Diet overhaul for entire family.....

[babygrant]

I need to overhaul my entire family's diet ASAP!

I am waiting to get my gallbladder out. I'm sure it's been caused by years of binge eating disorder and yo yo dieting. The damage is done now though but I don't want another health problem popping up. Right now (for the past 2 months) I'm eating low fat which is keeping the gallbladder pain and nausea to a minimum but those urges to binge are still there every single day and very overpowering many times a day. Right now I seem to be consuming quite a bit of sugar. I drink quite a bit of sweetened iced tea, and sweetened peppermint tea, and mints. My binges were always cake, doughnuts, chips, crackers, popcorn, cheeses....

DH is relatively healthy. He can gain 10 pounds overnight and lose 10 pounds overnight. He IS a smoker which he has tried over and over to quit. He has recently started having some upper right quadrant pain which scares me because of the gallbladder. His diet sucks. Drinks about 4 or 5 cans of pepsi a day and about 2 or 3 cups of coffee a day with that sweetened coffee creamer.

My oldest son is 7 and has issues with chronic constipation. Still dealing with it now even though we've given him heavy doses of laxatives, argh. Also has asthma and gets croupe attacks everytime he gets a cold. Seems to get sick quite easily. Hates drinking water. Will hesitantly drink juice, but he just generally doesn't like to drink. Loves junk food. If he gets a "treat" from someone he would eat more of it just becuase he likes it so much.

My youngest is 5 and had chronic constipation issues from birth until about 3 or 4. Hospitalized for bowel impactions. Was off dairy from birth till 4, then reintroduced a small amount of cheese. Still doesn't drink dairy milk, but drinks plenty of almost breeze. Loves smoothies. Will drink water, but not willingly. Doesn't get as many colds as his older brother, but he'll get one every couple of months in the winter and it only lingers for 2 or 3 days and he's fine.

I've tried to overhaul my familys diet, but it's hard. I've tried going slowly but then everything always come to a standstill and DH and ds's dont want to budge any farther. I've tried going cold turkey, just getting rid of everything but then I get sick of all the whining and complaing. "We want cookies!", Ï want a can of pop" from DH, "this dinner is gross", etc, etc, etc and I get frustrated and end up buying cookies, chips, tuna helper etc from the grocery store. I've tried making my own chicken nuggets at home that aren't fried and the kids won't eat them, but if I buy the deep fried unhealthy ones from the store, they chow them down.

In my extended family, we have a lot of obesity. My grandma is morbidly obese, grandpa is obese, mom and dad would both be considered obese, sister struggles with her weight, brother is as skinny as a toothpick. Hubby's side has lots of diabetes, but we are unsure of mother in laws family since she's adopted with no known family history.

I know we need a diet overhaul, I'm just not sure how to do it. I know for DH we need to do something NOW before his gallbladder totally craps out. i don't think we are past the point of healing with him.

How do I overhaul our diet????????

[JamieCatheryn]

The main problem in my opinion is the sugar/starch cravings. I'm told the best way to get rid of those to quit high sugar foods cold turkey for a while and replace it with protein and fat. When I've had to cut down on sugar I'd keep lotsa protein snacks on hand to eat instead: nuts and seeds, cheese, sausage, humus, some limited whole grains.

Fats for most active people are actually a plus (animal and tropical and nut kinds, not corn oil and shortening and such). Of course, you'll be eating low fat until after you've recovered from the surgery and your body adjusts to living without the gallbladder. I've heard taking bile supplements and enzymes to help digest fats without a gallbladder? The rest of the family could likely do fine with unrestricted healthy fats, it really can help to curb sugar cravings.

My DH has a bad Coke habit (yeah the soda) and so far all he's done is switch to Coke Zero, it reduces the calorie intake though artificial sweeteners introduce their own problems.

I serve myself and my kids purified water and sometimes add a splash of juice to it. Fresh homemade juices would be way healthier than storebought ones if the family likes juice. DS1 really likes drinking out of fun cups or straws and loves to get his own water, both help to increase his water intake.

You could try making healthier cookies after a period of no sugar. Cut sugar in recipes down to 25-50% and use whole wheat when you can. Add chickpea flour or nuts, any other good stuff that goes well in desserts. Make low-sugar fruit pies now and then with naturally sweet stuff like pumpkin, apple, peaches, or berries. Pair cinnamon with fruits or sweets whenever it makes sense, cinnamon helps insulin work right.

[sunnysandiegan]

I was just reading through Ellen Satter's web site from another thread here. Google "Ellen Satter". Depending on where you are starting, this site could be great for establishing some basic guidelines for you and your family. Her ideas don't specifically include healthy foods, but I think it could be a good place for you to begin. She covers issues that could be preventing your previous attempts from sticking...

[babygrant]

Originally Posted by JamieCatheryn

Fats for most active people are actually a plus (animal and tropical and nut kinds, not corn oil and shortening and such).

Sometimes I'll do lunch meat rolled around a slice of cheese, but we don't normally have lunch meat kicking around because it's so full of preservative etc.

My DH has a bad Coke habit (yeah the soda) and so far all he's done is switch to Coke Zero, it reduces the calorie intake though artificial sweeteners introduce their own problems.

DH would REFUSE coke zero. He hates all the stuff that's artificially sweetened.

I serve myself and my kids purified water and sometimes add a splash of juice to it. Fresh homemade juices would be way healthier than storebought ones if the family likes juice. DS1 really likes drinking out of fun cups or straws and loves to get his own water, both help to increase his water intake.

They won't even do homemade juice! I've even tried letting them use my juicer and make their own. No go. I think I'm just going to have to set extreme limits on juice. Ex, 1 cup at breakfast and water for the rest of the day.

You could try making healthier cookies after a period of no sugar.

Defenitely!

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

I was just reading through Ellen Satter's web site from another thread here. Google "Ellen Satter". Depending on where you are starting, this site could be great for establishing some basic guidelines for you and your family. Her ideas don't specifically include healthy foods, but I think it could be a good place for you to begin. She covers issues that could be preventing your previous attempts from sticking...

Thanks, will check it out!