It is easy to get sucked into the world of processed foods, which are quick and easy to produce. However, we know innately that there is a better way to eat – but it can feel too difficult and too time consuming to provide such a diet for the whole family.
How can you make sure your whole family eat healthily? Well here are some organisational tips, in which the whole family works together, to make you family eat for their health.
Whole foods are best
Wherever you can commit to buying ingredients that come straight from the source. The more refined and processed the food, the more likely it is to have artificial colourings and flavourings.
So, buying fruit and veg, legumes and nuts, seeds and grains – and cooking from these ingredients at home – will help you to know exactly what you are putting in your body.
Do some scheduling!
Even if you’re not a natural planner, you might find that it’s worth sitting down at the start of the week to plan out the things you’re going to eat as a family.
As well as helping you eat healthier, creating a weekly menu can also save you a lot of money. Most time and money is wasted when we come to the kitchen at meal-time and must imagine what should be eaten that day.
If you sit on a Sunday afternoon, or just before your weekly shop, and come up with your menu for the week, then you can reduce the stress and time needed to eat well. This will also help you balance in some treats with your good behaviour – as well as making sure you get your 5 a day and your two portions of oily fish a week.
Cook on one day
You could easily cook all your meals for the week on one day and use the freezer. If this doesn’t sound appealing – why not at least spend a few hours once a week prepping the basic ingredients for the meals you will eat in the week. A hearty chilli or even just roasting some vegetables can help reduce the hassle later on.
Encourage kids to cook
Share the burden! It is important that kids learn to cook good food from an early age – so get them into the kitchen and encourage them to choose and then to cook your healthy option foods.
Eat together once a day
Food can quickly become about convenience and not about the communal act of shared time. It is not just our bodily health that needs to benefit from our food – our mental health and our relationships can be improved during the act of eating.
Commit to one meal together around the dinner table – a time when all electronic devices are switched off and there is an opportunity for conversation whilst eating nourishing food.
It might not be possible to follow all of these points all at once. Maybe you need to start small and commit to steps to healthy eating. Maybe this week you decide that two nights will be spent eating whole foods together around the table. Maybe next week you will teach your 8-year-old how to deliver spaghetti bolognese for the family. Whatever you choose to do will have long-term positive benefits for your whole family.
