Getting My Picky Eater to Eat Healthy

I am a fit focused mom and wife that struggles daily to get my family to see the importance of eating healthy. My friends would likely describe me as the Food Notzie, but I am trying to find a balance and thought I would share a few quick trendy tips that are helping me convince my family of fussy eaters that healthy can still taste good.

“Vegetables are disgusting”, “Spinach is grouse”, “French Fries are a vegetable”; do any of these sound familiar? I hear these comments daily and I am referring to my husband not my children.

Yup, it’s one thing to be dealing with a child when tricking a picky eater, but it’s another when trying to work on an adult, especially when little ears hear the complaints of disgust.

Below are some trendy tips on how to get your picky eater to eat healthy. While these tips helped my husband see the light, they can be applied to any picky eater at any age.

Get them involved:

I decided to do a fun taste test where I selected a group of veggies that were a little sweeter in taste that I thought would be a little easier for my picky eaters to handle. We played a little game where they would rate their most favorite to least favorite. I let them know that they had to taste them all and that they had to put them in order of which they liked most numbered 1 – 5

• If you know what they like, you can work with it. This gave me a better idea of what I might be able to introduce into meals that would be better received.
• I don’t know about your kids but in my house everything is a competition, so they found it fun to see which one they put as their favorite to least favorite compared to each other.

Keep healthier snacks easily accessible:

I have found that the easier it is to grab a healthy snack the more likely it is that they will eat it. Once I had a better feel for cold veggies, nuts and fruits that they would consider eating, I got to work.

• I found the SNACK size zip lock baggies and made ¼ cup portions that were perfect for last minute snacks and on the go. When you are hungry you want it NOW, so keeping healthy snacks at arms reach and ready to go was like magic.
• Kids hide their diaries, I hide snack food – The Food Nozzie in me still wants to avoid even having junk food in the house, but I have quickly realized that having these items available for a special surprise has worked to my advantage. Believe it or not they have stopped asking for the junky snack and it has made them less tempting when they are available.

This is a marathon not a sprint:

Making changes that can be introduced slowly will work best when you are helping your family see a long term change. Bit by bit have the junk food disappear and replace it with those easy to reach healthier options. If you do it just right, he may not even notice!

Being a little sneaky never hurt anyone:

I have to admit that I still have a few trendy tricks up my sleeves. Here’s a sneaky trick that works with kids and may work on the adult picky eater – add healthy foods to family favorites. Puree vegetables or chop them finely to disguise them in breads. Carrots, spinach, zucchini, pumpkin, and other squashes work very well. Using the food processor to make veggies unrecognizable and easy to hid in everyday favorites was a genius move if I do say so myself.

• Meatloaf withTurkey instead of Ground Beef/adding some bit size carrots or celery/ egg whites instead of full eggs. A Delightfully Healthy Substitute that they won’t even notice.
• Turning your kids fruit smoothies’ favorite into veggie / fruit smoothies is a quick way to get those veggies into their daily diet without them having a clue. This is also a great summer snack that can be frozen and turned into a veggie/fruit Popsicle that everyone will love. I secretly smile when the kids are raving about them and they have no idea.

Here’s to hoping that these Trendy Tips will one day help your picky eater “see the light.”

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Ectomorph Training Program

OK it’s time to get serious.  Now that all the New Years resolution people have fallen off the band wagon, those of us who are serious can really kick it into gear.  There are a tone of workouts and diets out there but Ectomorph Training is an Effective weight training program that really WORKS.

Finding the perfect balance between weight gain and diet isn’t easy.  Ectomorph training is the ideal way to maximize the benefits of your weight training.  I’m not talking about becoming a body builder.  I am a mom of two and while I want to be a fit female and have noticeable results, I think my husband would kill me if I looked like a pro wrestler.

Here are a few tricks and trendy tips that will help you enjoy results that are more noticeable than your previous workouts may have been.

Eat the Right Foods to Maximize Your Potential – Weight training workouts like ectomorph training programs burn a lot of calories.  There are two specific foods that are a must on an ectomorph program.

• Traditional Lean Proteins like Chicken, Eggs Whites, Lite Tuna, Salmon can be easy to prepare and delicious.  Lean Proteins are necessary to build the muscles you are working out each day.  
• Complex Carbohydrates – Complex Carbs are the ideal fuel your body needs to burn off while working out.   A lack of Carbs to burn when working out will train your body to burn your fuel protein.  This is the last thing you want when you are working to build Lean Muscle and Tone your body.
• Take Supplements When Needed for Additional Protein and Nutrients

Proper nutrition including vitamins is vital when building muscles. For the most part, a solid daily multivitamin and whey protein will be enough to get the job done for the beginning ectomorph training program.

Eat the Right Foods at the Right times will also impact your Ectomorph Training results - Eating your complex carbohydrates before your workouts is key to success.  Carbs will fuel your workouts so that muscles you have worked so hard to build already don’t pay the price. 

Remember that the right Ectomorph Training Program isn’t just about Eating the Right Foods but about the combination of nutrition and workouts.

Keep Workouts Short and Targeted for Better Results – Slow and Steady is important when focused on an Ectomorph Training Program.  Pushing too hard in your workout can actually take a negative effect on your workout goals.

These three small but simple ectomorph training tips can really help you make the most of your ectomorph training program.

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