All in the Family

Jenn writes - I also have two little ones (6 and almost 4) and they are big on their sweets and bread... which I want to reverse but their Grandma makes it difficult... she's a true Grandma in that she spoils them with all kinds of treats every time we go! I love her but I wish I could get her on the bandwagon and have her serve “veggie treats” instead :) Any tips on how to start again and stay with it this time?? And how to get the hubs & kids on board or at least start making steps to get them on board?

Ah yes…assimilation.  How do you tell your lovely cooperative eager to do whatever you say children and husband ‘we are eating healthy from now on and you have to like it or else?’ – well, you don’t.  You can't really change others, you can only change yourself.



We eat meatloaf in this house - you Meathead!



I have a husband and an 18 year old daughter and we are were a meat and potatoes family.  Casseroles, roasts, stews, corned beef and cabbage, oh yes ma’am.  Maybe a salad or roasted veggies once in a while but none of that diet stuff! 

So, I started The Perfect 10 Diet on my own.  I made them the usual stuff, and then went a little lighter with the cooking as time went on.  I’d cook chicken and vegetables and I’d put mine on greens and they got some white rice with it.  Then, I slowly started making changes, a little at a time.  I’d change the rice for quinoa or substitute mashed cauliflower for potatoes.  I roasted a lot of veggies the first few weeks, trying many different ones and seeing what was a hit.  Believe it or not, the Brussels sprouts are the favorite.  Now, they eat what I eat and they don't even know what hit them.

AND FOR PETE’S SAKE – don’t tell them what’s in it!  We moms know that’s an automatic EEEEUUUUWWWW!  Mashed cauliflower is ‘mashies’, turkey burgers are ‘burgers’, etc. 

Most likely, your young children are not overweight so don’t put them on Stage 1 – have them start at Stage 3.  They are growing and need the nourishment.  Have them help you make good stuff – talk about how good it is and how it helps you feel good too.  (If they’ll fall for that).  And remember – they have Human Growth Hormone and other factors in their favor because of their youth so they don’t need to have super strict compliance to Perfect 10.  Heck, just cutting back on the sugar and bread they eat will do them a lot of good.  Every little bit helps.

Do your best to make sure that most of their meals are healthy.  Yes, they’ll get into stuff with Grandma and at school and such, but if you can control their breakfast, or pack their lunch and get their dinner most of the time, you’re still ahead of the game.  If you know you’re going someplace with a lot of treats, fill them up with good stuff first to head some of it off at the pass.  Besides, if you restrict them totally from their ‘treats’ then you might end up with a kid who won’t learn how to control themselves when confronted with that sort of thing.

Well, that’s my two cents.  My family is different from yours, so this might work and it might not.  But most of all DO THIS FOR YOURSELF - and maybe they’ll follow – and maybe they won’t.  But hopefully as time goes on they’ll see how well it works and want to be a part of it.