Is it harder to cook for your family, when your on a diet?

rixzchick

It can be, depending on the flexibility of your family.

Personally, my husband is really thin and has such a fast metabolism that he can consume countless calories and not gain a damn pound. I swear I smell food, and manage to gain weight. Currently, our god children are staying with us, so the generic meal plan has been to cook them dinner first, then after I finish the dishes, I embark on the "adult dinner".

Their ages are 22 months, 3 years, and 6 years old, so much of the food is either over their head, or not as appetizing.

I pack my husband high-calorie lunches, and make sure he has a high-calorie breakfast. So by dinner, the meal we share together (I'm a housewife) I make something healthy in between 200-500 calories.

This set up works for us, since while our food is cooking, I'm bathing the kids and getting them settled with a movie before bed, and have 2 of them down to sleep by the time hubby is home, and they're generally all down by the time dinner is ready.

verptwerp

no. i eat what they eat, but make a carb (rice/potato) for them

if they don't like the protein/veg i make, tough.

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this, mostly ...... and I always have lots of veggies and/or salad as well :drinker:

JeSuisPrest

For dinner they eat what I eat, but don't tell them the recipes are healthier than what I used to serve for dinner!

casperuk

No they eat what I eat. Being 14 and 12 means they eat it or starve. Yay.

jessicae1aine

Nope - we eat what I cook, and if someone has a problem with it they are welcome to go cook their own food. (That, for the record, NEVER happens.) If they need more calories, they can eat larger portions - but likely, they don't need significantly more calories than what you're eating, either, unless you're eating way under your BMR.

danger_kitteh

No, we all eat the same thing. There is no such thing as diet meals in our house. I make healthy meals for everyone and we start every dinner with a salad. Since I am the cook and do the grocery shopping, you can take it or leave it. That goes for even the smallest one in the house.

quoted for simplicity. my husband gets a slightly larger portion than i do, but the three of us all eat the same foods. my son won't eat a salad yet - he's open to the idea, but is still trying to find a dressing he likes, so he usually gets extra veggies with his dinner.

LisaBeateith2012

I have found that the word "diet" is the best way for me to fall off that way of eating. I've made a life change and am eating healthier, not to lose weight specifically, but to be healthier for life. I cook the way we should all be eating, and as others have posted before me in reply to your question, I just eat smaller portions of what I make. I'm learning how to season vegetables with spices and not salt, making them quite delicious. You might find it easier to just make the same food for everyone in your family and if you find yourself REALLY wanting to enjoy a hotdog or burger or whatever it is you really miss, have a meal once a month that includes that food. You will likely find that the longer you spend eating healthier, the less your body craves the foods that aren't the best fuel for our bodies.


EXACTLY THIS!!!:happy:

Leiki

I cook something everyone can eat, and an additional dish for people who need more calories. For example, yesterday, I made lentil tacos (delicious). Mine was lentils and salsa in a lettuce shell. My bf had corn tortillas, and chicken in addition to what I had.

paint_it_black

No, my weightloss doesn't mean I need to cook different meals. My kids are small freaks of nature and love trying new foods, right now i've been tasked with cooking octopus, snails and soft shelled crab (not all at once). If they want to try it fine, but you won't see me eating a snail anytime soon, so i need to make something different for myself

SPNLuver83

Nope not at all. They eat what I eat.

Go to skinnytaste.com Lots and lots of yummy meals everyone can enjoy.

SPNLuver83

Nope not at all. They eat what I eat.

Go to skinnytaste.com Lots and lots of yummy meals everyone can enjoy.

sthrnchick

It is just me and my 10 year son....so I dont have a huge family to contend with...but he eats EXACTLY what I eat. I think you need to look at it not as a "diet"...but a healthier lifestyle, which any member of your family can benefit from.

dnunny

We usually all eat the same thing; I might just skip the noodles, rice etc. I also measure what I eat. My boys love fruit, so that's an easy one. They also like salad (lettuces, cucumbers, carrots). They have the ranch, I don't.

Tomorrow night we're having stuffed bell peppers--we all will eat it!

Rhea30

Yes! Everyone in my family seems to hate veggies and fruit, but they are lucky. They're not overweight

Pimpmonkey

I'm lucky, if they want to eat, they'll eat what I cook!

MelMena

Well, I try to cook something that everyone will like. I might have 3 different sides going and 2 meats but it is all healthy and whatever is left over will always be eaten. It doesn't bother me and I like having a nice variety.

ninerbuff

No - I cook the same for everyone. Most of our problems were eating too much and snacking so still have some of the same food as before just smaller portions.

This. There really is no need to change your cooking. It's the portions that everyone eats that's the issue.

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WhoTheHellIsBen

Nope its actually quite easy, I used to cook for my ex's family and they loved it all the while I produced healthy meals that worked for me. Try Italian seasoned Panko crusted Talapia with a side of grilled lemon, garlic extra virgin olive oil marinated asparagus, and a baked sweet potato. This is a super healthy, super colorful, and cheap meal thats easy to create on a large level

wookiemouse

We all eat the same. I'm not going to serve them crap while I eat healthy. I spent a long time trying new dishes that were good for us health-wise AND tasty. That's pretty much my rotation now. We don't keep sodas or junk food in the house either. Since I'm the shopper and the cook, it's my responsibility to provide for them and I take that very seriously.

mumof5

why would you cook "really good fattening meals" for your family?? i dont believe in diets, i believe in a healthy life style, so yes, my five children and hubby eat almost the same as i do. i do add some pasta to their meals and milo to their milk, and they have some wholesome home made cookies more than i do, and they put more peanut butter on a sandwich, but i thinks its my duty to teach them to eat well right from the day they were born.

Shrinking_Moody

My husband actually cooks and is trying to gain weight and build mass - but I can say that in the process we are trying to eat better so that sort of makes it easier. We are both trying to shoot for lean proteins and veggies - he just needs to eat more of them than I do.

bikinibeliever

Not for me. They eat what I cook. Period! It helps that the kids are not picky at all. Husband loves everything I make and isn't picky either. I think he's just happy I'm not calling and telling him to stop at McDonalds on his way home from work every day. :laugh:

Athijade

Nope, those in my household eat the same as me or they can buy and cook their own meals. This is NOT a diet, it's a lifestyle change so this is how I will always eat. I make leaner versions of our favorites or just watch my portions (aka 1 portion of pasta with baked chicken parm instead of fried chicken parm with a plate full of pasta).

Rosa1213

I don't have a family, just a roommate.
I usually cook something for both of us and I'll just have a smaller portion.

It helps that she has ZERO knowledge of cooking, so I do most of the cooking in our apartment, and I opt for healthier things

sistasledge101

I eat a lot of lean cuisine meals for myself, because its just easier, to count how many calories i'm actually consuming.

I think you are doing yourself a disservice by not making yourself real food. a chicken breast with vegetables has the same amount of calories but isnt processed. My husband loves fatty foods but for the most part he has started eating what I do. Lean meats with vegetables,salad on the side. Every once in a while he will have something different than me, but not often.

pamfm

I don't have any little ones, but I cook the same thing for my husband and myself. I just eat less of it than he does, and with some meals, he adds to his plate toast, cheese, or something else that I leave out to keep within my goals. If dinner includes something dense and fatty, like baked mac and cheese, I usually make a good veggie side, like kale or broccoli to go with it, and I make sure my serving of mac and cheese is only about 1 to 1.5 cups, and then load up on the veggies.

You'll have a hard time moving back to maintaining and getting off of the Lean Cuisine if you haven't gotten used to cooking healthy meals for yourself and the whole family. You can't always eat separately. The good news: there's no time like the present! Maybe start with one dinner per week that you cook to eat with everyone else, then up it to two, three, and so on, until you are always eating healthy portions of your good home-cooked food!

to_the_surface

do you find it harder to cook for your family, when you are on a diet.? i used to cook really good, fattening meals for my family before i started my diet. now its harder, cuz i sort of eat my own diet food, so i have to make different food for me and then cook something for my husband and kids. i wish we could all eat the same things. but they need more calories than i do. what about you.

As long as the focus is on the word "diet" it will be a lot harder than what it should be. Change doesn't happen overnight and, contrary to public opinion, people in general are reluctant to change.

Tips:
Using substitutes (whole or part) when possible for your current recipes/meals (sugar with honey, butter with margarine, eggs with egg substitutes, skim milk, sodas with water, etc).
Try the oven instead of frying.
Try using water and/or veg or chicken stock for searing instead of oil.
Try smaller portions.

Every now and then introduce a new recipe from the super healthy menu, see what feedback you get. Again, you'd be impressed that many foods/recipes you'd have thought "no way they'll go for that" are actually well received. Imagine the effect over a year of having just a couple of meals a week replaced by a super healthy/nutritious recipe.

Little changes are more likely to be sustainable in the long term, family is more likely to embrace them, and over time will become effortless to maintain. Fad diets are the exact opposite: beginning with the word "diet", hard to sell, hard to keep, and hard to convince others to join.

ShannonMpls

I'm not on a diet, but I do eat healthy meals - and so does my family. Actually what we cook hasn't changed a whole lot. If it's a particularly caloric meal, I just decrease what I eat the rest of the day.

tee0727

I still cook the same for everyone, I just try not to have more than 2 servings. Sometimes 1 serving is enough for me depending on what it is that I have cooked.