8 Steps to Eat Healthier as a Family
Getting the whole family to join you on a quest to healthier eating can seem impossible. With different tastes and preferences and a reluctance for change, it can feel like a losing battle to get your family to make healthier choices along with you. Healthy eating as a family doesn’t have to be a losing battle - here are some ways to make eating healthy easier for you and the whole family!
1. Add more fruits and veggies to the fridge
Having healthier options available may be enough to make the family reach for them. Gradually begin swapping unhealthier snacks and treats with healthier options, like replacing one box of single-serve chips with a bag of apples each week. Having healthier options out and available helps us feel more inclined to eat them. Pure Plates offers lots of veggie options!
2. Use health-forward language
You may be wanting to eat healthier because you’re concerned about you and your family’s weight or health. Instead of framing the topic of your new healthy eating plan as an attempt to get everyone to lose weight or look better, focus on health-forward language. Telling the family you’re concerned about their habits, their weight, or another aspect of their health can make them feel defensive and rebellious towards your healthy eating efforts. Instead, talk about how you want to eat more fruits and veggies because they make you feel energized and focused, or you want to try new whole grains because they keep you fuller longer.
3. Schedule regular meals
Eating healthier is easy when we have a game plan or a schedule to stick to. We often resort to convenience options because we’re crunched for time and drained of energy. Scheduling regular meals helps you always have an idea of what to make and when you need to make it. Using a healthy meal prep delivery service like Pure Plates makes regular meals all the easier. You can order your meals to be delivered at a time that works for you, and have healthy options already prepared and ready to go when you need them.
4. Keep it simple
Popular culture makes it seem like healthy eating means fancy powders, expensive ingredients, and exotic fruits. The truth is, healthy eating as a family doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep things simple by having some tried and true sources of proteins, healthy fats, complex carbs, and fruits and veggies at the ready. Low-sodium canned goods and bulk-purchased rice and oats can be stretched far for less money. Pure Plates focuses on simple but healthy and delicious ingredients, providing balanced meals that don’t break the bank with exotic and confusing ingredients. If you’re struggling to find simple, tasty, and healthy meals, try getting them delivered!
5. Cut back on sugar
Sugar is one of the leading contributors to the United State’s growing health concerns. Added sugars are in just about everything, and can be disguised under different names. Replace one sugary drink per day with water to start, and try using natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup in place of table sugar. Understanding how to read ingredient labels for sugars can help you make healthier choices at the grocery, too.
6. Reduce the sodium
The bulk of our sodium consumption comes from restaurant, convenience, and packaged foods - not from the salt shaker on the dinner table! Help your family reduce their sodium consumption by buying more whole foods like grains, fruits, lean proteins, and vegetables. Purchase Low-Sodium or No Sodium Added products when possible. Salt is used as a flavor enhancer and a preservative, making our sodium consumption sky-rocket past the recommendations. Because our meals are prepared and delivered fresh, Pure Plates is a food delivery service that does not rely on extreme amounts of salt to keep our food tasting good. By allowing us to help you feed your family, you can be confident they’re not over-doing it on salt.
7. Involve everyone in the kitchen
Involving the family in the food purchasing and preparation process can help them be more accepting of new foods. Have the younger kids pick out a fruit or vegetable to try each week at the grocery, and give kids age-appropriate tasks in the kitchen. Have your spouse or significant other be supportive of trying new foods, and be honest when something doesn’t turn out the way you expected. This teaches kids that healthy eating doesn’t have to taste bad, and it’s okay for some things to not taste as great as we hoped.
8. Disguise healthy foods in something the family already loves
If your family struggles a lot with getting on board with healthier eating, you may need to get creative. Adding veggies to dishes you already know they enjoy is one easy way to get the family to eat healthier. Mash some steamed cauliflower into your mashed potatoes, or add some peas or broccoli to your mac and cheese. Kids won’t be able to taste spinach added to smoothies, and sprinkling a few chocolate chips into some oatmeal can entice reluctant kiddos to eat a more balanced breakfast.
Healthy eating as a family can feel daunting at first. Attempting to satisfy everyone’s tastes, introduce them to new foods, and convince them to change their habits is difficult! Gradually making small changes to your meals can lead to a long-lasting impact; it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing approach to healthier meals. Using a meal delivery service can also be a part of your healthy eating changes, especially if your family is always busy. Pure Plates can help you feed your family healthier meals by allowing you to order balanced dishes that use whole, healthy, and nourishing ingredients without the excess sodium, sugar, saturated fats, or refined carbohydrates. There are plenty of meals and snacks to choose from, with something to meet the entire family’s taste.