It seems every year, my children’s schedule changes. Sometimes this is due to advancing to the higher grade and the school start/stop time is different. (Hello, high school and it’s 7:30am start. Yikes!). Perhaps a school sport is added in, and practice is before or after the seven hours of learning.

Either way, managing their hunger can be tricky. And by tricky, I’m met with “moooooom, I’m sooooooooo hungry!”

A few years ago this peaked. My older son played middle school football (oh, help a mama’s concussion-worrying soul). Because this was the first year students could participate in school organized activities, he didn’t have a designated athletic period. This meant he had a full day of instruction, then immediately went to a two-hour practice. The team was expected to be suited up within approximately 93 seconds of the dismissal bell, allowing no time for a quick snack. He arrived home ravenous.

Conversely, many of the high school athletes in our area practice before school. They are in the gym, pool, or field by 6am, then quickly shower before starting their day.  (At least I hope they do. Otherwise … eww.)

I don’t know about you, but after I’ve been working out for an hour and a half or more, I need food. And then I need even more of it later. Add a growing child to hours of exercise and you’ve got one enormous, insatiable stomach to fill.

Read on for some tricks that have helped me.

Full-fat chocolate milk

Yes, I know this has a high sugar content. However, it also has a significant amount of other elements that help keep them satiated: protein and fat. Both of these are absorbed slowly, preventing a grumbling stomach during 6th period math class.

If you are like me and are a child of the 90s, you may still be afraid of fat. Don’t be. Our children need between 25-35% of their daily calories to come from dietary fat. It provides essential fatty acids and helps your body absorb critical nutrients.

Fats can be confusing. Full-fat milk is high in saturated fat, which is not great for heart health. I am tolerant of it in this situation because my children do not consume much saturated fat in their diets. They eat all their meals at home or made at home, so throwing some milk in their lunch does not bother me one. bit. at. all.

Obviously, do what is best for your child’s individual needs. Our children, like us, are created uniquely on the inside. You, as their mom, know best.

But as for me and my house, we will serve full-fat milk. (And the Lord, as it says in Joshua 24:15, but that’s a different post.)

I’m willing to accept my child consuming the fat and sugar if it helps him stay focused on his schoolwork.

This article from Harvard Health does a nice job breaking down the various forms of fat.

One more thing about full-fat chocolate milk: It’s delicious. Our family favorite is Promised Land, which basically tastes like melted chocolate ice cream.

Trail Mix

I kid you not when I tell you there are seasons my child consumes a cup of trail mix a day.  A cup, you guys. I tire of watching him eat it, yet he never tires of it.

Nuts are expensive. Buying prepackaged trail mix is even more pricey, so we make our own.  It’s ridiculously easy and I often assign this task to one of them.

Nuts are high in fat too, but their fats are monounsaturated – the good kind. Plus, they have fiber and protein, so they have a lot of staying power.

My favorite homemade trail mix:

• raw almonds
• roasted cashews
• roasted peanuts
• chocolate chips or M&M’s
• dried fruit (typically raisins, craisins, or pineapple)

Greek Yogurt

Again, the sugar. It’s not ideal. But I’m honest if nothing else. If I can sandwich sugar between calcium, fat, and 12 g protein, I will do it. Judge me all you want.

Our family favorite is Black Cherry Chobani. My younger son loves the Chobani Flips, which I really shouldn’t mention in this space because there’s so much sugar in it. Those are in his lunch more often than not. Ideally he would have plain yogurt and mix it with diced strawberries, but he puts this part of his lunch together so there’s zero percent chance of him doing that.

And one more trick I use after a long day and tiring practice:

Smoothies

When my son plopped his locker-room smelling self into the car after football practice, he needed refueling. Stat. The problem was, he needed a shower first.  I don’t want to embarrass him so I won’t say more but … yeah … he needed to get clean before sitting down for dinner.

Enter smoothies. I’d whip one of these up and send it with my husband as he picked him up. The report was it was gone within a quarter mile of leaving the school.

The ideal post-workout smoothie includes carbs (for replenishing glycogen levels in your muscles) and protein (to help start rebuilding the muscles). And of course, the best part of smoothies is the ability to throw in vegetables. My kids know I do this and I don’t apologize for it.

You can find a million ways to prepare smoothies, but here’s my 30-second prep go-to:

Chunky Monkey Smoothie

1 large handful spinach

1 tbs peanut butter

1 banana

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

1 cup your choice of milk (alter for desired consistency)

You can prep these and enjoy them later. I’ve found these transport well in double-walled stainless steel bottles. Just make sure you use one with a wide mouth for easier cleanup.

If you’re faced with insatiable teenagers, give one of these a shot. Just make sure you hold the lid on the trail mix container when you mix it up.