Balance and moderation are themes I speak about often and wanted to open this important conversation with you again. It’s an issue that can often get overlooked in the busy holiday season, but it can easily be addressed… I have 2 kiddos. My son will be 8 years old this week & my daughter just turned 11. They are super active, energetic and the total loves of my life! My goal as a parent is to ensure that my babies grow into thoughtful, healthy & strong adults. As parents we educate our kids in the best ways we can. We send them to school and encourage them to find their passions & run wild with their dreams. Another important thing we need to teach them is to be mindful of the importance of balancing the calories they consume. This includes those calories consumed from beverages. Calories need to be balanced with the physical activity they get. The American Beverage Association wants to help build awareness and educate parents on the mission of their new Mixify initiative. The goal? Simple. To support families’ ongoing efforts to achieve balance. The idea for Mixify started when moms across the country told America’s leading beverage companies they wanted the companies’ support in educating their teens about balance, and that includes how they can fit all the foods and beverages they might enjoy, including things like soda and ice cream or other treats, and still achieve balanced lifestyles. Mixify was co-created with teens to make sure it would resonate with them, and includes features teens specifically asked for, like the opportunity to ask experts, like dietitians and personal trainers, for advice on how to fit balance into their busy lives. It’s important to keep lines of communication with our kids clear & informative. Mixify helps up do this!

• Check out this video for a quick overview of the effort
• To learn more about the ABA effort, you can visit the Delivering Choices website.
• Digital resources for teens about Mixify.
• Follow ABA Delivers on Twitter & Facebook too!

Coke, Dr Pepper and Pepsi understand that getting a balanced mix of foods, drinks and physical activities for your family isn’t always easy. That’s why they’re coming together for the first time ever to talk to teens about balancing what they eat and drink with what they do. With tools to help teens get active and information to help them think about when they’ve had too much, or maybe when it’s time for a treat—America’s beverage companies are supporting our efforts to find a balanced mix that works for our families. Sweepstakes Rules: Thanks so much for all of your entries. BlogHer will be reaching out to the winner. No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post What do you do to keep your family balanced? Tips?
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from 12/9/14 – 12/24/14. Be sure to visit the American Beverage Association brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!