Cheryl Forberg, RD. Biggest Loser Nutritionist

Everyone wants the best for their children. That goes without saying. And while we all also know there are worse things you can do to your kids than sending them off to school with Lunchables, there aren't many. So we get up early and pack what we hope is a healthy lunch. Parents find it comforting that they’re sending their precious cargo off to school with home-packed meals, but there can be some hidden evil in that lunch.

Here are three of the biggest mistakes we make when feeding our kids during the school year, and ways we can prevent them.

1. No Skipping
One of the biggest mistakes that we make (or our children make) starts before school. Skipping breakfast. This is a no-no for sure. Not eating breakfast reduces learning and decreases ability to focus and pay attention. In addition, it can be a contributor to obesity. When you skip breakfast, you may get overly hungry later and this can lead to poor food choices, eating too much and eating too fast.

So, give your kids a healthy breakfast each morning (and take this as an opportunity for you to have one -- because you need it, too). Start the day off well with oatmeal, a piece of whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, scrambled eggs or egg whites. Even a healthy, protein filled smoothie works great for fueling the day.

2. Lukewarm Lunches?
Unsafe home-packed lunches can be a major problem. Bacteria are evil little buggers, and when our cold food isn’t kept cold enough and our hot food not kept hot enough, they have a perfect environment in which to multiply. Perhaps that stomachache or intestinal upset little Johnny came home with wasn’t a bug he caught from a classmate; it may have been his lunch! Hot foods need to be kept at or above 140 degrees, and cold foods should be kept at or below 40 degrees.

A recent study from the University of Texas in Austin, which was published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found that over 90% of pre-schoolers’ home packed lunches were not at a safe temperature for eating once lunchtime arrived. Be sure to pack several ice packs in your child’s lunch box, and use insulated lunch boxes to maximize staying temperatures. Freeze liquids (and even yogurt) the night before, then in the morning place them in the lunch box.  Avoid using lunch foods that spoil easily, such as egg salad and things mixed with mayonnaise. There are even lunch boxes that can be placed directly into the freezer the night before use.

3. Attack of the Snack Attacks
Careful with the after school snacks! Now, don’t get me wrong, snacks are good for us, and I encourage several small snacks throughout the day. The problem isn’t the snacks; it’s what a child may choose for a snack (especially if mom or dad isn’t around).

Many people store convenient snack packages in their pantry or cupboards, such as chips, cookies and the like. If they’re around, guaranteed the kids will snack on them. Instead, choose to have fresh and healthy snacks easily available. Good examples are, dried fruit, fresh fruit, trail mix, low-fat cheese and whole grain crackers, yogurt, cut up veggies, and hummus. Also, many kids will drink their calorie allotment for the day with out realizing it, so don’t have sodas, punch and other high calorie drinks around.

A healthy treat such as my Very Berry Smoothie from my latest cookbook Flavor First makes an ideal after school snack. Get the recipe here.

Win a one-year membership to the Biggest Loser Club! Season 12 is just weeks away, but until the premiere we'll be giving away a year-long membership to the Biggest Loser Club, a customized interactive diet and fitness program, every week. To enter for your chance to win sign up for my monthly newsletter of tips, recipes, news and advice. Sign up here.

Who doesn't love summer? The vegetables are at their freshest, the nights are balmy, the kids are out of school, and it’s time to hit the road! But when we’re on the go and traveling, it’s tough to stick to our healthy lifestyles. Vacations are good for our health: They reduce stress and give balance to our lives. But with road-trip diner fare, cruise ship buffets, and airline meals, they can be a dietary disaster.

Give your body -- not your diet -- the vacation.

Here are a few tips to help navigate the journey and stick to your budget:

1. Skip the junk food en route. Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t make a chain restaurant’s extra-large muffins or greasy burgers any better for you. Instead, pack snacks for the flight or the road -- a turkey sandwich on whole wheat, a piece of fruit -- and save your splurges for the unique fare you’ll encounter at your destination. If you’re on a road trip, make room in the trunk for a cooler; fill it with double-bagged ice to prevent soaking the food, and then layer in fruits and veggies and sandwich fixings.

2. Get a room with a view (and a kitchen). If possible, book a condo or a motel room with a kitchenette, and then hit the grocery store on arrival; it might seem more expensive, but you’ll be able to brew your own coffee in the morning, have a casual breakfast and pack lunch to go -- saving plenty in restaurant bills as well as calories.

3. Avoid the buffets. Going on a cruise? Gambling in Vegas? Opt for traditional restaurants rather than “all-you-can-eat” diet-disaster zones.

4.  At a restaurant, eat family style. Order mostly healthy dishes and a single “splurge” specialty, such as a dessert to share, and pass the plates so everyone at the table has a small taste.

5.  Park it. If you’re on a road trip, or if you have a rental, consider ditching the car once you reach the day’s destination, and walk around town instead. Not only will you log a couple of miles as you explore, but you’ll save yourself the hassle of finding parking spaces over and over again.

6. Build activity into every day. Dedicate a few hours to physical activity -- whether in the form of a walking tour, snorkeling or dancing at a disco. You’ll still have plenty of time to veg out –- and you’ll have earned it.

Happy trails!

Unless you are a registered dietitian, a medical doctor, or a food scientist, it may be difficult and daunting reading food labels on packaged foods. There seems to be so much information packed into that small label, including serving size, calories, fat (including saturated fat), cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate (including fiber and sugars), protein, several vitamins and minerals. And to boot, these items are expressed in a percentage of daily value based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Going to the grocery store has become tedious for some consumers; less like shopping for food for their families and more like math and science homework.

As Americans continue to gain weight and our national obesity problem gets worse and worse, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have come together to commission the Institute of Medicine (an objective group) to help with developing recommendations for front of package labeling. The food industry, which is made up of many huge manufacturing companies must follow the current labeling laws and post the familiar detailed label on all packaged foods.

But the idea of putting a simpler label on the front of a food package in addition to the mandatory label is coming to fruition soon. Actually, two major food industry trade associations, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute, have gone ahead and developed a front of package label without waiting for the recommendations from the Institute of Medicine. It’s based on “Nutrition Keys” such as calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugars.

Manufacturers can choose to use only one of the figures and leave out the others, or they may choose to place 2,3, or all 4 on the package. Besides the info regarding the things we may need to limit in our diet (calories, saturated fat, sodium, sugar), manufacturers will also have an option to include up to two additional nutrients, (ones that may provide a benefit to our diet), such as potassium, fiber, protein, vitamin A, C, D, calcium or iron. This new front of package label with these “Nutrition Keys” is purely voluntary and will likely show up by the end of this year.  The food industry claims that this system will help consumers make better choices when choosing their items in the grocery store.

To me, this is  a bit confusing, although it gives an “at a glance” picture of what the food contains there i no frame of reference. A shopper has nothing to compare the numbers to. With the same idea in mind, England has adopted a similar system for front of package labeling, which provides color coded information based on a traffic light idea. Green, yellow, and red. The idea is that shoppers can aim to have more of their cart filled with green, less with yellow, and minimize the red.

I have always encouraged people to eat less processed food, and try to stick to wholesome, fresh foods with less packaging. The first choice is always the food that requires no label at all because it’s not in a package. However, many of us will still continue to purchase packaged items, out of necessity or convenience.

Will the proposed front-of-package labeling help you when shopping, will it just confuse you more, or will you ignore it altogether?

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Every week that the show is on break we'll be giving away a year-long membership to the Biggest Loser Club. To enter this time you have some homework. Look in your cabinets, cupboards and fridges and find the item that has the highest Calories, Saturated Fat or Sugar per serving by looking at the Nutrition Facts. (Then throw it away.) For a chance to win a 1-year membership to the BL Club leave that information in the comments on my Flavor First Facebook page here.

The heat waves streaking across the country and summer heat in general bring up questions in people’s minds about whether they should change their eating habits in such conditions.

Some questions come up a lot in the summer:

-Does our metabolism go up when it's hot?

-Do our calorie needs change?

-Does our appetite go down?

Last week I reviewed some ways to calculate your calorie budget and BMR. So, do our calorie needs change or does our metabolism increase during the hot summer temps? Well, maybe yes, but probably no. Our bodies are well-tuned to keep things at status quo. If anything, our metabolism may go up when we’re cold, as our bodies need to work harder to maintain our temperature (by shivering). In the heat, our bodies actually slow down a bit to try to conserve energy so as not to over heat. But none of this really makes any significant change in our BMR or how many calories our body needs.