How We Made Keto Actually Work With 5 Kids in the House
Eating healthy has always been a priority in our household, as we believe that eating a balanced diet is necessary to living a happy, productive, and exciting life at home and beyond.
One way we subscribe to this lifestyle is by incorporating the ever-popular keto diet into our daily routine. The ketogenic diet is one that completely eliminates carbohydrates from the kitchen table, sticking primarily to fats as the main energy source. This method helps accelerate the removal of body fat.
It may seem like a chaotic mission trying to get 5 kids into this rather restrictive diet, with food like cakes, cookies, and pastries being big no-no’s. But we managed to find a rhythm that worked, and eventually, our kids have learned to live and embrace this diet as a part of their everyday routine.
If you’re looking to get your family to hop into this healthy trend as well, then you’re in the right place. This article will give you some useful insights into the keto diet and how to make sure it works, even with five unruly and unpredictable kids running amok in the house.
Let’s jump right into it!
Firstly, What’s in a Keto Diet?
It’s important to first have a good working definition of what a keto diet is all about.
As previously mentioned, a keto diet is one that replaces carbs for fat. This diet brings the body to a state of ketosis, where it burns fat for fuel instead of glucose. This helps accelerate weight loss in individuals sustainably, making it an effective way to manage weight and keep the body at healthy BMI levels.
This diet is quite restrictive, limiting daily carb intake by up to 5% maximum of a person’s total intake. The majority of a person’s daily intake will consist of fats (70-80%) and protein (10-20%). Bondi Meal Prep’s calculator for the keto diet can help you keep track of your daily intake and ensure that you’re conforming with the dietary standards of a keto plan.
Some foods that fall within the keto diet category include seafood, eggs, meat, poultry, yoghurt, leafy vegetables, nuts, olive oil, berries, and unsweetened tea. On top of that, the diet also encourages people to eat a larger breakdown of vegetables and fibre to get all the essential daily nutrients and minerals for better cognitive and physical functioning throughout the day.
On the other hand, keto diets actively discourage you from eating anything that contains carbs in any form. So foods such as breads, pastries, oatmeal, sugary foods, mangoes, starchy veggies, legumes, and alcohol are supposed to be avoided for people sticking to the ketogenic diet plan.
With all that said, transitioning into a keto diet from a non-keto diet can feel like a tough challenge. After all, you’ll have to make a conscious effort to replace or remove kitchen staples like bread for more keto-friendly alternatives—and get your kids along for the ride simultaneously.
But if you want to join the keto train regardless, then listed below are some ways to get your family interested in this diet plan.
How to Get Your Family to Eat a Keto Diet
Whether you’re currently on a keto diet and trying to convince your kids to join you, or whether you want to transition as a family into this healthy diet plan, we’ve got you. Here are some ways to get your family into this diet plan as successfully as we did.
Cook for All Family Members, Not Separately
One way to maintain the interest of your kids in this diet plan is by preparing keto-friendly meals for the entire family at the dinner table.
Avoid separating foods for the “adults” and the “children”, as this sets a tone that the ketogenic diet is exclusively for the older members of the family.
Instead, prepare meals that everyone can simultaneously eat and enjoy. Make tiny adjustments based on individual preferences, but try to keep everything within keto-friendly standards.
For instance, you can serve adequate portions of chicken and broccoli over dinner for each family member. If some people have food preferences, then you can prepare them separately by making some small adjustments to fit their dietary needs.
By doing it this way, you can encourage everyone to stay on track with their keto diet plan. You’ll also avoid feelings of jealousy or temptation at the table, which can help maintain that sense of discipline necessary to reap the benefits of this diet plan.
Keep Keto Staples Stocked
Another way to get your entire family on the keto bandwagon is by ensuring that there are enough keto-friendly ingredients to go around in the pantry. Make it a habit to have items such as eggs, cheese, leafy greens, and protein readily available at home.
These essentials allow you to create a wide range of keto-friendly dishes, making you less likely to prepare non-keto-based food items as a backup plan. You can keep keto staples adequately stocked at all times by abiding by a strict grocery schedule. This way, you’ll always have enough food to go around to prepare for your entire family.
Know a List of Repeatable Meals By Heart
Another way to get your family into the ketogenic diet is by testing out different meals, finding out your family’s favourite ones, and adding them to your rotation of dishes you could prepare and serve occasionally.
Having a handful of reliable recipes that your family enjoys places a lot less mental stress on your part trying out and cooking different meal plans. It also makes grocery shopping feel more approachable as you’ll know the measurements and ingredients to get. This can make it easier for you to introduce the keto lifestyle to your family positively.
Let Kids Be Involved in Choosing What to Eat
Another way to get your kids interested in eating that worked for us is involving them in the meal planning stage.
We’ve had them pick up some ingredients in the supermarket (and double-checked them to ensure they’re keto-friendly) and help around the kitchen cooking some keto-friendly dishes as well.
For older kids, you can walk them through how to prepare and cook simple keto dishes from start to finish. By doing this, they’ll have first-hand knowledge of how to make their own keto dish, which can help them feel that sense of accomplishment while also aligning them to a keto-friendly lifestyle.
Allow Occasional Non-Keto Treats
It’s best not to immediately jump from a non-keto diet to an exclusively keto diet, as this can be quite an overwhelming jump to make for kids used to eating sugar and bread.
Children tend to have a sweet tooth, and if you’ve been feeding them tasty treats and then halt the source completely, this can make them feel cravings and withdrawals. This makes it an uphill battle for them to stick with the keto plan.
To combat this, it’s best to gradually get them into the keto diet but not completely let them jump into it. You can gradually cut the volume or portion sizes of carbs in their diet weekly. You could also give them a chance to indulge in keto treats from time to time if they so desire.
In any case, giving them the agency to choose if they want to indulge in non-keto treats is something that they ultimately have control over. You can guide them to the lifestyle and explain its benefits, even give alternative keto-friendly diets to common indulgent food items, but if they truly want to eat what they want when they want, then forcing them to commit to your style of diet may not bode well for both of you. Respect begets respect, in this regard!
We hope that we’ve helped you understand ways in which you can introduce a healthy keto diet to your household. All the best in getting your family interested in this lifestyle!
*This is a collaborative post
