what to feed the rest of the family

I made the change to eat healthier last year, I've lost @55 lbs, and my family has gotten healthier as a great side effect of it. but I find it challenging to feed several different metabolisms at once. My 13 year-old daughter who is 5'3"/99lbs and VERY active, obviously has different needs than me- or my 6'2"/235lb construction worker husband. Any tips on planning meals that fit everyone? (right now I have set a goal of 10lbs by 8/1, so my suggested intake is 1575)

I have to amit, this is a really tough one. i have been waiting for someone to reply to you so I could get some more ideas. I have 2 little boys, 1 and 3. They both eat all day. My husband is about 200 lbs and 6'4". So he can eat a lot also. We really only have our dinners together so we almost always have grilled fish or chicken with veggies and rice or mashed potaoes. He spices his meat up how he likes it and I do what I can to keep my calories down. My kids eat whatever we eat most of the time so we are lucky there. Another thing we do is the boys have hamburgers or hot dogs and I eat veggie burgers or veggie dogs. We all eat whole wheat buns now. It's really tough though trying to make everyone happy. I'de love to hear some more suggestions if anyone else has them. Congrats on your weight loss! That's great! And I agree that it has been nice to see the rest of my family eating healthier with me too. Hopefully my kids will grow up with better habits than I had! Suzana

Try something where you can put sauce on the side.  You can just dip a time or two for flavor and they can use as much as they feel like.  Also, add a starchy side dish like potatos that you either skip or nibble sparingly.

Dessert can be things like fresh berries and you skip the whipped cream/ice cream or have just a dab.

It is a big challenge no matter how you look at it!  I have a husband who loves red meat and has no need to be dieting.  I have two growing teen-age sons who can eat till the cows come home and still not gain any weight and they have very typical teenage appetites - eat all food in sight!!!

So, what to do to satisfy this crew and myself.  What I usually do is plan the meal to satisfy the family - it may be, for instance,  a standard roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy and green peas and buttered rolls on the side.  For myself, I will eat a small portion of the roast beef but will make myself sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes (I boil them up in the pot together).  I will eat the green peas and, instead of the buttered roll, I will have a garden salad.  Quite often, if we're having BBQ, I will make the homemade burgers for the guys but a salmon steak for myself.  I buy fish and chicken for myself  - when I get them home from the store, I freeze them in individual pouches so that I can easily grab just one serving.  Last night, the guys wanted spaghetti.  I boiled up their usual spaghetti and boiled up some whole wheat penne for myself.  They got the homemade spaghetti sauce - I fried a chopped tomato, a small vidalia onion and a bit of green pepper in a little olive oil and topped my penne with that. 

What I am typically doing is cooking separate meals but it really doesn't seem like much extra fuss or bother if some of the foods are shared.

You know, suzana, your kids might actually eat those veggie dogs you say you eat...I don't eat them myself, but my kids love hot dogs and I buy the veggie corndogs for them. They are 1 and 3 also and do not know the difference. I feel better giving them that than a typical hot dog or corn dog. I think whether someone is active and at a good weight or not doesn't really matter because everyone should benefit from eating a healthy diet. Especially kids, whose eating patters as adults will hopefully at least somewhat reflect what they were taught to eat. I wish my mom had known more about eating healthy, so that as a teenager and young adult I might have made better choices. I am only 24 now, but I hate to think the damage I've done to my body just with the things I've chosen to eat in the last 5-10 years. I definitely don't want that for my kids.

You are so right veryminte! I don't know why I didn't think of that. I am going to give them veggie dogs now too. They both like veggie burgers. Dad wont touch anything with veggie in front of it, but I can get the kids on the right track! Thanks for the advise!

same here.. I have 2 boys who are 14 and 10 yr old.

I usually cook for the family, but I make alot of healthy things. When I make spagetti I will use Whole wheat noodles and add turkey kielbalsa for them, I add the marinara to mine and grill some mushrooms and onions. Usually my older will add those but my younger won't.. Tonight I'm making baked chicken with some brocolli & using whole wheat buns for some garlic bread..

 I try to make the choices in the house pretty healthy.. We do have some junk, but most of it is pretty healthy.. I would like to set my kids up to think whole wheat is the way to go along with eating fruits and veggies..My Dad tried very hard as a single father, but we ate like crap and finding a healthy way of life has been a struggle for me.. So, I want to atleast show them the way to eat, whether they cont. after they leave my house or not..