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Getting Your Family to Eat Healthier
Now is the time to get your household eating healthier! Working together on healthy eating makes it a wonderful family affair...
Find yourself regularly ordering pizza or making mac and cheese for dinner? Now that you're on the path to better health, try to bring the others in the household along with you. Making positive changes can be much easier if it becomes a family affair.
State your goals and make a plan
with everyone in the family involved.
Let each person have a say in what eating healthy means to them. This way, you can integrate several ideas and preferences into an overall plan that is more likely to work for everyone.
Include everyone in meal planning,
recipe searching, shopping, and even taste testing!
The more all feel involved, the more likely they'll become excited about change.
Resist the temptation to purchase lots of 'kid-friendly' food, which
is usually chockful of food colorings, additives, and unhealthy fats.
Children are more likely to eat healthy later on in life if they are exposed to a variety of tastes and textures at a young age. Encourage them to try new foods and remember that it may take several exposures to a new food before they might actually 'like' it.
Focus on gradual changes - avoid taking an all or nothing approach.
This will most likely lead to burn out and you may find yourself reverting to old habits quickly.
Try to eat more whole grains.
Incorporate them slowly. For example, if your kids only eat white bread, look for a lighter wheat bread and make a 1/2 -1/2 sandwich with one slice of each. Use 1/2 brown rice and 1/2 white rice or 1/2 regular pasta mixed with 1/2 whole grain pasta. You can also substitute 1/3 of the flour in recipes with whole wheat flour.
No need to give up favorites!
Designate a weekly evening for family pizza night. You can use whole wheat crust, reduced-fat cheese, and load it up with plenty of veggies.
Eat together.
Aim for dinner with the entire family, if it all possible. Studies have shown that kids and teens are less likely to suffer from eating disorders and drink or smoke when their families regularly eat together. Shared mealtime also helps ensure that family members are eating healthier foods.
Pack lunches.
Preparation saves a lot of calories! By packing a healthy lunch (as well as snacks), the less likely we'll eat on the run and choose foods not likely to get us to our healthy eating goals.
Limit the accessibility of 'junk food'.
If it's around, it'll be eaten. Don't deny yourself or your family occasional treats, but also don't keep the cupboards loaded with temptation. If you do have a strong sweet craving, have everyone jump in the car and head to the ice cream shop. (Kiddie cones for all!) Again, great opportunity for family time and the treats are out, not in!