Cooking meals for others while you're on a diet?

BubbleBubble7

I am raising my teenage sibling on my own due to our family situation. I need to watch what I eat for dinner and can't have a "normal" dinner that my brother eats (he can eat whatever and not gain anything). This is so hard when I'm already suppressing my desire to eat real food instead of the healthier options. Anyone else going through this? How do you deal with it? (Honestly do you really LOVE eating your broccoli, lean meat and brown rice while making crab cakes and pasta for your family? After a few days I get pretty depressed and sad about it!!)

RodaRose

Cook large portions of lean meat, broccoli, and brown rice so that you and he can eat the same foods.
For between meals, have lots of good "snack" foods available for him to grab: bagged fresh veggies, fruit, bread, peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit, hard boiled eggs. He will be fine.

astronomicals

is he mentally disabled or do you just choose to be his...


let him make his own food or starve. Hes not 5.

yes, broccoli is good... I like Lawry's seasoned salt on it. And who doesnt like filet mignon, chicken, bison, etc?

nicsflyingcircus

I cook for a family of 6, including me. They eat what I make. Lean meat, whole grains and lots of veggies are good for them too! I am not on a diet, I am changing a whole lifestyle and anyway, my 4 kuds have always eaten well.

proudjmmom

I have to agree with the person above me. This is a lifestyle change not just for myself, but my family, I have a husband and 4 children (only 2 are mine). I cook 1 main meal per day (dinner), and for the most part we all eat the same. Breakfast and lunch is whatever they like. My main meal consists usually of lean meats, a grain/starch, and a veggie, every day. They deserve to have a healthy meal too. I've also slowly started buying more healthy snack options for everyone, veggies, and fruits. No complaints here that anyone is hungry.

IHateThinkingOfAUsername

Yep same here. Just me and my husband but he eats the same as me, either as a bigger portion or with an extra potato etc.

TerryKaine08

Cook the same healthy meal for both of you! Healthy does not mean boring and flavourless!
He is a growing teenager, which is one of the reasons that he does not put on weight. However the nutrients from good foods will contribute towards his development. When he is 30, and and either gaining weight due to eating too much lasagne or staying lean to his choice to eat raw broccoli, it will be due to his taste-buds that have been developed during his developmental years.
As a PT, one of the wonderful stories i heard is of a nutritious-healthy family whose son raids the fridge to steal broccoli and asparagus!

Francl27

Same here. I just make some noodles or rice on the side and don't necessarily have some. Or we make tacos and I have a taco salad instead of taco shells or tortillas etc.

jess17587

yes i really do like eating broccoli but i think you should do separate meals or find healthy meals you both like i mean the teen cant only like burgers

schmanciepants

I echo the others in saying that there shouldn't be separate meals for you and everyone else.....

There are ways to make the broccoli, brown rice, and lean meats more satisfying for you, and also enjoyable for everyone else.

-cook rice in chicken broth/stock
-add buffalo sauce and a bit of blue cheese crumbles into lean ground turkey for buffalo turkey burgers (with a light bun, or lettuce bun)
-add some parmesan cheese to broccoli

Bottom line, if you check out the recipe section (or google healthy recipes) you can find things to make that all of you can eat together.

DeguelloTex

I do the cooking all days but one and they eat what I cook.

I put less sour cream and cheese on tacos. I eat more sauce and less pasta. Yeah, we like broccoli. And marinated chicken. And there's hardly ever any asparagus left over.

It's about portions more than making terrible, bland food.

Liftng4Lis

I'm with everyone else here. My daughter is 14. If she doesn't like what I'm cooking, she can always get up and fix herself something! Generally, as teenagers tend to be lazy, she ends up eating what I cook. Believe me they get plenty of "junk" out there on their own.
Making healthy food does not mean making "bland" food. Fortunately I love cooking and I'm pretty creative. Introduce more spices if things are tasting boring.
Good luck!

Capt_Apollo

last night was grilled chicken that was marinated in lemon juice and zest, some oil, and garlic and salt. side was a sauceless spaghetti mixed with grape tomatoes, fava beans, and spinach. and grated cheese.

how is that not healthy and delicious? and if your teenage brother is super picky, just don't mix the veggies in with the pasta, and serve it to yourself.

JoRocka

I'm already suppressing my desire to eat real food instead of the healthier options

what does that even mean???

asciident

I do honestly love lean meat, broccoli, and brown rice. Sounds like the start of a good stir fry to me, lol. That said, I love pasta too. I still eat it. Just in a smaller portion than I used to have.

He can eat what you eat and you can eat what he eats, just at different portion sizes. And losing weight doesn't have to mean your food needs to be bland and boring

levitateme

I do honestly love lean meat, broccoli, and brown rice. Sounds like the start of a good stir fry to me, lol. That said, I love pasta too. I still eat it. Just in a smaller portion than I used to have.

He can eat what you eat and you can eat what he eats, just at different portion sizes. And losing weight doesn't have to mean your food needs to be bland and boring

Yep. You can cook the same things as you did before and eat smaller portions or modify your recipes to be lower calorie while still tasting great.

emilyisbonkers

Just give him whatever you have, if he doesn't like it, he will soon learn to sort himself out

summer144012

OP, I totally understand your frustration. My teenaged son will not eat my healthy way of eating and always had wanted me to fix him creamy pasta dishes, wedding soup, calzones..anything that had high fat content. He always wanted fresh Italian bread and butter in the house. I like to eat very clean and low fat most of the time. I love grilled chicken, fish, lean meats, tons of veggies, fruit and nuts.

He would always complain and I always tried to teach him about nutrition and eating healthy. I found out I was not going to win this battle with him so I pretty much gave up but would fix his fattening meals only on occasion and buy him those types of foods at the grocery store for him alone. When he started driving, I gave him an allowance of food money so he could buy whatever he wanted and that included going to the grocery store himself and coming home to cook it himself or eating all his junk fast food. Most of the time now he eats out and I remain eating healthy.

Funny thing is now he is taking a Nutrition class at college this fall semester and I laughed and told him I hope THE CLASS now will teach him how to eat healthy because I sure couldn't even with all my healthy eating habits and excellent role modeling. Good Luck!

kaischu

I've been cooking for both myself and my boyfriend. We both used to eat out almost every day and initially when I made the change to be healthy he didn't join me, but lately he's been trying the foods I've been making and he's excited to do it with me now! There's no reason a healthy meal can't be "normal" and super yummy. Plus I agree, if they dont like what you're making they should be able to cook for themselves.

cwolfman13

It seems to me that your perception of "healthy" is exceedingly narrow.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with crab cakes or pasta. I eat pasta at least once per week...there is nothing inherently wrong with pasta. If I had access to crab meat at a reasonable cost in the desert, you can bet your *kitten* I'd be making some crab cakes too.



My dinner last night....^^^....I went to the grower's market yesterday morning and picked up some tomatoes, zuchinis, cucumbers, red onions and potato kaiser buns. I whipped up a Gazpacho and served that with a bacon sammich that also happened to be loaded with strips of zuchini I did on the grill as well as grilled onion, some fresh basil from my plant, and delicious tomatoes.

Personally, I thought it rather "healthy" and I even washed it down with a Session lager to cool down in the summer heat.



Here's Friday's dinner...^^^. I grilled up a London Broil which is a pretty lean cut of beef. I sauteed some zuchini and asparagus in a bit of avocado oil and did some roasted potatoes. You don't need crap tons of oil to make good roasted potatoes...I use about a Tbsp for 4 servings.

Again...this was a very "healthy" meal...all of my family ate it...I don't make separate meals. There is more to nutrition and eating "healthy" than just plain old chicken breast with brown rice and steamed broccoli...way more. To boot, context and dosage are extremely important when you're talking about matters of nutrition and "good" or "bad" or whatever. I suggest embracing more research into proper nutrition and what constitutes proper nutrition.

FindingAmy77

I also have someone to cook more who can and needs to eat more than I do at my current deficit eating amount of calories. My husband works a manual labor job full time out in the florida heat and humidity. Not only does he get more calories for maintence per day because he is male and works a hard labor job, he wont let me "diet" him as he says. iTs not a problem however. What I do is switch it up a lot and try new recipes and make sure I cook a lean meat with dinner. I give him two properly weighed out portions but only give my self one. I also server two vegies with dinners now. I give him the choice of a bread or potatoe/pasta side. Not both. I just forego that extra carb on my plate. I server my own food on a smaller plate too. He always wants a dessert before bedtime so I make myself an almond milk/fruit/flax smoothie instead of having an ice cream and 2%milk shake like he wants. FOr the most part we eat the same things I just give him bigger portions. He wont budge on the milik thing so unfortunately we have to buy two separate milks. its okay though. I always make sure we have lunchmeat on hand. The only breads I bring in the house has the ingredients of whole wheat flour, not bleached flour. He likes the popchips I buy from wheat thins for his chips in his lunches. I keep fruit on hand in the fridge and freezer too. I only buy lower calorie cheeses too. We both like the velveeta sliced cheese. I always keep lettuce and tomatoes on hand for salads. ALso the biggest advice I give to you, is to never say to someone that something is good for you or healthy. Just make it and they will eat it. IF you make it tasty and smelling delicious how can anyone resist?