Its something I've heard many times...“eating healthy, that's easy for you to say because you don't have children yet and have all the time in the world to cook and eat healthy...”
So, don't listen to me. Listen to Claire Snider, a mother of four vibrant and healthy children, Abby (age five), Emma (age four), Katie (age two) and Thomas (age one).
She is one of the amazing moms in our Life By Design community that is leading their family towards health while remaining true to the Eat By Design principles she has learned along the way.
How long has your family been eating By Design?
My family has been eating By Design for two and a half years. When Katie was born she had trouble with acid reflux and Dr. Michael Gibson suggested we give it a try. Changing what we ate made an immediate difference. Katie’s reflux improved right away and I started feeling better than I ever have! I made the switch for the rest of our family right away.
We chose to cut out all non By Design foods cold turkey. I have celiac disease so our family is used to eating “weird and different stuff.” Before eating By Design I thought we were eating healthy, until I realized how processed gluten free foods are. Removing grains altogether has made such a greater impact on our health than only removing gluten.
My husband John was so supportive. As soon as I said that this is what I thought was best for our family, he said “no problem!” We were worried that it would be a difficult switch for our children, but the transition was very simple. In the beginning we substituted often with nut flour muffins and pancakes, but we gradually transitioned to real, whole food only instead of recreating our old favourites.
What are your best strategies for feeding your family By Design?
My best strategy is having a fully stocked freezer and pantry at all times. Our freezer is always full of pastured meats and our pantry and fridge are always full of vegetables.
Every couple of days I go shopping in the basement. I choose a few different meats, pair it with a vegetable and am sure to make extra so there are leftovers for lunch the next day.
Before, I included a Sunday meal prep day in my weekly routine, but found that it does not work for us because we love to ski and spend time at our cottage on weekends. I found that I spent more time browsing recipes and information and never followed through with a lot of them, wasting time. With four children, I also quickly ran out of room in the fridge! Now, I keep it simple, preparing a few meals every day, which allows for much more flexibility.
What are staples in your home?
Staples in our home are eggs, breakfast burgers (ground pork or beef with spices), fruit, cashew butter, sweet potato fries, roasted veggies, nutty cereal, cauliflower pizza crust and avocado chocolate pudding. My children love anything wrapped in or sprinkled with bacon as well as any meat on a bone.
Are your kids picky eaters?
My girls are picky, Thomas will eat anything, but we are headed in a really good direction. A year ago I stepped back to reevaluate. Before, I was making three different meals to cater to each of the girls. I did not even realize I was doing this. It crept up on me!
So, we made two big changes. First, now everyone eats the same meal without complaining. Everyone takes one “thank you bite” out of respect for the time that it has taken to prepare the meal. It has been a process, and some nights are more painful than others, but they are all eating things they would not have touched six months ago.
Second, and most important, John and I teach our children why it is important to eat a variety of healthy and nutrient dense foods. We describe food as being filled with different coloured dots. Your body needs to be filled with as many dots and as many colours as possible in order to be healthy. For example, an apple has fifteen red dots but a slice of pizza has only one black dot. This has helped them become more adventurous and willing to try new things because they understand the relation between food and how healthy they feel. We have taught them how to build a meal. Every night at dinner, our children check their meal to make sure they have all their components, a protein, a vegetable and a fat.
What has been the most challenging part of eating By Design?
Our culture is ingrained with traditions surrounding mealtime and food, so being in social settings is challenging because people get offended when we do not eat everything on the table. But, we have learned to plan ahead and bring our own food to share. It is challenging to hear “it is just one piece of cake” or “it is just a handful of candy.” I am shocked to see some of the foods that creep into their classroom. Which is why I trade their snacks for something from my box of goodies, which contains stickers, crayons, stamps or notebooks.
What has been the best part?
First, seeing how terrific our health is! We do not get sick (aside for a minor sniffle or two), we have energy and we sleep great.
Second, not having to think about food in terms of calories, carbs, portion sizes or fat and appreciating food for what it is – fuel for your body. This has changed our life. This is especially important to John and I because we have three girls and see how easy it is to diet to lose weight instead of eating food to fuel your body. All our children eat as much as they like.
What would you like to tell other mothers and parents?
Keep it simple. There is an abundance of recipes, articles and information out there and it can be overwhelming. Start by adopting the basic Eat By Design principle – eat real food first. Start with meat and vegetables, and then adjust the other stuff as you go.