From: jbyrd@chpc.utexas.edu (Jan Byrd)
Subject: Re: The "Family" Plan!
Keywords: Diet for the whole family
Organization: Center for High Performance Computing, Univ. of Texas System
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 21:08:18 GMT

In article <Bu0D50.D3w@watcgl.uwaterloo.ca>, mainglet@watcgl.uwaterloo.ca writes:
|> [preamble deleted]
|> My husband and teenage kids (aged 17 and 15) are interested in
|> joining me on my nutritional regimen this Fall........
|>
|> Marg

What a breath of fresh air your post was, Marg!  To hear about an entire 
family that actually WANTS to eat better and is willing to make some 
changes - and all at the same time (so often we're out of synch with each 
other) is quite inspiring.  This is bound to be lots easier than having a 
bunch of diet-resistant gripers who don't want to "play along".

But, WHAT to feed all of them and HOW?  It's good that you have the ex-
changes and number of calories everyone needs (and if I remember correctly,
EVERYONE will get to eat more than YOU do, right?!).  First off, I would
recommend a rule of thumb for every meal you eat together:  everyone's
plate gets served from the stove (or microwave or whatever), i.e., don't
serve the family "family style".  If you're the one in charge of portion
control, YOU should fill the plates, and everyone needs to know that this
is the amount they can eat, and when it's gone, it's over.   (This, coin-
cidentally, makes clean-up somewhat easier too.)  If you're really into
taking turns all around, you could even have a clean-up team and a walking
team.  Obviously the clean-up team does the dishes and the walking team
walks out the front door and walks until their level of satiety catches up
and they're no longer wishing they could eat more.  (If there's time, the
clean-up crew could walk afterwards.)

I think as far as varying portions and exchanges, your husband and teen-
agers will be satisfied (mentally and physically) if they can have a lot 
of 'breads'; we all know there's something reassuring about seeing 2+ 
slices of bread stacked on the side of an already-full plate, or a LARGE 
plate of spaghetti instead of 1/2 cup, or a LARGE baked potato instead 
of a medium one (with fat-free sour cream).  Use the lowest-calorie soft 
margarine you can find and let them have a generous blob rather than using 
regular margarine and giving them just a tiny dab.  A large ear of corn on 
the cob is very satisfying, and I like to put jello with canned fruit (like 
peaches) on the table along with the meal and let everyone have all they want.
I think all these starches will go further in satisfying the really hungry
ones more than larger portions of meat.  Meat exchanges ALL contain fat,
and they'd probably rather than those grams of fat in the form of margarine
or Cool Whip or something else.  

If you can manage (I mean have the exchanges/calories left) to have a 
dessert (the Sugar Free Puddings made with skim milk contain no fat), 
that goes a long way in helping men and teenagers (and Mom too) not feel
deprived.   The instant puddings are good, but I've really learned to love
the kind that you cook, and I serve it hot - chocolate or vanilla - and
slice bananas into it.  Fruit (cooked or just heated) with crushed Ginger 
Snaps on top is another good one.  And, of course, there are a number of
excellent Fat Free (or almost FF) frozen yogurts or ice milks available at
the supermarket (our Albertson's has 97% FF ice milk that's *wonderful*
[especially the Chocolate Chip variety] for only $1.67/half gallon).  
Once again, YOU need to control the portions.

Obviously, you want to use only the Fat Free Salad Dressings, but make 
sure there's always a selection.  Someone once told me that serving the
salad (or soup) first and separately (like they do in restaurants) helps
to diminish the appetite.  That's probably true, but I never could get
my family to go along with this.  Maybe you'll be able to pull it off.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

Jan
Newsgroups: alt.support.diet