Family hates your new diet? Try these 5 things.

How to succeed on your new diet when you’re doing it all by yourself.

You found a new diet or healthy lifestyle you want to start.

You’re so excited, pumped, motivated!

It’s going to last this time because you’re really prepared! You’ve got…

✔︎ a meal plan

✔ no unhealthy temptation in the house

✔ a back-up plan for when you want to give up

And then you tell your family and their response is, shall we say… less than enthusiastic.

Womp. Womp.

Don’t let that stop you from even starting though! You can still stick to your new diet even if your <husband, kids, parents, etc.> isn’t doing it – you just need a little creative planning!

(This post probably contains affiliate links. My full disclosure policy is quite boring, but you can read it here if you’d like!)

Here’s what to do when your family hates your new diet:

1 Get them involved

This one works especially well with kids. Tell them you need their help and where you’re at. You need to do this for YOU but you understand they might not want to do this for themselves, and you’d like to come up with some delicious dinners that will please everyone. Sit down and ask them some of their favorite meals, create some theme nights, go through a cookbook or a Pinterest board and ask them to pick some new recipes to try.

2 Be a sneaky chef

Replace some ingredients without telling them. Chances are they won’t notice coconut milk swapped for half and half or cauliflower mixed into their mashed potatoes. Being a sneaky chef also includes adding some things to existing recipes: finely chopped carrots and zucchini to marinara sauce, pureed beans as a soup thickener, etc. There’s a book that is all about this:

3 Make deconstructed meals

This one is probably the easiest. Find some things that are “a la carte” where everyone can choose what they put on their plate, giving you the option to leave off things you don’t want. Tacos, baked potato bar, stir fry, salad bar, sandwiches, etc. Sheet pan meals are also great for this because everything cooks together but separate (you know what I mean…ha!), here’s a bunch of good ones on this Pinterest board for you.

4 Freezer meals just for you

You’ll need a backup plan for those nights when everyone else wants one thing and you don’t want to derail your progress. Or you really want something and you know no one else would eat it. Before you go grocery shopping, find a few dinners that would be good as freezer meals and add the ingredients to your list. When you get home, prep them in small quantities just for you and pop them in the freezer.

5 Be positive

They’ll follow your lead, show this as a positive healthy habit, and they’ll see it that way. If you’re saying things like “I can’t have that” or “I just wish I could have some ice cream right now!” they’ll see your new change as negative restrictions instead of the great new healthy lifestyle you’re trying to adopt.

6 Don’t talk about it non-stop

This one is tough when it’s all that’s on our minds. But it’s not all that’s on theirs. Try to keep it to yourself as much as you can, and they’ll likely stop asking you if this is “paleo, Keto, gluten-free, etc”.