By Carleton Rivers, MS, RD, LD
Some days you may find that your care recipient does not want to eat healthy. Here are some barriers that you may be experiencing and ways to move past them.
I don’t feel like eating breakfast:
- Create a planning team that includes your care recipient to map out a week of breakfasts.
- Assign breakfast tasks which give people "ownership" of their meal; this may encourage them to eat it.
- Be a breakfast role model by eating a nutritious breakfast each morning. Good habits are catching and everyone who joins you at the table will benefit.
- Eat breakfast together to enjoy some "catch-up" time. Studies show people who eat breakfast together tend to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink fewer soft drinks.
I am/want to be a vegetarian or I’m tired of meat:
- Try vegetarian options like tofu or tempeh.
- Beans are a great way to make sure you get enough protein but don’t eat more than one serving size because they are high in carbohydrates.
- Replace dairy products with soy products or almond milk (unsweetened).
I don’t want to do this diet any more:
- “You can stop whenever you would like but let’s first talk about why you feel this way.”
- “Let’s talk about how much better you can feel and look if you stick with this diet for a little longer.”
- “Why don’t we try it for one more day before you decide to stop the diet?”
- “Let’s make a list of why it would be good for you to continue on this diet and why it would be good for you to stop this diet.”
I want ice cream for dessert:
- “You know ice cream is high in carbohydrates and does not fit with your diet. Would you rather have yogurt with berries and a little bit of stevia on top?”
- “If you really want ice cream and I can’t talk you out of it, let’s go to the store and get those little ice cream cups for a special treat. Then you can just eat one to satisfy that sweet tooth.”
I don’t like the meals you are fixing:
- “How about we plan out your meals together so I can make sure to fix what you like while sticking with your diet.”
