My Family Really Won't Go for the Healthy Lifestyle Stuff

You've finally mustered the motivation to DO THIS! You've made a schedule for when you're going to work out, you've started to think about what you're going to start eating...and then BAM, something hits you that you'd forgotten about.  Is my family going to go for eating healthy like I am?  If the thought, "oh well, I'll just eat healthy by myself" goes through your head ERASE IT!!!

If you live by yourself, then you really don't have to worry about it -because you're only buying food to feed you.  If you're married, have kids, etc. then there's absolutely no reason why the rest of your family can't change their eating habits right along with you.

"There's no way my husband's going to give up his junk food".  Have you sat down and spoken to him about it?  Have you told him that eating healthy doesn't mean giving up the foods he loves - it just means preparing them different?  Have you tried telling him that he can still eat pizza, steak, even fried chicken - it will just be cooked different, still taste great, but be really good for him.  None of those reasons work?  Then tell him that you want to be healthy, you want him to be healthy with you, and if he really loves you then he'll at least give it a try - that's right, go for the kill with pure guilt.  You do what you gotta do!

"My kids will stop eating if I try to feed them healthy food."  If this is your excuse - SHAME ON YOU!!  I don't say that without having been there.  I was one of those people that allowed my kids to eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.  When I told them there would be no more junk in the house - they adjusted...no whining, no fighting, no threats of not eating that's for sure.  They still have snack foods, but rather than a bag of chips, cookies or candy - they enjoy eating string cheese, granola bars, and fat-free/sugar free jello and pudding.  They also really enjoy dinner time.  They tell me that the food is delicious, they often ask if we can have the same thing again, and if there's something they don't like - we compromise as a family to either not eat it again, or change it the next time. 

Yeah, all of this is easy for me to say because I'm engaged to a man that LOVES to cook - and really enjoys the healthy foods that we've prepared.  Don't think, though, that in the beginning it was easy.  When I told him, once again, I was going to try and lose weight - I got the rolling of the eyes.  Then, when I told him that I expected to whole family to eat the foods that I was eating I got "yeah, right" from him.  I asked him to at least give me a week to prove that it wouldn't be so bad. He agreed.  That was 7 months ago, and now our household wouldn't have it any other way.  It was like my fiance had won the jackpot - he could use fresh ingredients, put his creative cooking skills to the test, and he now enjoys preparing food more than he ever has before.  He's not the only one.  I was never a real fan of cooking - that was one of the things that attracted me to my fiance...he loved to cook, I didn't... DONE!!  Since our lifestyle change, however, I have also started spreading my creative wings and exploring the endless kitchen possibilities.  We now divide up the cooking responsibilities - and we both enjoy preparing the dinners our family will eat. 

Now, there are a few things that you can agree to - or should I say, be forced in to.  I will use my fiance as an example.  He LOVES Big Red Soda.  I knew that it would be a cold day in Hell before he'd agree to the "no soda" rule.  I hate Big Red, so that wasn't an issue for me.  Every once in a while he wants chips and dip to snack on.  I was very opposed to this - but he's a healthy weight, I couldn't really use the "you could lose a few pounds yourself" excuse.  How did we compromise?  When he buys stuff like that - and it's not very often - he keeps his stuff locked up and away from me.  There's been occasions when he's bought some Reese's (the only chocolate he likes) but I don't even get a smell of them, because he locks them away.  If there are things that your hubby just absolutely WILL NOT give up - compromise to have him store his "goodies" in a place that you can't see them or get to them.  If you are the type of person that will break open a lock to get to the loot - then make him enjoy his stuff away from the house.  There are always ways to compromise - you just have to sit down and discuss these things.  If you're truly serious, he should be willing to support you and at least try and make the transition as comfortable as possible for you. 

One way to ensure better success for your family's transition is to do the meal plan and the grocery shopping yourself.  If the food's not there for them to eat, then they can't eat it.  If you prepare the meal, chances are the family isn't going to boycott you and refuse to eat....especially when they smell the wonderful aromas that healthy foods have.  If they do try to boycott you - DON'T GIVE IN!!! Start out by preparing foods that aren't too complicated, or aren't too obviously healthy.  If your the kind of family that eats steak, pizza and fried chicken a lot, don't start trying to feed your family fresh fish, salads, or chicken breast and brown rice.  Start out with preparing the foods they love, cooked healthy, and see what they have to say about it.  The only differences between a "bad pizza" and a "good pizza" is the crust, switching the cheese from full fat to fat-free, and not piling it with pepperoni - but using stuff like turkey or chicken and fresh veggies.  Rather than frying a steak, try cooking it on the grill.  I will post the recipe for "fried chicken" in the recipe section - so you will have that covered too.  Once they start to see that the transition isn't as bad as they thought, you can then start presenting to them other foods that are equally as yummy and even more healthy.

If you have a problem that I haven't covered, please post it in the comments - I will help you through it.

So, that's it for "Smack in the Face" week.  I hope that the posts shared this week have been a wake up call for you.  Tomorrow, I will give my boot camp replay for the week.  Sunday, I will announce the winner of "member of the week" from my Facebook page, and share how my week has been.  I am 3lbs away from losing 50lbs.  It was a goal to try and shed those pounds this week - you can tune in Sunday to see if I reached the goal...or if I have to wait another week.

Till next time.  ;)