A common question I hear every day.
Logical, because food plays a big role in life. Besides being a source of energy, it is the time of day when we sit together at the table, have conversations, go over the day and, above all, enjoy time together undisturbed.
And, of course, everyone wants to enjoy their meals too. Nothing worse than going to the trouble of preparing a freshly cooked meal and putting it on the table only to see others eating it grudgingly. Or even don't want to eat it at all.
Food is subject to taste. Everyone has different taste. How do you deal with that? It is a matter of development and habituation.
Of course, you can decide to avoid drama at the table by only making food you are sure everyone likes. Especially if you have children. Chances are that you will eat things like pasta, chips, pancakes etc. nearly every day. In our house, we call that "yellow food". There is generally not enough nutritional value in that. Or you choose to decide for yourself what to eat and accept that not everyone wants to eat what you have made, under the pretext of "tomorrow is another day".
When our 5 children were little, what we ate was a constant topic of conversation too. Since I found it quite a chore to come up with something different every day that everyone liked and had enough nutritional value, we had set up the following system. A schedule on the fridge where everyone had a set day and could choose what they wanted to eat that day. With the condition that it was a complete meal, with enough fresh vegetables. So if you wished to have hamburger with chips one day, it had to be a home-made burger and then we would peel and cut the potatoes for home-made chips (from the oven) and eat a salad with that, for example. If you wanted pasta, there had to be plenty of vegetables and salad to go with it as well. Of course, as parents, we both also chose a day where we expressed our preference. This way, everyone had the chance to eat what they liked and discussions were eliminated. By creating a meal plan, our children learned at a very young age to think about healthy food that was also tasty.
A side benefit was that this helped enormously in making a shopping list, as we knew exactly what we needed. This saved us time and money as well as avoided unnecessary food waste. Before that, I would walk into a supermarket and buy all the fresh fruit and vegetables that looked nice. Then later I would think of what I could make with them. As a result, sometimes things didn't get eaten and then had to be thrown away in the end. Which, of course, is not acceptable.
I get asked the question "what should I eat?" daily by my clients. Not so much because they don't know what they want to eat, but mainly because they want to learn what is the best nutrition for their body. Especially if their goal is to lose weight and balance their hormones. Eating less is not directly the best approach. Instead, I teach them that they need to eat more. More of the right things and more variety. That's why I also offer a meal plan, which I set up specifically for that unique person. This gives them more structure and guidance. They also learn which foods have a big impact on their well-being. This way, my clients really notice positive change within a short period of time with long-term results. Who doesn't want to enjoy good food while keeping body and mind in balance?
Now our children are grown, but I still use a similar system. We decide together in advance what we want to eat that week and then do the shopping based on what we need. Fortunately, our children have developed very broad tastes. From an early age, we have exposed them to all kinds of different foods, herbs and spices from all over the world and we have often taken them out for dinner. It is therefore a great pleasure to enjoy a delicious fresh meal together at the table.
And what will you have for dinner?
Could you use some help and inspiration regarding the right food for your body? I would be happy to assist you with professional tips and an evidence-based nutritional approach that is easy to follow and contains many tasty dishes.
Photo credits: Laurence Rocoplan
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