Nurturing Healthy Family Eating Habits
Are you experiencing challenges getting all family members on board toward eating healthier? From stress and busy work/life schedules, to budget constraints and limited food accessibility, sometimes it can feel impossible to get everyone around the table!😅
There might be some family members who are on a special diet. Let's not forget those terrific toddlers who simply refuse to eat what's in front of them. Oh! How about hungry teenagers hitting the drive-through on their way home from school skipping family dinner all together.🙄
...And even if all family members agree to eat healthier, they may not always agree on what healthy things to eat!!
It can certainly seem overwhelming at times, but with a cool head and some flexibility, you can nourish healthy family eating habits.
Here are Bodhi Bar's top 5 tips for eating healthier as a family:
1. Master Meal Planning: While it seems like it can take lots of time, Meal Planning is a front-loaded investment which can save you lots of time and money in the long run! Try to start with some healthy items that all family members can agree on and build around them. If everyone likes broccoli, try serving it a few different ways. Like a broccoli salad, steamed broccoli or roasted with other veggies. Open those e-flyers up and look for good deals and make that grocery list! Over time, meal planning gets easier! ✅
2. Finesse Food Prep: Before putting those groceries items away, try some simple food prep hacks to save you loads of time throughout the week and make it super easy to grab healthy snacks and avoid take-out or food delivery. Try prepping some staples you would use for multiple meals, like chopped onions, peppers, carrots and celery - chop them up and store in separate stackable/reusable containers! Chop up some dipping veggies and put in individual snack baggies for easy grab-n-go! Make a large fruit salad for anyone to scoop a serving, satiating any sweet cravings! 🥒
3. Eat Together!: Eating healthy together has parents and older siblings modelling good eating habits. It can also encourage healthy open dialogue and reduce screen time. Furthermore, studies show that kids of families that eat together tend to eat less fast food and more fruits and vegetables (
4. Plants a Plenty!: We all know that eating more fruits and veggies is important for getting in all those vitamins, minerals and fibre! It can be a challenge for fussier eaters who don't like eating anything green. A great way to get in your 5-10 servings a day is to sneak servings into the food you cook, or better still...enjoy them in juice format! When cold pressing juice you can get 4-6 servings of fruits and veggies in one juice. For a smoothie, you can get 2-3 servings in, plus retain most of the fibre. One or two handfuls of organic baby spinach in your cooking, smoothies or juice won't alter the flavour much, but will add a load of phytonutrients! Check out our Better Bodhi membership to get juices delivered to your door weekly - can't get much easier!! 🥬
5. One Meal for All: Its tempting to give into the whims of pickier eaters. As a parent, we take our responsibilities to keep our children well fed very seriously! Avoid making too many concessions for one member over another (food allergies and intolerances notwithstanding). Making one meal for all avoids animosities among family members, builds eating confidence, and reduces food waste.
A great trick is to make a meal where there's lots of choices for everyone. For an example, have multiple sides and serve "family style". Or have buildable meals like tacos, Fajitas or "bowls" with lots of different options to choose from. Still one meal for everyone, but plenty of options within it!!! 🥦🥕🍠