For many of us, the desire to eat a healthy and varied diet is very real. But sometimes life gets in the way, especially if that desire includes the rest of your family. Where do I begin? Will my children welcome these changes?
To help you out in this journey, here are some easy tips to get you started:
1. Get cooking! There’s nothing like offering freshly made foods to your family. Even if you can only squeeze one recipe a week, that will make 52 delicious dishes a year. Your local library has plenty of healthy cookbooks to get you inspired.
2. Check out your local farmer’s market. You will find affordable food that is locally grown and in season. Farmers are also very helpful and will gladly give you cooking suggestions if you ask.
3. Ask your children what their favorite foods are, then offer a cleaner version that does not include the Big Six Groups. There are plenty of brands that sell healthy versions of macaroni and cheese, frozen pizza or grass fed hamburgers, for example.
4. Whenever you buy packaged food, read the labels. Try to avoid products whose ingredients you don’t recognize – natural foods have natural names that your great grandmother would be able to pronounce.
5. If you buy baked goods, look for those containing natural sweeteners, such as fruit juice, honey or molasses.
6. Avoid buying diet foods or low fat products. They are often loaded with chemicals and are highly processed. Besides, our bodies need natural fats (nuts, avocados, fish) for optimal brain development.
7. Cut down on fried foods, especially those that are packaged or come from fast food restaurants. They mostly contain saturated- and trans fats.
8. Go easy on fast food, and don’t make it a family treat. As upsetting as this may sound, fast foods tend to be the worst offenders. Most are mass-produced, processed and filled with preservatives, artificial flavorings, colorings and other additives. Fast food restaurants tend to use ingredients of lesser quality combined with unhealthy fats.
9. Go shopping! Giant, Costco, Target, Wegmans, Weiss, Trader Joe’s… they all offer affordable organic and/or natural lines. You may have to play detective in the beginning, but you will end up finding brands and foods that are both affordable and delicious to you and your family!
