a good pair of sneakers. Ask your friends to join for motivation and inspiration!

Can It. Go to the kitchen and get two of the heaviest cans that you can hold. Stand with your feet flat on the floor, with cans in your hands and your arms at your side. Pull the cans up to your chest - bending at the elbows.  Hold for 2 seconds and let your arms down slowly.  Repeat 10 times.

Create a cookbook with all of your favorite healthy recipes and make copies for your family and friends.

Treat Yourself. Go for low-fat frozen yogurt, fruit popsicles, sorbets, and sherbets rather than ice cream or cookies. Sprinkles are also better than caramel or chocolate sauces.

Smoothie Madness. Blend frozen fruit (bananas and berries are great), low-fat or fat-free milk, and 100% fruit-juice for a quick, tasty breakfast smoothie with lots of nutrients.

Try Smoothies. Smoothies are a great way to increase the amount of fruit you eat and are really easy to make. A basic smoothie is just frozen fruit, some low-fat or fat-free milk and/or yogurt, and 100% fruit juice all processed together in a blender until smooth. Experiment with different fruits to find out what you really like.