Trying to get the family on board a healthy lifestyle can be
hard. Especially when it’s more than just you and your husband. Especially when
there are work and time commitments. In the end, it will only succeed if you
and the rest of your family are on board, and if you receive the respect and
support from your husband as well as your children.
I have to admit, that my husband and I have always been
like-minded and have strived for a healthy lifestyle (most of the time) J But in the end, we
have always agreed that we want to live a “healthy” but balanced lifestyle—so
sort of like having our broccoli but getting to enjoy our ice cream as well.
Today, it is far more complicated. Because our children have
different food preferences and I have a more restrictive “diet” now. Now that I
don’t eat wheat and dairy on a daily basis. Amazingly, it has been fairly easy to
incorporate meals that I can enjoy along with my family. And I am finding out
that what I thought would be a total disaster: “what, no cheese lasagna?” “no
breadcrumbs on the salad?” has actually been a step in the right direction for
the entire family. A typical dinner at my house consists of chicken or beef and
a side portion of rice or potatoes along with chopped fresh, rather than baked,
vegetables (which the children prefer) along with a salad. So we have in
essence increased our vegetable intake by cutting out on some of the bread.
There are many pasta dishes though. I just make sure to fix pasta by itself and
then the family can fix their own plate to their liking. I usually fix quinoa,
sweet potatoes or brown rice for myself when I fix pasta.
One of the tastier meals is when we grill chicken or beef,
chop some peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes and eat Greek gyros. I fix a yogurt
dressing for a topping, but also make sure to buy hummus for myself. It is
fresh, healthy and tasty—all the ingredients my family requires to make a meal
a success!!
Another goal for 2017 is to cut-back on some of our sugar
intake. We have traditionally allowed the children to eat dessert after every
dinner. This in addition to sweetened yogurt for a midday snack and of course a
piece of chocolate or baked goods that are usually more than readily available
in Germany. One of the biggest culprits was buying into the fact that Nutella,
a chocolate spread, served in the morning along with toast, would actually be a
good thing for the kids. Not only did it increase their sugar intake, but also
prepped them to have a very sweet tooth and increase their desire for sweets
later on in the day. We are still having some sugar in the morning: typically
toast with jelly (but only a small amount) along with eggs or oatmeal. At night
however, we usually skip “dessert” which used to be ice cream, candy or some
sort of baked good. Instead we have fruit along with plain yogurt or amazingly
enough—go without dessert! The childrens’ taste buds are changing and they are
not demanding as many sweets as before. Just two days ago, my oldest daughter,
notorious for her sweet tooth, skipped eating her pastry and gave it to her dad
instead. She said she wanted to eat something light and fresh, and chose and
apple.
