{"id":41199,"date":"2015-07-07T07:15:30","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T11:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=41199"},"modified":"2022-04-27T07:56:37","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T11:56:37","slug":"diet-healthy-family-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/diet-healthy-family-meals\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Eat Healthy When Your Family Doesn’t"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019re ready to whip your diet into shape and start eating healthy<\/a>. You can just see your future \u2014\u00a0you\u2019ll be more energetic, happier and healthier. The only snag in your plan: Your family. Maybe it\u2019s your partner who isn\u2019t ready to give up the ice cream and chips or your kids who think veggies are the world\u2019s grossest foods.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a plight that registered dietitian and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson Sarah Krieger<\/a> hears too often. \u201cHaving your family on board is important to helping you reach your goals,\u201d she says. The good news is that it is possible get your household on track. And if they still refuse? Well, then we\u2019ll show you how to do it solo.<\/p>\n

How to Get Your Family to Eat Healthy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When your entire family has your back, health habits<\/a> are just easier. In one preliminary study<\/a>, dieters who participated in exercise and nutrition activities with two to seven friends or family members lost more weight and trimmed more belly fat, compared to those who were simply given information about how to lose weight. Do it with your family and you\u2019ve got a built-in cheerleading system that makes getting healthy way more fun.<\/p>\n

“Be a role model. Start living your healthy lifestyle\u00a0and don\u2019t talk about it or push the issue.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 7 Weight Loss Tips When the Scale Won\u2019t Budge<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, changing how everyone eats can be a challenge to say the least. \u201cBring up your goals in conversation with your family or partner at a neutral time \u2014 not meal time,\u201d says Krieger. Rather than saying things like, \u201cYou\u2019re making me eat this way\u201d or, \u201cI don\u2019t understand why you want to eat this crap,\u201d say \u201cI can\u2019t do this alone\u201d or \u201cI need your help.\u201d That can open up a conversation about how to build a healthier home<\/a> without making your loved ones feel like they\u2019re under attack.<\/p>\n

What to Do When Your Family Can\u2019t Quit Junk Food<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re in a salad state of mind<\/a>, but your partner is still on the \u201cLet\u2019s go out and order all\u2026the\u2026food<\/em>\u201d train, he or she may unintentionally sabotage your efforts. But if the chips and ice cream still lurking in your pantry are driving you insane, just make like Elsa and let it go.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 9 Bloggers Who Changed Their Lives One Post at a Time<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead of getting stressed or frustrated, tell your partner or kids that you want to eat healthy for you<\/em>, and that they don\u2019t have to participate. \u201cWe tell people that if you\u2019re ready but your house isn\u2019t, then be a role model. Start living your healthy lifestyle<\/a> and don\u2019t talk about it or push the issue,\u201d says Krieger. Even if they\u2019re reluctant at first, they\u2019ll often start to follow as they watch you \u2014 and see how great you feel.<\/p>\n

So if your partner or kids want to keep the cheese curls and nuggets around, let them. \u201cIt\u2019s not fair to say, \u2018You have to get that food out because I can\u2019t handle it,\u2019\u201d says Krieger. One practical way to deal: Keep the tempting foods<\/a> relatively hidden \u2014 store them in the cupboard, not on the countertop or front-row in the fridge. Read on for more tips on how to stick to your diet, no matter what your family does.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5 Tips for Eating Healthy\u00a0Family Meals<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Make meal prep a family activity. <\/strong>If your kids are just learning about the joys of fruits and veggies, or feel \u2018meh\u2019 about anything that doesn’t look like a slice of pizza, involve them in <\/span>meal planning and prep<\/a>. One person in your family can pick the meal for one night, and the other the next night, recommends Krieger.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 12 Brilliant Meal Prep Ideas to Free Up Your Time<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Avoid the \u201cH word.\u201d <\/strong>To expand your family\u2019s taste buds, pick out a new nutritious meal to try once or twice per week. \u201cBut don\u2019t call it healthy,\u201d says Krieger. The h-bomb can scare people away. Instead, describe tonight\u2019s dinner as a delicious<\/em> chicken stir-fry<\/a> or a yummy<\/em> meat pasta (that just happens to be made with zucchini noodles<\/a>).<\/p>\n

3. Go slow. <\/strong>\u201cSo many people want to make tons of changes at the same time, but these high expectations burn families out really quick,\u201d says Krieger, who offers healthy eating classes. \u201cIn my nine-week class, we make <\/span>one simple change per week,\u201d she adds. Maybe one week you swap <\/span>sugary cereals<\/a> for lower sugar options. Or you take two weeks to slowly <\/span>phase out sodas<\/a> and sweet teas. Enact a complete overhaul and there <\/span>will be <\/em>rebellion.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 30-Minute Meals for Quick, Healthy Dinner Ideas<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Recruit a new crew. <\/strong>If your partner or family won\u2019t join you, hook up with a different community. Online dieters who got more social support from others who logged on too lost more weight (at least 8 percent of their body weight) than those who were going it solo, according to a Northwestern University <\/span>study<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Don\u2019t give up. <\/strong>Not every meal will go perfectly. Your kids might tell you that whole-wheat bread tastes gross compared to white, or you might whip up a new low-cal recipe that\u2019s just not<\/em> a winner. Still, keep going \u2014\u00a0you and your entire family will benefit in the long run. Eating at least three meals per week as a family is associated with kids who eat more nutritious diets and are at a healthier weight, according to research<\/a> from the University of Illinois. Give it time \u2014 and your loved ones will follow. \u201cAs long as you\u2019re eating nutritious foods every day, you\u2019re winning,\u201d says Krieger.<\/p>\n

Not a Daily Burn member? Sign up at\u00a0dailyburn.com<\/a>\u00a0and start your free 30-day trial today.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to lose weight but can\u2019t resist the snacks in the pantry? Here\u2019s how to get your family on board with your diet \u2014 or how to work around them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":41202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,18],"tags":[41,51,341,343,285],"class_list":["post-41199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-weight-loss","tag-diets","tag-food-choices","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2exercise","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}