eating right
jessejames22
Posts: 1
how does one being to eat right and yet make it fun for the whole family while trying to keep a decent weight??
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Replies
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It's not easy. I have two toddlers and the reality is that they need different food than I do. I have a momma cat who got big when I fed her kitten food - it's been 7 years and she still hasn't lost her baby weight. I was doing the same thing
I like the Ab Diet Cookbook for me - it's quick recipies that I can pull together for me and my husband so it's not too much work making different things for the kids and the adults.
Or I'll make a meal for the kids that I can have pieces of and supplement with adult food - like I'll make them chicken breast and mac & cheese and I'll have a salad with chicken on it and a small serving of M&C. Or make minestrone for me and pull out some chicken and pasta for them.
Weight Watchers also has some great cookbooks with kid-friendly options.
And I like the Annabel Karmel cookbooks for babies and families.0 -
Honestly, I don't push my healthy eating on the kids (or my husband) as much as I should. I know I should, but I'm starting slowly with them. I make sure they have fruit at every meal and try to get a veggie in them once a day. They are four and 2.5 and very stubborn. Sometimes I hold out because I know they'll eat eventually. I also started buying things they DO like in orgranic. They really haven't noticed that switch.0
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Our house is pretty interesting at meal time. I'm a vegetarian, my husband most definitely isn't and my DD is a picky (oh no did that food touch the other food????) 2 year old. Everybody gets the same veggie/fruit and carb, and I switch out the protein for me. We take it easy on the sauces as hubby and I don't need them and DD doesn't like them (unless she can dip lol). I find veggies go down easier if they aren't repeated too much in one week.
We keep everything pretty simple. We've learned a lot about spicing foods to bring out their natural flavours. Here's a great chart to get you going http://adventuresinspice.com/usechart/usechart.html.
Also, if your babies are at the right stage, I found some fresh veggies go down way better then cooked and vice versa. DD will eat steamed spinach, but not raw, and raw peppers but not cooked. Play around see what works.0 -
Our house is pretty interesting at meal time. I'm a vegetarian, my husband most definitely isn't and my DD is a picky (oh no did that food touch the other food????) 2 year old. Everybody gets the same veggie/fruit and carb, and I switch out the protein for me. We take it easy on the sauces as hubby and I don't need them and DD doesn't like them (unless she can dip lol). I find veggies go down easier if they aren't repeated too much in one week.
We keep everything pretty simple. We've learned a lot about spicing foods to bring out their natural flavours. Here's a great chart to get you going http://adventuresinspice.com/usechart/usechart.html.
Also, if your babies are at the right stage, I found some fresh veggies go down way better then cooked and vice versa. DD will eat steamed spinach, but not raw, and raw peppers but not cooked. Play around see what works.
yummy, cool chart! I so wasn't trained to cook... so I'm figuring it out as I go along (25 years old atm) would like to add that pork tastes good with cinnamon.. I know it my sound odd, but pork's good with some other "sweet" stuff too.. I discovered the cinnamon one night when I put "pepper" on mine except it was the extra pepper shaker which had been converted to a cinnamon/sugar shaker for my junker of a man lol. It was good though, I was just glad it didn't ruin it!0 -
Nutmeg is awesome with a number of surprising things, including steak, and tarragon is the best kept secret in your spice cupboard - eggs, chicken, tuna salad, etc.0
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From the beginning with my daughter I have fed her a healthy diet. Mine was crap, but hers was good. Now that I am eating healthy as well it's a one meal deal. She gets smaller portions but we are all eating the same meal. I personally don't think it's benefiting anyone to make different meals for kids than adults (unless there is an allergy or medical reason). If you are eating a healthy and varied diet then your kids should be able to share it with you. I have found that my daughter eats TONS of veggies and fruits and tries foods that my friends children won't touch. Things that I wouldn't have eaten as a kid (was raised on hamburger helper and McDonald's). My friends that try serving their kids different foods instead of making one healthy balanced meal for everyone (that they can then model eating with) all have picky kids that complain about the food. Honestly, I have a ton of different cookie cutters. I will cut food into fun shapes, play with things like color and texture. Sometimes do something they think is wacky (like using apple slices instead of bread for a sunflower butter sandwich). I find that my daughter likes foods that are hands on; Things she can peel herself (like oranges and bananas) or things that she can dip (like veggies and hummas). If your kids aren't used to eating health you could try hiding them in something (like cauliflower mashed potatoes) as well as offering them the real deal. Also, SMOOTHIES are always a huge hit. My daughter will drink a smoothie like it's going out of style. Some plain yogurt, fruit, spinach...the possibilities are endless and sometimes she has fun getting to pick her ingredients for a smoothie! The big rules about food in my house are 1. I'm not a short order cook, we all eat the same meal 2. You don't have to eat it all, you don't have to like it, but you have to try it. (This is how I got my daughter to fall in love with brussels sprouts).0
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It is hard, but once both of kids were old enough to eat table food they have always ate the exact same dinner we are eating. They are 4.5 and 1.5 yrs old now and it has been getting more difficult lately. It seems they are both going through a picky phase at the same time and don't eat all that much and the baby basically has been refusing all vegetables. It can be very frustrating. But we always provide the same food, even we don't think he is going to touch it...because he might surprise us. The older one takes forever to eat and we have to coax her to make a "happy plate." That is the phrase they use at school when children finish their whole plate and for some reason it works!
Once in a while we have to do a substitute, like if we are forgoing a standard veggie side for a salad, I'll will offer some salad to them but more often than not they only eat a little so they get some fruit on the side instead. And last night we tried a different flavor couscous and the older one didn't care for it. She tried it and didn't like it. She had some leftover mac and cheese from a restaurant the night before last, so I let her have some of that instead. But of course I had to also give some to the baby b/c you can't give it to one without the other having a fit if they don't get it too. However the baby ate up all the new couscous, some M&C, all the pork, some mandarin oranges...... and maybe ate 2 green beans. Ugh...so frustrating!
And poor hubby.....sometimes he cooks without my supervision and I come in and say, "Um, where's the veggie?" He doesn't think it is always needed, but I know if I didn't insist he would barely eat any at all!
Oh, and portion control is the biggest thing. We don't exactly follow a super healthy, organic, sort of style. We like comfort foods and filling foods. But I try to get wheat pasta, wheat bread, lower sodium items, and lots of fruits and veggies that are easy to eat as snacks. But if I filled my plate the way my husband does, it wouldn't matter how healthy any of the stuff is. It would add up and the results are my weight is not budging.0
