Do you make your meals separate from the rest of the family?

mathjulz

Nope. Been there, done that, it's miserable and not sustainable. Besides, I want to teach my family, especially my daughter, to eat properly in general and maintain a healthy body. Children learn to eat healthful food by eating it with their family. And it doesn't have to be all "diet/healthy foods" ... real, normal food in the right amounts, with emphasis on vegetables and protein and allowance for things you enjoy, is the best way to lose weight, to maintain weight, and to have a healthy relationship with food.

mathjulz

And sometimes my kids just won't eat what I made. I let them make a sandwich or eat cereal. Same for my husband. I'm not a short-order cook.

Yep. I try to always have at least one thing they like in the meal. (I'm lucky ... we all love broccoli, so that is an easy one). When the kids were little, I'd fix them a sandwich if they didn't fill up on the veggies or whatever. Now, it's their own responsibility. But they eat most of the food I fix.

seltzermint555

I sometimes feel bad that I do, but yes. I live with my fiance and he is lean and can basically eat whatever he wants. He is also very supportive, so whatever I want to eat, he is fine with it. He does not always eat with me, but is OK with me cooking for myself.

It is kind of funny to stand in line at the grocery store and having healthy stuff and unhealthy stuff in your cart, where the healthy stuff is all mine and the unhealthy stuff is all his. You wouldn't say looking at us :P

oh man I can relate to this. When I was with my ex husband though, we were both very obese but I ate so much healthier and for many years that's how it was...cart full of healthy/unhealthy. I must admit though even though I was just as heavy as he was or close to it, I had way less (no) health issues.

My husband now eats like I do, though, or I eat like he does...hard to say!

RunnerStephe

I completely eat my own meals. I love to cook, but most of the time I'm on my own. My wife tries to eat healthy, but rarely has any interest in what I eat.

Oxmarqt

No. I make one meal for myself and my husband, I just eat less of it than he does. I don't eat diet food, and would not subject my husband or myself to that.

If it's a meal you are making either log the ingredients or create a recipe in the recipe builder.

Good advice. Start today and learn to eat appropriately for your goals/macros while eating the food you plan to eat forever. This does not have to be hard or a punishment. It can't be if you expect to do it for the rest of your life.

Double good advice. I actually try and eat approx. 20% than what my TDEE will be at my goal weight. That way I will have already become adjusted to the quantity both physically and mentally. I can then either choose to eat a little more or exercise a little less once I reach goal weight and still be in the correct range of calories consumed.

bajoyba

Nope. My husband is super busy, so I usually cook dinner for us, and I'm almost always over at my mom's house in the evenings, so I often cook dinner for her and my dad as well. I cook enough food for everyone to eat, and we all eat the same thing. I use the recipe builder if I'm making something like a soup, chili, or sauce, and if it's a meal with lots of individual components (like tacos or pasta), I just use my food scale to be precise.

onefortyone

Thankfully we're losing weight together so we eat the same. I could never cook two separate meals, just don't have the patience or skill. But I have some tips for serving stews/casseroles/slow cooker stuff!

Before I start to cook, I know how many portions something's going to be based on how much I put in there - 8oz of meat, 12oz of potatoes, and a few cups of veggies is 2 servings, easy to just split in half. If I have 1lb of meat, I make 4 servings, and serve us half, and put the other half into a tupperware container. For 6+ portions, the scale is helpful for getting the containers/ serving bowls roughly even. I second the usage of the recipe builder also, so you can put in your 1 serving based on the whole recipe. So if you stay mindful about serving sizes and buy a bunch of tupperware, you won't have to cook separate meals

Ginger046

Its just me and my boyfriend and yeah almost everything is done differently. I have to eat gluten-free anyway though so we have to cook pastas etc separately! And he is so picky and doesnt want veggies! It just makes it easier! We usually have a variation of the same thing.. Like steak and chips but my chips are homemade - he cooks his in the fryer, and ill have some peas on the side! Or chicken and peppers ill have it with rice and salsa and he will have flour tortillas instead

Cause theres only 2 of us its fine but I think if I had kids too it would be more difficult!

Edit: Also I cook mine and he cooks his at the same time in the kitchen.. If he wants something different to me then he can make it and thats that! I dont cook 2 separate meals by myself every night!

La5Vega5Girl

i make one meal and everyone can eat it or starve. :devil:
there is no way to please everyone and i'm not breaking my back for 5 different dinners. no one has dared complain!
:laugh:

cwolfman13

I do. I just can't seem to figure out how to count my calories properly say if I make a large pot of stew and I have a portion, I don't know exactly how much of what is in there. Or sometimes people in my household get sick of my "diet food". It gets a bit time consuming sometimes> Does anybody else do this or just me? lol

This is where the recipe builder comes in very handy. And no...I don't make/eat separate from my family...who has time for that kind of nonsense? I am the cook in my household.

Ginger046

i make one meal and everyone can eat it or starve. :devil:
there is no way to please everyone and i'm not breaking my back for 5 different dinners. no one has dared complain!
:laugh:

Thats how I feel ahha! If you want something different then you can make it! Simple as that!

melimomTARDIS

I make one dinner for all of us, no one complains about the meals, which dont have the diet food look/feel.

The only one who gets "special" dinners is my son, who has a limited diet due to sensory issues. He typically has a sandwich and an apple instead.

Tonight I am making my kid's favorite frozen pizza, and we will all eat it.

threnjen

I did not read responses.

I use the recipe builder here on MFP. I weight every ingredient I put into the recipe. Then we serve using a measuring cup and I keep track of what goes out. So most of my recipes are in serving increments of "1 cup". Then after dinner I can enter in how many cups we got out of the pot and log it. And of course if I make the recipe the same every time, it's close to being accurate.

I don't make anyone special food. I am the cook so I decide what we eat, so I make things that I will eat lol. I usually just eat less of it if it's not super healthy, but usually I just make healthy stuff.

melimomTARDIS

i also use the recipe builder. If a recipe is too low in calories for my husband, I adjust his portion, add cheese/full fat dressing/sunflower seeds, or a serve with a glass of juice.

jonnyman41

mainly cook the same for the evening meal but I will have more veg and less potato/rice/pasta. For breakfast they all leave the house before me so that is different but would be anyway as they are porridge fans and I hate the stuff!!

Lunch is a packed lunch for hubby and son made by hubby so I do have different then as I make my own but probably use more or less the same ingredients, just less.

testepp

I only cook one meal a day, as I've switched my other two meals to RAW meal replacements, but it's currently my boyfriend, my mother, and myself and I'm the only one who cooks, hah. I use the recipe builder for things like soups and stews, though before I did basically the same thing just by hand. For solid portions (like, say, some chicken and rice), I just put those in individually in a meal.

Definitely portion out the food before eating it though. It's hard to eyeball a pot of stew! ;D I have gotten better at making three-person pots of stew, but even then I break it all down into three separate bowls of equal fill before anyone's allowed to eat. That way you know if your portioning is right or if you should go increase the portion amount in the recipe. It works for me, anyway.

jonnyman41

just to add when making stews/casseroles etc I estimate calories based on all ingredients used and then halfed/quartered etc as that is all you can ever do with a stew. It would be made for all of us but I would just have less or not have any extras like flat bread with it.

JustFindingMe

Yes and no..


I have made my sons aware that we are eating healthier and they are slowly trying new veggies and food combos they've never tried.

Eventually I hope to have us all eat the same meal :happy:

missdibs1

Sometimes Ido yes. It is easier sometimes

knittnponder

Sort of but it's because there are some foods that I can't eat due to allergies or intolerances. For example, I can't eat potatoes but they all can so if I'm making soup or something I'll separate mine from theirs before adding potatoes to it. I don't do "diet" food and have enough to do without cooking separate meals for everyone. If it's a logging issue I just do my best and try to get it "close enough".