Feeding the Family
Making the shift to a fiber-rich diet may not be the easiest change for you and your family. The key is to do it slowly and gently. Start by making slight changes to your normal recipes. Substitute almond meal for some of the all-purpose flour in your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Sprinkle nuts and seeds over your salads. Stir granola and fresh fruit into plain or vanilla yogurt. It's likely no one will notice the changes in the early stages.
Make Changes
Slowly phase out the unhealthy elements of your diet. Replace the chocolatechip cookies with oatmeal cookies. Snack on trail mix with M&Ms instead of a bag of just M&Ms. Stock your cupboards with dried fruits and nuts, and replenish your supply of fresh fruits and vegetables every time you go grocery shopping. Get different fruits and vegetables each time to increase variety and stave off boredom.
If you are a doughnut lover, you can substitute the fried, refined-flour rings with a healthier breakfast. Try making a batch of whole-grain or bran-enriched biscuits filled with stewed prunes, nuts, and no sugar. If you were scarred at an early age by being forced to eat canned prunes, you may want to try dried apricots instead.
Find the type of bread your family likes the best. If you've been buying plain white bread for years, change to a multigrain bread and work your way up to a whole-grain bread. Using cookie cutters to make the bread into fun shapes makes the healthier bread more fun for kids. Make sure the texture of the bread is smooth; fiber-rich breads often have nuts and seeds in them, but picky kids and adults might object. Take a similar approach with pasta and rice. Mix whole-grain pasta and regular pasta together and slowly increase the ratio of whole-grain pasta until you can eliminate the regular pasta altogether. Do the same for brown rice and white rice.
To slow the release of sugar into the system, add celery, lettuce, cabbage, and fruit to various dishes. Every meal should include a salad laced with red onions, radishes, cucumbers, extra nuts, sprouts, and jicama. Try making saladswith an extra kick — black beans, fresh corn, and cherry tomatoes for a large serving of fiber, protein, and happiness.
Plan Ahead
When it comes to feeding a busy family, there is a lot of temptation to grab fast-food meals at a drive-through to save time and effort on the way to and from school and extracurricular activities. A little planning can help you stay on track and resist temptation. Pack easy sandwiches made with whole-grain bread the night before. Include fresh fruits such as apples, oranges, and bananas. Keep a bag of granola and boxes of raisins in the car for quick snackingwith bottles of water for hydration.
Plan out your meals a week in advance and vary the sources of fiber. This allows you to stay ahead of the game so you don't have to scramble to throw something together at the last minute. It also lets you calculate your fiber intake each day so you can be sure you're getting enough.
Feeding your family a fiber-rich diet can help them be healthy and happy for years to come. If you encounter resistance, don't give up. Instead, try to pinpointwhy your family is rebelling. You might have to slow down or even temporarilyreverse course to satisfy them, but keep your eye on the end result — a family with general good health.
