By: Sheila Johnson of wellshelia.net
When your family has a schedule that’s packed with activities, it can be easy to reach for the quickest option to feed them each day. However, opting for fast food and processed snacks can take a toll on your family’s long-term health, and you all may end up with less energy to get you through the day. So how can you make changes to your family’s eating habits for good? Today, Keto Kooking invites you to check out these simple tricks and tips.
Know Why Healthy Meals are Important
The way we eat has a direct impact on our bodies, minds, and emotional states. It influences our stress levels, while also affecting depression, anxiety, and our mental health. A balanced diet can go a long way to helping us feel good emotionally as well as physically. In addition to eating healthier foods, children also need to learn how to have healthier relationships with those foods. Stress and emotional pain can often lead to cravings for fast food and binge eating, so avoid modeling these behaviors for your children. Teach them to use healthy foods as fuel for a healthier life.
Talk to Your Kids About Healthier Choices
If you make changes to your family’s diet, especially if they are used to eating a certain way, there may be push back. Kidspot suggests that you can keep the complaints to a minimum by talking to your kids about why eating more veggies, fruits, and healthy foods is so important. By teaching your little ones about fresh fruits and vegetables, you can get them excited about the changes. To really drive those lessons home, try reading about healthy foods, or use a game or app that teaches children about healthy eating.
Provide Options to Keep Kids (and Pets) Healthy and Happy
Kids like to feel in control, so allow your children to pick a couple of healthy choices for each meal. Otherwise, they may react badly and simply refuse to eat. You can also have kids help with the grocery shopping. When you go shopping for healthy, fresh foods, bring your children along to your favorite produce shop, and let them pick out some healthy produce. Kids are much more likely to eat a veggie they helped pick out at the grocery store. Additionally, optimize your kitchen so that you only have healthy snacks and water on hand for when hunger strikes.
Don’t leave out your furry friends, either. These days, you can find healthy, sustainably-sourced pet foods that can be delivered right to your home. For instance, if you’re looking for all beef dog food, try this option!
Let the Kids Make a Snacking Garden
If your children eat veggies from the grocery store, think about how much they’ll love to eat healthy snacks that they grew themselves. Let them choose what to grow, help with the planting, watering, and checking for weeds daily. You’ll want to grow an organic garden so you don’t have to worry about your kids picking and munching on these snacks with the risk of getting sick.
Visit Healthy Restaurants
A time will come when you all want to go out to breakfast, lunch or dinner. To ensure you all stay on track, focus on local fare that’s known for providing healthy meals. For example, look for Mediterranean or vegetarian restaurants if you want to try something new, or focus on healthier options at your favorite haunts. Adults should avoid alcohol to limit empty calories, but if a cocktail sounds refreshing, opt for a spritzer or spirits with soda water.
Cook Balanced Meals with Your Kids
Another way to encourage your family to eat better is to cook together. When kids get to help make those healthy meals, they may be more eager to try new things, and they will be more excited about eating the final product. Be patient since this will be new to them. To keep your stress levels down, try to plan out each recipe. This will allow you to assign roles to your helpers, and will diffuse any chaos.
Also, make sure everyone wears old clothes or aprons to prevent stains and messes. When you do choose a recipe, try to pick something that has at least one thing your child enjoys. They may hate zucchini but love the tomatoes and cheese that go into a healthy zucchini dish.
Changing your family’s snack and mealtime habits can take time and patience. And it’s never too soon to start! Encourage your family to eat healthier and help out with those healthy choices to keep everyone energized and ready to face the day.
Keto Kooking is devoted to sharing information surrounding a keto friendly diet, intermittent fasting, and metabolic health. If you have any questions, please scroll down to leave a comment!
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