Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Little Steps to Eating Right..



Okay, it's not easy. It's been a roller coaster for me to eat right. It's especially bad when you have such a big family to cater to and it's been a really huge challenge for me to make them adjust to healthier food choices. We have made some good changes. My kids were big juice drinkers and really didn't care for the water. Well, hubby bought a water cooler a couple of months ago and so now that's all they want to drink, which is okay with me. Then we eat salad mostly every night as a side salad or sometimes as the full meal, topped with chicken, fish or steak. I had a few problems at first with my two oldest ones, that would say things like "I hate eating like rabbits!" and "I feel like I'm eating grass!" LOL! After a while, they just got used to it because they knew that if they didn't eat it, they didn't eat nothing. I still make the same things for them that I used to but I have had to learn how to portion them better and try to substitute to make it a more healthier meal.

There are many times that I make my favorite dish, usually high in fat but I downsize it. The challenge is when I can't get enough and I see everyone else enjoying but I'm limiting. There are days that I can be content with what I've eaten but then there are those that I want more. I guess there are always going to be those kinds of days...

I have made some steps in my eating. For breakfast, I will usually eat healthy...A bowl of oatmeal and fruit instead of eating nothing. For lunch, salad and soup or a sandwich with all the fixin's instead of a fast food lunch. My snacks have changed, as well. My snacks used to consist of Doritos, chocolate cake, chocolate bars and ice cream. Now the snacks I eat are fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, granola bars, light string cheese and microwaved pepperonis. Whenever I get a the infamous sweet tooth, JELLO is where it's at with a little whipped cream on top!

I'm hoping to keep this up. I have to.

What are some healthy changes you have adjusted to since eating right?

1 comments:

Mrs. O said...

I laughed when you wrote "they just got used to it because they knew that if they didn't eat it, they didn't eat nothing". That was my mom's strategy when we were growing up. Needless to say, I love to try new foods because I'm afraid I'll go hungry! LOL

Ingrid Hoffman (from Food Network's Simply Delicioso) was on Dr. Oz yesterday and she was giving some really good advice for changing the family's eating habits. Start slow. She had a recipe for cole slaw with mayo and she exchanged 1/2 the mayo with plain greek yogurt; a burger with 1/2 beef and 1/2 turkey. She said you start small (change 1/4 of the recipe, then 1/2, etc.) and slowly make the change larger as your taste buds adjust to the new changes.

You can limit everyone's portions so you don't feel like you're missing out, remembering that tweens and teenagers, as well as men, need more calories than women do (200 to 400 more). When I portion my hubby's dinner, I always give him an extra ounce of meat so he has the right amount of calories. If they are getting enough fiber (salads, veggies) they won't feel hungry.

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