If your New Years resolution is to lose weight this year - you might want to try putting the whole family on a a better eating plan. Heidi Zwick is a senior in high school this year and admits when it comes to New Years resolutions... "I make em --but then they last for about the first week --and then.."
So this year, she decided to ask her mom to make better eating -- a family affair. Heidi's mom Nancy is also dietitian. "She tries to make more stuff that we like to eat as a family cuz it's always a discussion at the dinner table, because parents like this and kids don't like that , because it's sounds too fancy, or it's just stuff that we don't like it."
Nancy says getting everybody to the table -- eating the same thing at a meal --is critical to healthier eating success. "If one member is eating anything that he wants it sorta offsets the balance - because they are like why can he eat that and I can't."
Her suggestion is to do three things. The first thing is to get the kids involved in the cooking -- and try and build the meals around the healthy foods they do like to eat. "I like broccoli, peas, but I don't like green beans and squash."
She says hide as many vegetables, beans, and fruits in meals as possible -- she's putting many inside a wrap. "It's called sneaky chef --you can blenderize em and sneak em in to a lot of different casseroles if you are making."
Finally Nancy says - focus on smaller portion sizes -not forbidding foods -- kids like to eat. Heidi says that helps her feel supported, not deprived, so she can still enjoy desserts and snacks.
Most people who make a resolution give it up within about three weeks. Those who have success make very gradual changes.
