How to Lose Weight and Cook for Your Family. Podcast Episode

Understanding what a healthy diet is, is just the first step. The next step is making changes to your way of eating. If you have to cook for other people, life gets complicated!

Today I’m giving you tips so that you can change the way you eat whilst still cooking for your family. We’ll be looking at tactics to keep everyone happy.

These are struggles that people doing Dr Orlena’s 2 Week Healthy Reboot faced when they wanted to change their eating habits.

What is Dr Orlena’s 2 Week Healthy Reboot?

During the 2 week reboot, we focus on healthy eating. The idea is to show yourself that you CAN do it!

You cut out refined carbs, including sugar.

This can be a daunting prospect when white carbs are part of your family’s diet.

How Do I Eat Healthily and Feed My Family?

What can you do when you need to feed your family who are used to white carbs as a large part of their meal? If you’re serving a sauce and “white carbohydrate”, you have several options.

1. Just not eat the white carbs (rice or roti). Vegetables are full of carbohydrates, so you can just have more of the “good stuff”.
2. Add some protein or fat. Nuts, cheese, meat are all good things to add to give you a feeling of satiety. (Feeling full up.)
3. Think of alternatives. Cauliflower rice or legumes are a great addition. Easy to make. My favourite legumes are cannelini beans. (You can buy them either pre cooked or cook them yourselves.) These “white carbs” won’t push up your blood glucose levels so quickly.

How to Replace Sugar in Tea or Coffee

Sugar in coffee will push your glucose levels up. Which in turn will push your insulin levels up. Not great news! (Either for weight gain or if you want to avoid getting diabetes.)

Some people call this “empty calories”. You’re giving your body calories with no real nutritional bonus. Just calories and nothing else.

Here are some things you can do instead:

1. Eat something like an apple or nuts. (I’d rather you got your sugar wrapped up in an apple!)
2. Simply cut out the sugar. After 2 weeks you probably won’t notice!
3. Add a flavour. Cinnamon, cardamon, peppermint oil.
4. Add a fat. E.g. full fat milk or coconut milk.
5. Go for an infusion.
6. Replace your coffee with “cocoa”. (A teaspoon of cocoa powder, no added sugar, splash of milk and hot water.)

How to Replace Sweet Sticky Desserts

We all love desserts. They don’t have to be full of sugar.

1. Fruit and yoghurt (or some fat such as cream or muscapone.) Yum! A really treat. We love baked fruit. Super easy.
2. Chia dessert. Chia is SO versatile. (I make sure I include a different chia pudding each month in My Kitchen Miracles.)

Managing Your Mindset When Making Changes

1. When other people are eating food you’re not.

When you’re watching other people eat food that you’re not, you might feel that you’re depriving yourself. There are other ways of thinking about it. You could remember the damage that the food does to your body.

For example with rice, you could remember that it pushes up your glucose and insulin levels.

You can think about how you’re really caring for your body by not eating it. And that it’s just for 2 weeks!

2. Celebrate the wins when you make healthy changes

It’s human nature to “focus on the negative”. So often we make 99 good changes and then beat ourselves up for one slip up. You need to celebrate each small win! Each time you drink coffee without sugar in it! Each time you eat dinner with no (or even less) refined carbs.

3. Anticipate failures on the road to Success.

Equally, it’s important not to let “failures” mean too much. If you find yourself “slipping up”, have a think why. Detach yourself from “it’s a disaster”. Look at yourself with curiosity and wonder why you’re doing what you’re doing. And how you can change it. Don’t beat yourself up and make it mean you have to give up. You’re one step closer to success!

Related Podcasts

• The Health Benefits of the Med Style Diet
• How to Eat 30g of Fibre a Day
• The Health Benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Links Mentioned

• 3 Easy Steps to Weight Loss for Busy Mums
• Dr Orlena's 2 Week Healthy Reboot
• Work with me
• My Kitchen Miracles

Author Bio

Dr Orlena is a health coach. She helps busy mums go from "I can't lose weight" to feeling fit and fabulous. Find out more about her here.