Healthy Changes That Work For Me

[LuvMyBoys]

Ok, how about a thread of little healthy changes that we have made that have worked well?

I'll start.

We try to eat healthy (ish) as a family, and I have made many low-fat/whole grain/lower sugar switches in my cooking over the past few years.

However, I couldn't find a whole wheat pasta that my family would eat. Someone on the Dis recommended Barilla Plus. It tastes great, my whole family will eat it happily, and it's healthier than regular pasta!

Worked for me!! :)

[SunshineGirl]

Our biggest change is breakfast. I eat rolled oats with Splenda every morning for breakfast, and DH eats Raisin Bran. It's hard on the weekends because we used to do the pancakes, cinammon rolls, doughnuts thing. But now we only do that for special occassions.

[LuvMyBoys]

Tricia, is thread okay here or can we get a new part in the forum for "healthy families" or "eating healthy" or something like that? :confused:

[SunshineGirl]

I'll add another separate forum for non-WW healthy stuff. Give me a sec.

[svwkirby]

We're another family that's switched to more whole wheat products and less processed food over the last few years. DH and I have also cut out sugar and replaced it with Splenda except for the occasional splurge. I'm not as comfortable with giving the kid artificial sweeteners though.

[LuvMyBoys]

I'll add another separate forum for non-WW healthy stuff. Give me a sec.


Thanks Tricia! :sunshine2:

[LuvMyBoys]

We're another family that's switched to more whole wheat products and less processed food over the last few years. DH and I have also cut out sugar and replaced it with Splenda except for the occasional splurge. I'm not as comfortable with giving the kid artificial sweeteners though.

I'm not comfortable with it either (artificial sweetners for the kids). As part of eating healthier we are trying to get away from processed and artificial items as much as possible.

So I've been decreasing the amount of sugar called for in recipes by 1/3, it doesn't make a difference in performance of the recipe and the kids don't notice the difference. :)

[PSL1013]

I was told by my doctor to stay away from Splenda and all artificial sweetners for that matter....google it and you will see how bad that stuff is. If I have to have something with sugar it has to be the real stuff. Makes it kind of hard when you need to diet and everything diet has this sweetner in it. :(

[m 'n c]

Discovering Yogurt and Raspberries of all things has really helped me be healthier. I didn't like either one until about a year ago and now I love them. I also am hooked on Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereals and Luna Bars. The vitamins in Luna bars are almost the equivalent to taking a daily multivitamin and are great when I get snacky.

[faithhope]

For a natural sweetner... try stevia... it does have a slight aftertaste... but I've gotten used to it...

I use the liquid version in my coffee and my husband puts some in his 0 calorie seltzer water.

The even better news is that I can get it through WebVitamins on SR and get credit :)

I'm still cooking with sugar though... but at least this small step cuts down on the sugar in our lifestyle a little bit...

Faith

[jnorth1007]

I switched from Whole milk to skim milk and I am on the verge of switching to organic milk. A nutritionist told me that the only REALLY important things to use organic are the meats and cheeses (if your kids are big cheese eaters). This is because the hormones in the milk and cheese are driving kids batty. Boys are becoming very whiney now because of the hormones and girls are starting their cycles much earlier because of them.

I also switched from white bread to wheat. It was fairly painless for all but DH who took a little longer but also got on board. We switched from white rice to brown. We also have problems with the wheat pasta but have been trying it when it is combined with a sauce and is less noticable.

The kids have been switched over to fruit and veggie snacks. No more chips or goldfish or cheese its. I buy fruit and cut it up and leave it and the bottom of the fridge for snacking. My only issue now is the havoc it is reaking on their bowel system. KWIM?

I gave up soft drinks over a year ago. My sinful pleasure is Diet Lipton White Raspberry Tea. Im sure that the artificial sweetners are as bad a soft drinks. I need to find something better but it seems the only healthy options in beverages is water :rotfl:

[wilsonfamily4]

The thing that helps me most to lose weight and feel better is not eating past 7:00. When I do this I love it, but it is so hard. :) If I HAVE to eat past 7 I try and do air popped popcorn.

[LuvMyBoys]

We haven't been able to switch to organic milk yet, the kids notice a taste difference for sure............although now that Janet has said that it makes boys more whiney, we may need to try again! :rotfl:

Not eating after 7 pm is so hard in the summer!! We try to eat popcorn, cut up veggies, or watermelon for the late night snacks.

Another trick that has worked with us for the kids is diluting juice, not with water, but with fruit flavored herbal tea. We call it "juice tea". The kids love the taste, it has less sugar and it stretches the juice farther! :)

[Kittykat]

We made the switch to organic milk a couple of months ago and I have to say I can't tell a bit of difference...except for my pocketbook. ;)

My oldest DS loooooves chocolate milk so I was stoked to find out that Horizon makes an organic version! He would drink it by the boatload if I'd let him.

I've tried to eliminate things with HFCS, especially for my youngest. He's a big juice drinker and I've recently started checking fruit juice labels.

My biggest battle so far has been getting both boys (plus DH) to make the switch to wheat bread or pasta and brown rice. I prefer brown over white but they swear there's this horrible difference in taste so they balk when I try to feed it to them. Then again, I'm not saying that I don't sneak it in when they're not looking...:angel:

It's so hard to be vigilant 100% of the time, though. I know we eat more junk than we should, but at least we're making progress, right?!

[faithhope]

The best thing I did... was follow the rule...
If it isn't in the house... It will make it harder for me to eat it rule

I don't buy potato chips... but I do buy baked tortillia chips for dipping.
I don't buy any soda. It is a treat for when we eat out...
I hard boil a bunch of eggs once a week and keep them in the fridge for snacks. I also keep a bowl of mixed (no salt) nuts on the table...

Faith

[LuvMyBoys]

Originally posted by Kittykat ..."My biggest battle so far has been getting both boys (plus DH) to make the switch to wheat bread or pasta and brown rice. I prefer brown over white but they swear there's this horrible difference in taste so they balk when I try to feed it to them. Then again, I'm not saying that I don't sneak it in when they're not looking..."

I had a hard time with the wheat bread, pasta, and brown rice thing with my husband and boys too. For bread we switched to Wonder Whole Wheat White, that was the best compromise for us.

For pasta we switched to Barilla Plus, the kids could not tell the difference with that one.

For rice we switched to minute rice - brown rice. For some reason the minute (instant) version of it doesn't "offend" their tastes so much :rotfl: And I've recently read that as far as brown rice goes, the instant version and the regular version have the same nutritional benefits.

:)

[zoodoyle]

The thing that helps me most to lose weight and feel better is not eating past 7:00. When I do this I love it, but it is so hard. :) If I HAVE to eat past 7 I try and do air popped popcorn.

This is one that I really need to do!!! I'm a huge snacker once the kids are in bed, and I get to finally sit and relax, watch TV or get a little SR time..... I think if I try really hard to do the nothing-after-7pm thing, it could make a big difference for me!! :sunshine:

[mseg16222]

Not eating after 7pm is a big deal for me. And I will add a little fresh squeezed lemon to the water at night so that I drink more water and don't get tempted to eat. AS the husband and kids eat ice cream and chips

[LuvMyBoys]

Not eating after 7pm is a big deal for me. And I will add a little fresh squeezed lemon to the water at night so that I drink more water and don't get tempted to eat. AS the husband and kids eat ice cream and chips


I admire your will power!! :) Not eating after 7 is so hard for me, especially on the nights when I'm just dying for some chocolate!

[mseg16222]

It is the hardest thing to do for me becuase my husband works nights. So he leaves between 2-6 pm and comes home from 2am-9am......so we have to eat a lot of meals without him and I am here at night with the kids....right now I could eat....boredom. But I am on here and doing laundry. And I am a night owl, usually up till 1am or so. I sit here and talk myself out of eating. It should get easier with time but it doesn't. After a few months I think I can eat one night after 7 and then it is hard to stop the cycle again. Especailly in social situations.......Oh the fun of not having a good metabolism!!!

[3dog2kidmom]

It is the hardest thing to do for me becuase my husband works nights. So he leaves between 2-6 pm and comes home from 2am-9am......so we have to eat a lot of meals without him and I am here at night with the kids....right now I could eat....boredom. But I am on here and doing laundry. And I am a night owl, usually up till 1am or so. I sit here and talk myself out of eating. It should get easier with time but it doesn't. After a few months I think I can eat one night after 7 and then it is hard to stop the cycle again. Especailly in social situations.......Oh the fun of not having a good metabolism!!!

We never eat dinner until 7 so that's a tough one. I don't get home until 5:30 and need time to unwind before I can think about tackling the kitchen. And if DS has football or something then we don't eat until 9 or after.

I made the switch to whole wheat pasta, bread, and brown rice a long time ago and my family never mentioned it. I didn't tell them and it looks the same cooked so there was nothing for them to fuss about since you can't really taste the difference. A couple other things I do... add veggies to spaghetti instead of meat (primavera style!), switched to spinach from "white" lettuce for salad (so many more vitamins), and I don't even buy juice. The kids get milk or water. Soda when we go out, and occasionally I'll make or buy lemonade but that's rare.

[LuvMyBoys]

We never eat dinner until 7 so that's a tough one. I don't get home until 5:30 and need time to unwind before I can think about tackling the kitchen. And if DS has football or something then we don't eat until 9 or after.

I made the switch to whole wheat pasta, bread, and brown rice a long time ago and my family never mentioned it. I didn't tell them and it looks the same cooked so there was nothing for them to fuss about since you can't really taste the difference. A couple other things I do... add veggies to spaghetti instead of meat (primavera style!), switched to spinach from "white" lettuce for salad (so many more vitamins), and I don't even buy juice. The kids get milk or water. Soda when we go out, and occasionally I'll make or buy lemonade but that's rare.

That reminds me of another switch we made, no more iceburg lettuce!! I did the research and found out that it is more more nutritional to eat green leaf, red leaf, or romaine. The kids love all 3 :) We also have salad with our meals at least 3 nights a week.

We also switched to only ground turkey, we just like the taste alot better.

[3dog2kidmom]

That reminds me of another switch we made, no more iceburg lettuce!! I did the research and found out that it is more more nutritional to eat green leaf, red leaf, or romaine. The kids love all 3 :) We also have salad with our meals at least 3 nights a week.


I actually love spinach mixed with romaine. We have "meal" salads a few nights a week, too. I love experimenting with the different combinations.

[Kittykat]

I actually love spinach mixed with romaine. We have "meal" salads a few nights a week, too. I love experimenting with the different combinations.

I have gotten hooked on seeing what I can put in a salad and still have it taste good. :rotfl: My latest fix has been romaine lettuce, mandarin oranges, diced granny smith apple, cucumber, dried cranberries and pine nuts. It's so good with a sweet vidalia salad dressing that I recently discovered. The dressing only has 20 calories per 2 Tbs. serving (and it pretty low in sodium, too) so it kind of offsets some of the higher calories in the salad ingredients.

[LuvMyBoys]

The concept of "meal salads" is still something we are working on at our house :) My kids just don't get it that salad can be the main course :rotfl:

Recently I discovered a new great dressing, Kroger brand Lite Asian Dressing, only 1.5 grams of fat and 30 calories per serving!! It tastes alot like the dressing that you get at Japanese restaurants, it reminds of the salad dressing at Kobe's in Orlando :sunshine2:

[wilsonfamily4]

I am adding that if I have to have something after 7:00 I chew gum. It feels like I am snacking and I get a bit of flavor.

I really need to try the whole wheat pasta mentioned here. I tried another brand months ago and the family, me included, hated it. We do like whole wheat flour. I actually like it better in cookies then white flour.

[speechteachri]

For a natural sweetner... try stevia... it does have a slight aftertaste... but I've gotten used to it...

I use the liquid version in my coffee and my husband puts some in his 0 calorie seltzer water.

The even better news is that I can get it through WebVitamins on SR and get credit :)

I'm still cooking with sugar though... but at least this small step cuts down on the sugar in our lifestyle a little bit...

Faith


I use Stevia plus packets in my coffee now. I really prefer it to chemical sweeteners. I actually did a survey on here the other day about a diet soft drink sweetened with Stevia...I hope that pans out!!

We have always eated pretty healthy, but some changes I have made in the past 6 months or so are...

I buy light bread and rolls (usually the white is more fiber than the wheat, go figure), we eat more no-meat meals, and have added lots of beans and lentils to our diet, I add unprocessed bran or flax seeds or other whole unprocessed grains to my pancakes or whatever I am baking. The biggest change I have made is checking portion sizes!!! Who knew that a 1lb. box of past was really 8 servings!!!!!:rotfl:

[zoodoyle]

Not eating after 7pm is a big deal for me. And I will add a little fresh squeezed lemon to the water at night so that I drink more water and don't get tempted to eat. AS the husband and kids eat ice cream and chips

So, we (my husband and I) started this on the 24th, according to my last post - I'm soooo happy to say we've stuck with it for 5 nights!! Doesn't seem like a lot, but for me it's HUGE!! I think before I could have easily eaten half my daily calories after 7pm. Thanks to all for the motivation!! :sunshine:

[andrea2289]

Just found this! Here are some of mine:

1. I SWEAR by the parkay spray butter for everything (I do not use margarine or butter at all). it is so buttery tasting and I think almost 0 calories!

2. I use lean ground beef but still rinse it after I cook it. If you don't use lean, then definately rinse it. You rinse away a lot of the fat!

3. In all those packaged rice and pasta sides that call for butter…don’t add it you don’t need it. It comes out exactly the same and saves you tons of fat and calories.

4. We keep a list of negative calorie and low calorie foods and on the refrigerator and it always is an easy reminder of what we can snack on.

[LuvMyBoys]

Just found this! Here are some of mine:

1. I SWEAR by the parkay spray butter for everything (I do not use margarine or butter at all). it is so buttery tasting and I think almost 0 calories!

2. I use lean ground beef but still rinse it after I cook it. If you don't use lean, then definately rinse it. You rinse away a lot of the fat!

3. In all those packaged rice and pasta sides that call for butter…don’t add it you don’t need it. It comes out exactly the same and saves you tons of fat and calories.

4. We keep a list of negative calorie and low calorie foods and on the refrigerator and it always is an easy reminder of what we can snack on.


We use the spray butter a lot too, you can even sautee with it! The kids think the spray bottle is cool so they don't mind using it! :)

If I have to use ground beef or pork sausage, I rinse it with hot water too. I made a casserole with pork sausage this weekend (usually I use turkey) and I was so disgusted at the amount of fat that came off it!! :eek:

Unfortunately I have a brother who thinks any ground turkey product is weird so whenever I cook for the family I have to use beef or pork or lie to him. :p

[SunshineGirl]

I have gotten hooked on seeing what I can put in a salad and still have it taste good. :rotfl: My latest fix has been romaine lettuce, mandarin oranges, diced granny smith apple, cucumber, dried cranberries and pine nuts. It's so good with a sweet vidalia salad dressing that I recently discovered. The dressing only has 20 calories per 2 Tbs. serving (and it pretty low in sodium, too) so it kind of offsets some of the higher calories in the salad ingredients.

I do a lot of salads like this, too! For dinner, I will use some diced chicken, diced apple, dried cranberries, diced celery, and some kind of fruity low cal dressing over mixed greens. I'll have to try the cucumber in there because it won't add any WW points.

[andrea2289]

I do a lot of salads like this, too! For dinner, I will use some diced chicken, diced apple, dried cranberries, diced celery, and some kind of fruity low cal dressing over mixed greens. I'll have to try the cucumber in there because it won't add any WW points.


MMMMMM that sounds yummy!!

My favorite salad is romaine, spinach leaves, dried cranberries, blue cheese crumbles, thinly sliced red onion, and thinly sliced marinated artichoke hearts, no salt but lots of ground pepper. For me this has so much flavor already that I just toss with balsamic vinegar and the artichoke hearts I use are from Sam's Club and come in olive oil so I don't add any more. Yummy!!

[missymouse]

I haven't really seen this mentioned on the thread and everyone may already know that the most important thing above all else is drinking plain water or at least basically plain water. I was told this by a nutritionist and by Jenny Craig both back in the 1990's. They said the only way to flush the fat cells out of your body is by drinking a minimum of 8 oz. of water 8-9 times a day. I know that when I drink my water I drop weight much faster for example we started back on our version of a low-fat diet on Monday. Today I weighed myself and am already down 5 lbs. Official weigh in is tomorrow.

[Anna]

I was told by my doctor to stay away from Splenda and all artificial sweetners for that matter....google it and you will see how bad that stuff is. If I have to have something with sugar it has to be the real stuff. Makes it kind of hard when you need to diet and everything diet has this sweetner in it. :(

Same here. The artificial sweeteners actually cause you to crave food which causes diet failure. It is also very unhealthy.

I have cut our family's sugar intake quite a bit, but we do not use the artificial sweeteners. Cutting the amount in recipes is one way that I do this. I also am very picky about the snacks I keep around the house these days.

When baking, and a recipe calls for cooking oil, I always substitute it with applesauce and no one knows the difference.

We have drastically cut our red meat consumption down. My husband has gout which is aggravated by red meat. Plus, all of the steroids in the meat and poultry scare me.

I have switched to the Morning Star beef crumbles or the Boca Burger crumbles for any recipe that calls for ground beef. No one can tell the difference. It takes on the flavor of the seasonings.

I keep the Boca Flame Grilled lowfat Burgers in the freezer for our hamburgers. I also use the Jenno Turkey hotdogs. They are very lowfat.

We use the Parkay spray butter and LOVE it. It is a must!

I buy only breads which have at least 3 grams of fiber per slice. I love the Double Fiber bread. Hamburger and hotdog buns have to be Whole Wheat.

When we use canned chili, I only buy Hormel's Turkey Chili. It is very good and lowfat.

Most of the changes I have implemented, my family has not even noticed which is great. :heart:

As for poultry, I am in the process of purchasing only free-range chicken. If anyone knows a good brand please let me know. I would love to be able to buy it online if I could find it with a reasonable shipping cost. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.:confused:

We have been doing this over the past couple of years and it has worked well for us. I follow Weight Watchers guidelines and points which really helps.

[Anna]

I haven't really seen this mentioned on the thread and everyone may already know that the most important thing above all else is drinking plain water or at least basically plain water. I was told this by a nutritionist and by Jenny Craig both back in the 1990's. They said the only way to flush the fat cells out of your body is by drinking a minimum of 8 oz. of water 8-9 times a day. I know that when I drink my water I drop weight much faster for example we started back on our version of a low-fat diet on Monday. Today I weighed myself and am already down 5 lbs. Official weigh in is tomorrow.

Very good point! Water intake is very important. :)

[linanglab]

Wow....you all are so good. I would love to eat healthier. DH has fits if things are changed up a bit. I buy vitamin D milk. I said I want to start buying at least 2 percent, then maybe get it down to 1 percent. He says ABSOLUTELY not. I am thinking about buying both whole and 2 percent and then mixing the 2 to see if he notices. I do not drink milk, except IN things, so I am not sure what the big bru haha is about, but he is stubborn.

I buy the mixed salads - that have all of the different greens in it. Again....DH throws a fit about that too.

When I buy wheat bread - which I do every week - my whole family has a fit.

I am going to start buying brown rice. Why not? They throw a fit about everything else anyway. :rotfl:

DH is not a help when it comes to eating healthy. He makes it very difficult. Because if he complains, then the kids complain.

I think that because none of us have weight issues, that it is easier to eat NON healthy (except for me, because I like to try to eat healthy). BUT DH already has slightly high blood pressure. Both his parents have high cholesterol and high blood pressure. How do you switch without everyone throwing a fit???? I get very frusterated.

Now for me? I quit drinking pop this past week. I did have pop at Taco Bell yesterday, but that was it. I am so proud of myself because I LOVE to drink pop. I need to quit eating butter so much. I LOVE butter!!! I will have a little bread with my butter. MMMMM.....I will have to try the spray.

If you have suggestions to fix my family, please let me know. They are tough to crack. If DH would get on board, it would be much easier.

[disney_girl]

Lots of good suggestions! Keep em coming!!

Angela- I agree, it is much harder if DH is not on board! I think a drastic change from whole milk to skim would be really hard. So, mixing it might be an option for you. After drinking 1% for so long, whole milk doesn't even appeal to us- it's sooo thick. lol

Try substituting ground turkey for beef in recipes and don't tell them. It works great in chili, spaghetti, etc. The Barilla pasta is really good also. For the bread, have you tried the White wheat types? I'm still working on the brown rice. I also need to try switching to whole wheat flour in waffles and pancakes, etc. It can all be challenging, I think you just have to make small continual changes and hopefully they will eventually come around.

For some things with DH, it was a gradual process. He was horrible about eating any vegetables. So in the beginning, I made them unhealthy with butter and cheese and then weaned him off of that to just seasoned veggies. lol

Off to make a grocery list...

[LuvMyBoys]

Wow....you all are so good. I would love to eat healthier. DH has fits if things are changed up a bit. I buy vitamin D milk. I said I want to start buying at least 2 percent, then maybe get it down to 1 percent. He says ABSOLUTELY not. I am thinking about buying both whole and 2 percent and then mixing the 2 to see if he notices. I do not drink milk, except IN things, so I am not sure what the big bru haha is about, but he is stubborn.

I buy the mixed salads - that have all of the different greens in it. Again....DH throws a fit about that too.

When I buy wheat bread - which I do every week - my whole family has a fit.

I am going to start buying brown rice. Why not? They throw a fit about everything else anyway. :rotfl:

DH is not a help when it comes to eating healthy. He makes it very difficult. Because if he complains, then the kids complain.

I think that because none of us have weight issues, that it is easier to eat NON healthy (except for me, because I like to try to eat healthy). BUT DH already has slightly high blood pressure. Both his parents have high cholesterol and high blood pressure. How do you switch without everyone throwing a fit???? I get very frusterated.

Now for me? I quit drinking pop this past week. I did have pop at Taco Bell yesterday, but that was it. I am so proud of myself because I LOVE to drink pop. I need to quit eating butter so much. I LOVE butter!!! I will have a little bread with my butter. MMMMM.....I will have to try the spray.

If you have suggestions to fix my family, please let me know. They are tough to crack. If DH would get on board, it would be much easier.

I agree with disney girl, a lot of those changes were the first ones I made in our family and the most successful.

We have only been drinking 1% milk for years now. The thought of whole milk or skim milk both gross me out! :p 1% is the absolute perfect balance for us.

Ground turkey is easy for MOST people (not my brother though, too darn stubborn!!). Start off with using it in chili, spaghetti, etc. My family actually far prefers the taste of ground turkey now. We don't use ground beef for anything. Which I appreciate b/c there are health benefits and I don't have to worry everytime there is a recall on ground beef! :confused: We actually get stomach problems now when we eat ground beef, so it can't be the best for the system.

Switching to Barilla Plus pasta was easy too, it's the only one that tastes good! It is more expensive but we only eat pasta once a week so it's worth it to me.

Does your DH have a problem with romaine? That's usually the lettuce preferred by people who like iceberg, you can just buy it by the pound and it's probably cheaper than getting the bags of mixed greens.

I also subscribe to Light & Tasty by TOH and I have yet to have any complaints on recipes I make from there, even from my picky brother!! Any time you're looking for a new "light" recipe let me know and I will post one for you.

Good luck, sometimes getting your husband on board is the hardest part!! :rotfl:

[m 'n c]

Anna - have you tried the Tyson brand for chicken. They came out with a free range/organic offering. I get it at Kroger and the label is clear and black. I'll have to pull one out of the freezer later when I feel better. We stock up when Kroger runs a Buy 1 Get 1 Free promo because it is a little pricey (but most chicken is anyways...).

We recently changed to Organic milk and it tastes so much better than regular milk. My parents are anti skim milk for some reason and when I bought the Walmart organic milk over the Christmas Break they both tried it out and loved it. I read something in the Remedy magazine about how researchers are thinking the hormones that people are giving the cows are being passed thru the milk to us and causing girls to get their periods at younger ages and a few other things so we switched a few months ago and I try not to drink "regular" milk now.

[linanglab]

My DH likes iceburg lettuce. I got a salad from McD's the other day. I do not eat dressing on salads, but I always get his favorite dressing in case I do not eat all the salad, he can finish it up. He complained when I got the salad that the lettuce was...well "not lettuce....it is REALLY green. Like leaves from a tree. ewwwwww." So, you wonder why my kids are so picky! I blame DH....I almost think it would take a HUGE medical issue for him to eat healthy. He feel that he is living, and he wants to enjoy it.

He makes sure I buy twinkies, ho-ho's, ice cream, and all that snacky food. If I do not have that around, he complains that I do not buy stuff and he is hungry. Luckily I am not too tempted with all of that stuff, or I would be a moose!

Let me tell you, he is frustrating.....

About the ground turkey....we buy a side of beef every year, so we do eat ground beef. But it is better than the store bought. I personally do not eat much red meat. I like chicken or no meat at all. DH would eat steak and potatoes ALL the time.

Any good recipes would be appreciated. I am afraid that one of these days he will keel over from a stroke or heart attack with all the fat and junk he eats. Plus, my kids are picking up his bad habits. He sees nothing wrong with it. My kids are all very little. He thinks my boys need to eat meat and whole milk to bulk them up. Let me tell you....if you look at DH & me....there is no bulking up. It is just not in our genes.....

[Anna]

Wow....you all are so good. I would love to eat healthier. DH has fits if things are changed up a bit. I buy vitamin D milk. I said I want to start buying at least 2 percent, then maybe get it down to 1 percent. He says ABSOLUTELY not. I am thinking about buying both whole and 2 percent and then mixing the 2 to see if he notices. I do not drink milk, except IN things, so I am not sure what the big bru haha is about, but he is stubborn.

I buy the mixed salads - that have all of the different greens in it. Again....DH throws a fit about that too.

When I buy wheat bread - which I do every week - my whole family has a fit.

I am going to start buying brown rice. Why not? They throw a fit about everything else anyway. :rotfl:

DH is not a help when it comes to eating healthy. He makes it very difficult. Because if he complains, then the kids complain.

I think that because none of us have weight issues, that it is easier to eat NON healthy (except for me, because I like to try to eat healthy). BUT DH already has slightly high blood pressure. Both his parents have high cholesterol and high blood pressure. How do you switch without everyone throwing a fit???? I get very frusterated.

Now for me? I quit drinking pop this past week. I did have pop at Taco Bell yesterday, but that was it. I am so proud of myself because I LOVE to drink pop. I need to quit eating butter so much. I LOVE butter!!! I will have a little bread with my butter. MMMMM.....I will have to try the spray.

If you have suggestions to fix my family, please let me know. They are tough to crack. If DH would get on board, it would be much easier.

I went through the same thing with my husband when we first got married. I drank skim and he was used to whole milk. The only difference is the fat content. Drinking fat --ICK!

I changed him very slowly. I would buy the whole milk and then when it would be about 1/2 full, I would refill it with my skim milk. He never noticed the difference because it was in the same jug. I just gradually started increasing the amount of skim until it was practically all skim 3/4 over a period of several weeks.

Then one night, I poured him a glass of milk for his snack or whatever. I poured a glass for me from the skim.

I had him taste my milk and then taste his and he realized that there was no difference. LOL. Soooo that is how I got him to switch to skim. I didn't do it cold turkey.

As for the wheat bread...try the white whole wheat. There is one I get for the kids which actually has about 3 or 4 grams of fiber per slice which is good!

My husband was the hungry man commercial...big portions, a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I have gradually converted him through the years thankfully. He ended up with gout which made him have to make some eating changes (the same changes I was trying to get him to do).

To get my kids to eat more veggies...when I make things like spaghetti, I add hidden veggies to the sauce via jars of baby food. I keep it on hand and add carrots, broccoli, etc. They cannot see it and you cannot taste it. I have to be very sneaky sometimes but it works.

Also, we are firm believers in vitamins. Two veggie capsules and two fruit capsules help make up for your dietary deficits!



Hope this helps...

[Hedy]

So, I FINALLY cooked the box of Barilla Plus that has been sitting in our pantry for months. It was good. :) Yay! We'll have to look for it on sale.

[LuvMyBoys]

So, I FINALLY cooked the box of Barilla Plus that has been sitting in our pantry for months. It was good. :) Yay! We'll have to look for it on sale.

It is good isn't it?? :) Of course now it doesn't go on sale here often anymore and the price has went up! :confused: I'm glad you liked it though! :)

[andrea2289]

I love Barilla Plus! We also eat Healthy Harvest THIN - The thin is much better than the spaghetti - We love pasta and both these brands are the best tasting IMO!

[coastalgirl]

We eat the Healthy Harvest too. My kids don't seem to notice the difference. Another one I found was Tostidos Multi Grain tortilla chips. My little guy loves chips and salsa and when I bought these he said he actually liked them better than the others. They also don't seem as salty as other tortilla chips!

[andrea2289]

Another one I found was Tostidos Multi Grain tortilla chips.

MMMM I LOVE chips. Where did you find them at? I don't remember seeing them at my Walmart (which is all we have lol)