My mission is supporting mommas on a mission to nourishing themselves and their families with healthy foods, movement and self care tools to thrive in life, not just to survive. However, sometimes the struggle is real when you are implementing healthy foods and behaviors into your home. I see so many moms throw in the towel on healthy eating and cave into making two different meals. It doesn't have to be this way. The goal is to make healthy food that everyone will eat. It takes time patience and practice. Here are 7 ways I implemented healthy into my family. I hope they work for you!
1. Be The Change.
Healthy eating all starts with you, Momma. Kids are influenced more by what they see than what you say. Show them by leading by example. The healthy food has to be familiar and normal to them. You can't run out of cookies and expect them to grab the celery sticks. Have the foods available on a regular basis, not just when you are on your health kick but all of the time.
2. Eat Dinner Together.
Dinners cooked at home and eaten together provide nourishment both on and off the plate. We get so busy with extra activities that we
forget the importance of sitting together and really connecting. It's a time to hear about your children's lives, to connect and to actively listen. This in itself can provide so much more nourishment than the actual food you are eating on your plate.
3. Small Steps.
Change doesn't happen over night. It takes practice. If I asked you to start brushing your teeth with your left hand instead of your right hand it would take time getting used to the change right? Brushing your teeth with your right hand doesn't take much effort at all because it's a habit. This is the same for any time you are making a change. The small steps are what leads to the biggest transformations. Give it time. Don't give up just because they didn't like the broccoli one night. Introduce it another way. Start with small steps.
4. Sneak It in on them.
I implemented healthier eating by making upgrades to the foods we were already eating. I added onions, peppers, avocado, tomatoes and green peppers to my pasta sauce. I made muffins with fruits and veggies in them. I added in the good stuff without them even noticing. And in my case, most of the time my husband is more of the challenge than my son for making healthy choices, so if he didn't notice then all was good.
5. Involve Them in the Process.
The more you involve your kids in the process the more likely they will be to try new healthy foods. Involve them in the meal planning, the grocery shopping, the prepping all of it. Get them inspired to enjoy being in the kitchen.
6. Empower them with Choice.
Come from a place of love. Your goal is to develop a healthy relationship with food. A healthy relationship with food supports your kids in learning a healthy balance. The occasional french fries for lunch doesn't have to be followed up with a salad and no dressing because you are eating from a place of guilt, judgement or deprivation. It's making an empowered choice that comes from a place of self love. Get them to keep a food mood journal so they can see for themselves how they feel when they eat certain foods. Get them to understand how powerful food is in how they feel. The choices to eat healthy are more likely to stick if it is their idea, and not yours, Mom.
7. Educate them.
Tell them why you eat the way you do. Tell them the benefits of certain foods. Which foods give you energy, which foods are brain foods, which foods help your skin and your hair etc. Teach them how to read labels and to understand what they are putting in their body and how it works.
What are your secrets to getting your family to eat healthy? Share in the comments below.