Getting the Family On Board with Healthier Eating

I have mentioned before how helpful it is that our whole family is participating in the attempt to eat a gluten free, mostly primal diet.  I know it would be far more difficult for me if I had to make two meals, or even multiple sides for every meal.  If this is an issue in your family, especially with small children (or even a reticent husband!), this article from Mark’s Daily Apple might help:

Co-feeding: How to Get Your Family Involved with Healthy Food

Katie and I have really enjoyed scouring the grocery store for new things to try, and experimenting with new recipes, but I can imagine that we would have had far more difficulty if I had just unilaterally decided to suddenly change everything, and became a food tyrant.  Try to make it fun, and involve everyone.  Don’t be scared to try new things; approach it as an adventure, but don’t be afraid to fail, either.  Some recipes will just not turn out how you envisioned.  Keep trying until you find a repertoire of tastes that everyone is pleased with!

Rob and I have found that we genuinely enjoy doing the prep work together.  Usually, he’s fileting, dicing, or otherwise butchering the meat while I’m chopping vegetables. If you have the time to do this when you get home from work, I highly recommend it.  Besides, doing a lot of your own butchering can save you some money in a lot of cases.  But if you or your husband get home too late to pull this off (most of us prefer to have dinner before 10 pm!), try spending a little time after dinner prepping for the next day together, or one person prepping while the other cleans up from dinner.   It gives you a chance to reconnect, and the camaraderie from accomplishing a joint task will always be a boost to your relationship.  And you have the bonus of waking up to a shining sink in the morning, instead of a sink full of dishes and mystery water. Win/win!

How have you overcome any resistance to eating healthier foods in your family?  Or have you been afraid to even try because you dread what you expect to be the inevitable battles?