Tips for Making Food Changes

Making food changes can be difficult

However, be gentle with yourself and your family because it can take time. If you need a little reassurance, read the book Atomic Habits. It can help you make the changes you want and let them last.

Start with these tips: 

1. Start slowly

Swap out one meal at a time if that’s easier. Once I began switching from wheat pasta to gluten-free pasta, my family didn’t even notice. Experiment with new foods, and you might be surprised at what they love. Dips are a great addition as toddlers and kids dip veggies in dips like hummus, bean dip, guacamole, or salsa. 

2. Keep the junk food out of the pantry

If you don’t want them to eat it, don’t buy it. If I have chips, pretzels, and granola bars in the pantry, my family will grab them first. Now I have jars of nuts and seeds, homemade trail mix, kale chips, fruit, cut-up veggies, and dips available at all times. They don’t even notice now.

3. Say no, or let them make the call

When I was a new parent, I said no a lot. I then learned relatively quickly that that didn’t work. They needed to figure it out for themselves. We spoke about food and how it made us feel daily, yet allowing them to figure it out themselves and not hear it from me was crucial. They needed to make their own food mood connection.

4. Always, colorize your meals

On every plate, color it up. If you eat cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, add berries to it. With your salads add blueberries to your spinach salad – it is a fabulous combination! Challenge your family to do the same and make it a contest. Next thing you know, it will become a habit. PS All the HBD books and courses talk about this, learn more here.

Need a few more tips to help your family be healthy? Journey over here to learn them.

xx

dr. heather