Find Healthful Eating a Challenge? Here are Some Simple Tips

Did anyone else sing that title in their head to the tune by Heaven 17?  Sorry if I’ve just given you an earworm!

Here are some tips that may help you manage your intake of the less healthful treats:

Perhaps the simplest method of dealing with this is to not have those foods and drinks in the house. After all, they are often not the kinds of foods that add to a healthful diet so not buying them will mean you don’t eat them as regularly.   If you are not the only shopper in the house, this can be more difficult as you can’t control everyone’s behaviours.

• Take a list and stick to it! Only include the items on the list that you actually need to buy with limited ‘wants’.  This is one of the benefits of shopping online as you don’t get tempted by the extras as you walk up and down the aisles.
• Don’t shop hungry. Make sure you have eaten and had enough to drink before you go shopping, whether to a supermarket, in the town or shopping centre.  All these places offer tempting foods and if you are hungry or thirsty you are more likely to buy them.
• Plan ahead. Consider when you are going to next eat in relation to the shopping trip, and what you will have.  Having this in your mind may help you think before you indulge.

If you do have tempting treats in the house, think about who those items were bought for.  If they were not intended for you, leave them alone!  Put the items in containers that are easily identified as the owner’s property – even your child’s.  Yes, I know the temptation all too well of justifying ‘treats’ to help my child manage his sugar intake by shrinking his stockpile, but they are his (and he is now at an age where he’ll notice too!).

Have you ever read the ingredients on the packaged food that you buy?  I don’t mean the marketing blurb or the calorie info, I mean the actual ingredients list.  How many of those words do you understand?  How many items would you be able to buy yourself?  If you don’t know what the ingredients are and the ingredients are not readily available to consumers, do you really want to be eating them?

Also think about the impact on your health.  Did you know that the ingredients should be listed in quantity order with the greatest ingredient first?  If the actual quantities of some ingredients are detailed, think about the quantities for those that aren’t.  For example, a packet of crisps may be 66% potatoes along with the oil and salt.  That means that approximately one-third of what you are eating is just oil and salt.  Now, picture a crisp packet filled one-third (or at least a third of the portion of the packet that the crisps fill when you open them!) with oil and salt – would you want to eat/drink that? (Please don’t physically try this, it would not be pleasant or have any positive effect on you!).  Don’t be tricked by the promotion of sunflower or vegetable oils in the preparation of the crisps – the oils used in crisps tend to be pro-inflammatory and are likely to contain trans-fats (bad fats).

Do you know all the different ways that sugar might be listed?

Think about the portion size you need to satisfy you.  Yes, the king size bars of chocolate may be shouting at you from the shelf, but do you really ‘need’ to eat that much?  Even with a justification that those bars are getting smaller, they are still likely to be bigger than the portion ‘required’.  Portion sizing on products can be helpful here (although bear in mind that these are often designed around what makes the claimed nutritional content look better).

Consider sharing the item, or save some for later (if possible, in the freezer where it will be less tempting!).

Keep the more healthful foods where they are more easily noticed and accessible.  Often this will be level with your eye line or just below.  Seeing those foods first may help steer you away from the more hidden, less accessible tempting foods especially if you are in a rush.

Buy colourful healthful food choices if you can, to help attract your attention – or put prepared foods into colourful containers.  Smell can also be helpful….. mmmm the smell of strawberries or freshly picked tomatoes (they won’t be long now if you grow your own!)

This very much depends on where you are eating, why you are eating out, how often you eat out and your reason for wanting to exclude certain foods.

Don’t forget it can be OK to enjoy a treat every now and then – the problem is when treats become habit, routine and a normal part of your everyday diet.

Again, portion size could be a consideration – do you ‘need’ a giant piece of cake, or can you share it?  This is particularly a consideration when with children – children don’t need the same portion size as adults, and frequently doing so may encourage unhealthy habits for the future.

The challenge of managing different diets within a household is experienced by so many of us; here are some ideas of how you could make it a bit easier.

Ensure that all those within the household understand each person’s different dietary needs or preferences, and the challenge this presents in preparing meals (appropriate to their age of course).  Those who simply don’t eat foods because they are ‘picky’ may have to accept those things will appear on their plates from time to time alongside the foods they already enjoy.  After all, if those foods are never presented they will never be tried again and it can take several attempts of trying a food to develop a taste for it.

Also help family members, especially the younger ones, understand the importance of eating healthful foods and your reason for including them on everybody’s plate (bearing in mind allergies etc of course).

What foods can be enjoyed by all family members?  There will be some items that everyone can/will eat that you can use to base meals around (preferably healthful ones!).

Can different cooking techniques help encourage foods to be eaten by more of the family?  For example, my son doesn’t like cauliflower but he does like it roasted.  This means that we can all enjoy the vegetable if I prepare it in this way (other veggies can also be added in to save having some on the hob and some in the oven).  He doesn’t like mushrooms or olives either, but they are fine cut up small in pasta sauce.

Also sauces – can food dislikes be hidden in blended sauces?  Of course, it would be wrong to include foods that are not eaten for health or ethical reasons, but for simple dislikes it may be a way of increasing variety in the family’s diet.

Alternatively, prepare meals with the foods accepted by most but with slight changes.  For example, in my house I am the only vegetarian.  This means that we often have vegetables etc cooked that we all enjoy and put with the protein portion of our choice – while the others have something animal based that is cooked in the oven, I’ll have something oven-cooked and vegetarian.  This means the main part of the meal is the same, and the cooking method for the different part is also the same therefore reducing effort and co-ordination skill requirements.

If you have freezer space batch cooking can be a great help for managing different diets.  Examples in my house include:

• A fish pie for the meat-eaters; a lentil-based ‘cottage’ pie for me
• Homemade veggie sausages for me, ready to cook when they have meaty ones (here is the recipe that I like: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/veggie_sausage_tray_bake_99019)
• A lentil roast cut into portions ready to replace the meat on my plate. I think I’ve shared this recipe before, but here it is again in case you need it: https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/red-lentil-loaf-recipe .

May be this method will work with recipes appropriate to your different dietary needs too.

Batch cooking can come in handy as a general time saver, and a way to have more healthful convenience foods ready for those days when you don’t have time or you all need to eat separately.

Yes, we all need to take shortcuts now and again.  Eating fresh, wholesome meals all the time can be time-consuming, especially when you are accommodating different diets.  Look out for products that will help you such as:

• Frozen veg. This is ready prepared, and can be higher in nutrients than buying fresh.  Just be aware that it may take less cooking time than the fresh version.
• Tinned items. Not always the best for us, but careful choices can help.  Keep an eye on the ingredients for chemicals added to preserve the food and keep to the more natural items if you can.  Tinned pulses in particular are useful to avoid the need to plan ahead soaking the dried versions.
• Pre-prepared veg. I don’t mean packeted mash potato here, more ready chopped fresh vegetables.  Preparing veg ahead of time does reduce the nutrient content, but it can still be better than not having any.   Buying vegetables in this way can be more expensive than buying the raw ingredient, but it can save time if you are struggling.

Try to involve other household members in the planning or preparation of meals.  May be they will have some time to prepare the meal on certain nights, or to cook something in advance that can be reheated (see batch cooking above).  Even children are able to contribute to some parts of the meal preparation – even if it is just setting the table for you, getting items from the fridge, or reading the recipe and weighing out ingredients.

Admittedly, cooking the meal with younger children may result in the meal taking longer to prepare, so it may be best saved for when you have more time.  However, for older children learning to plan and prepare healthful meals are important life skills, and they may find that they enjoy it.

Most of the above tips can be grouped under meal planning.  Put aside some time each week to plan the meals ahead and ensure you have the ingredients or meals in the house ready.  Check with family members what plans they have for the week if they are likely to differ from the norm.  And work out when any necessary extra shopping can be done, and by whom.

The plan doesn’t have to be laid out in a fancy way, just make sure it can be understood by you and anybody else in your house who will be contributing to the meal preparations.

If you display the meal plan, it may be helpful for family members who like to know what is going to be served in advance (and no, they can’t change it or avoid it just to be difficult!).

Wherever you can, have the family sit down and eat at the same time.  Not only is this important for family relationships and mental health, it means you are not having to rush about clearing from one sitting and preparing for the next.  Find a time that will work for most family members each day (it may need to vary slightly day-to-day).  If someone can’t make that time, try to have suitable leftovers, or batch cook and have a supply of suitable frozen items handy.  Of course, there is also the option that the missing person sorts themselves out if they are old enough!

Even when my son was a baby we ate as a family.  He had ‘tea’ at about 4 o’clock in nursery but we made sure to offer him some of the food we were eating in the evening too.  This meant we could talk to each other, spend a bit of time together and he was used to the foods that we ate.  If he wasn’t hungry that was fine, but he would still sit with us – it was the family experience that was important.  Of course not everybody’s timetable will work this way, especially with shift workers, but it is lovely if you can do this at least once or twice a week.

Thankfully I haven’t got to the teenage child stage yet, but having the knowledge that meals are eaten at the table (and/or together) may be a good basis for better habits as they grow up (or if not, they may return to them when they are ready!).  Eating together may also help families identify any changes in eating habits that may be of concern, these may be in a younger child, teenager or an adult family member.  If you notice anything of concern, discuss it as soon as possible with the individual and seek professional help (there are groups that can provide support for family members and not just the individual concerned).