DocDivaTraveller: June 2024

June 20, 2024 3 comments

For a parent, everything from conception, to giving birth and nurturing a child is a long and tedious process and we are constantly striving to fulfil this job responsibly.

As a healthcare professional and a mother of two, the biggest expectation that I have from myself is their health and providing them with healthy and healthy food options.

5 tips to raise a child with healthy and healthy food options:

1. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

In this cutthroat world, it is natural that we get sucked into the portal of competition and comparison. To excel or in fact, survive this world, we as parents enrol our kids in multiple activities, leaving no time for them to engage in unstructured play. While extra-curricular activities go a long way in building the personality of a child, it shouldn't become a chore either. It's imperative to concentrate on one passion and nurture it, rather than trying to don multiple hats and being average in all of them.

Academics play an integral role in shaping the future of a child, but it's not everything. As parents, we should never underestimate the power of play. While playing outdoors is important for physical and mental development, unstructured play boosts creativity and imagination. Instead of buying board games, we should expose them to more stuff like building blocks, dominos, etc.

2. Food thy medicine and medicine thy food.

As I have grown older, I have started to realise this epic quote of Hippocrates more and more. Health and healthy food are complementary. Our diet determines our physical and mental well-being.

A wholesome diet is the key to good health. We are what we eat. So, if we are into empty calories, then our body would also be hollow from within. In this world of quick fixes, fancy-looking snacks and the ever-increasing culture of eating out, we are more prone to get derailed from the tracks of nutrition. However, this shouldn't deter us from giving healthy food to our kids.

There isn't a stage of life when we can neglect our diet and hence our health, but the growing years are particularly more crucial in shaping the individual.

Role of proteins: Proteins provide the building materials for our body and also have a direct role in immunity. For children, incorporating the required amount of proteins might get a bit challenging daily. Ask me. As a mother of 2 underweight vegetarian kids, I am always ransacking my brain on how to innovate my protein-feeding game. I try switching the pulses and legumes every day and always knead my dough in dal so that they have protein-enriched chapatis and parathas.

Also, I add Complan in their milk which makes the taste great. Complan has 34 vital nutrients, including 100% milk protein, vitamins and minerals. It is clinically proven to support 2x faster growth. It contains 63% more protein than other nutrition drinks. Complan supports memory and concentration.

Plus, my kids love the taste and hence gulp down the milk within minutes! It’s a win-win! Health and healthy food go hand in hand!

Role of carbohydrates: The diet of a child should have an adequate amount of whole grains and a minimum of refined carbs. They need a lot of energy and their diet should have a lot of roughage too, for smooth bowel movement. Too much sugary stuff also should be avoided.

Role of fats: Our target should be giving healthy fats to our kids. Ghee, nuts, whole milk, avocado, peanut butter, coconut, etc and not bad fats like frozen french fries and chips.

Fresh fruits and vegetables. I am sure kids love fruits. But it can be a bit tricky to feed them a variety of vegetables. I usually put a handful in the dal they like and then mash everything into their parathas. Roughage and micronutrients present in fruits and vegetables are crucial for their health.

3. Role of supplements

Diet sometimes is not sufficient for certain micronutrients and there arises the need for supplements. Even though we reside in one of the sunniest countries in the world, we still may need Vitamin D supplementation. For growing children, Vitamin D and Calcium supplementation is crucial for their skeletal development. (1) Ask my orthopaedic husband, he gets patients regularly, suffering from rickets, just because of Vitamin D deficiency. Check with your paediatrician for more information

4. Nurturing environment

A flower can bloom only if it gets a favourable environment. Children are just like flowers. They need the right amount of love, care and support in place of water, sunlight and manure. The best gift that we can give our child is a happy environment. Kids do not need material things to grow into cheerful individuals. Expensive toys do bring gratification, but that is temporary. What we can invest in is a calm, happy and stress-free home to grow up. Kids pick up from their parents. If you are a composed person, they surely would be too.

5. The power of optimism and gratitude

Life is not easy and we should teach our kids that; whenever they are faced with any obstacle they should be positive. It’s imperative to imbibe in them that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. There is no greater magic in this world than optimism and hope. We should start teaching them gratitude from a very early age.

Quoting an excerpt that has stayed with me since I had read it. Once a homeless girl puts a wish for a doll as a Christmas gift from the church. On Christmas, she receives a pair of crutches and she bursts into tears. Her father consoles her that she should be grateful to the Lord that she doesn’t need the crutches. The power of gratitude!

Summing up, it takes a village to raise a child happy, healthy and healthy food is an integral part of it. We all are doing the best we can.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the blog content are independent

and unbiased views of solely the blogger. This is a part of the public awareness initiative supported by Complan.

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge.

June 07, 2024 25 comments

June 06, 2024 13 comments

My best friend, Shruti, was getting married, and as the ‘Maid of Honour’, it was my duty to give her the best bachelorette ever. So far, we have traveled to 9 countries together, and this time I was planning for Sweden. Sweden was our dream destination, and we both decided to save it for a big occasion. I realized that this was the perfect time to surprise her with a trip to Sweden.

I wanted everything to be perfect, so I thought it would be best to seek help from an expert. I started scrolling through various travel websites, which is when I came across Thrillophilia. I was really impressed to see a wide variety of packages and so many good travel reviews of Thrillophilia. Being satisfied with my first impression of the company, I decided to drop in an inquiry about a package. I received a call within an hour from a representative of the company, Yash. I loved how he was extremely professional and friendly at the same time. He patiently explained the entire itinerary to me, and I requested some customizations. Without wasting a minute, I finalized everything, and the next morning, I received our entire itinerary in my email.

I finally surprised Shruti with our dream trip to Sweden, and she could not believe a word I said. She could not control her tears of joy, and I joined in, realizing that a lot is going to change in our lives. With utter excitement, we packed our bags for the best trip of our lives!

Our Trip
Our driver was waiting for us with a sedan car right outside the Stockholm airport. He greeted us with a warm smile and helped us with our luggage. We proceeded towards our pre-booked hotel, which was absolutely stunning. Our room was spacious, had decent interiors, and had an amazing view out the window.
Image courtesy: Google

We enjoyed our first day at leisure, exploring the nearby attractions and wandering through the pretty lanes of Stockholm. We tried a lot of street food for dinner and then finally returned to our hotel.

The next day, we had a complete Stockholm sightseeing tour. After our breakfast, our driver picked us up and took us to our first destination, the Vasa Museum. We also visited other popular attractions such as Gamla Stan, Skansen, and the Royal Palace. In the end, we took a boat tour of the archipelago and undoubtedly had the best time of our lives. It was fun, adventurous, and worth every penny.

On our third day, we first went to the Drottningholm Palace. Next, we headed towards the ABBA Museum and spent a delightful time reliving the magic of the iconic band. At night, we traveled from Stockholm to Gothenburg, where we checked in to our second pre-booked hotel. I could relate to all the Thrillophilia reviews mentioning the exceptional accommodation, as they certainly provide you the best under your budget.

On day 4, we quickly finished our breakfast as we were too excited to start our day. Our first destination for the day was the famous Liseberg Amusement Park. Both of us changed into our casual wear as soon as we reached the park. Our package included two complimentary rides, and we chose the Helix and Balder. It was our first time trying out something like this, and we were pretty nervous yet excited about it. We had a remarkable time enjoying the rides, and it surely enhanced the overall experience of our trip.
Image courtesy: Google

After such a thrilling experience, we just wanted to peacefully sit, talk, and admire the beautiful views. We canceled our further plans and stayed at the park. Had a couple of drinks, enjoyed a lavish dinner at a nearby restaurant, and then finally headed back to the hotel.
Image courtesy: Google

Unfortunately, day 5 was the last day of our trip, so we decided to make the most of it. Our driver picked us up from our hotel and dropped us at the Gothenburg Harbor. From there, we took a boat ride to the Southern Gothenburg Archipelago. I must say that we were completely stunned by the mesmerizing beauty of the islands. It was by far the most beautiful location that we had visited. We tried kayaking as well as visited some popular attractions such as Vrångö, Styrsö, and Donsö.
Image courtesy: Google