Hey folks, Erin is back to answer more of your questions about feeding picky eaters, how to stay motivated when you\u2019re not seeing results, and the real reason meal plans don\u2019t work. Got more health and wellness questions for Erin? Drop them in the comments below or head over to the Mark\u2019s Daily Apple Facebook group.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lucas asked: Trust me Lucas, you\u2019re not alone in this battle. Many of my clients are moms and dads in this same stuck-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place situation. As you mentioned, you\u2019re doing well on your primal journey, but it\u2019s not so easy for everyone. Especially kiddos.<\/p>\n Think about what it took to get you where you are now. Maybe you were fed up with carrying extra weight. Or you were sick of battling cravings or fatigue. Or you didn\u2019t want to go down the traditional route of developing a chronic disease. Little kids don\u2019t have that. Your picky eater has zero motivation for wanting to change his food preferences. Couple that with the fact that he\u2019s probably bombarded with hyper-palatable foods that come out of brightly colored packages, and it\u2019s no wonder he\u2019s not super psyched about forgoing his mac \u2018n cheese and chicken nuggets for ribeye and saut\u00e9ed greens.<\/p>\n Overconsumption of processed food is proven to lead to all sorts of conditions, including type 2 diabetes in kids under 18. And if you start them out on these foods out of \u201cease\u201d you\u2019re actually making things harder for them later in life.<\/p>\n Remember, you and your wife are the ones buying the groceries. You have the opportunity to change your child\u2019s habits and patterns before he\u2019s out there making choices for himself.<\/p>\n This study out of the University of Alberta showed that kids who were involved with food prep were more likely to make healthy choices at mealtimes. Researchers asked 3,398 fifth graders how often they helped prepare food at home and then rated their preference for things like fruits and vegetables. Not surprisingly, they found that up to 93% of the children reported helping their parents at mealtime at least once a month. And the more they helped, the more often they chose healthy foods.<\/p>\n Instead of forcing the issue, which typically leads to a power struggle, and possibly a dysfunctional relationship with food, follow the research and learn how to help him overcome picky eating and make eating healthy fun for everyone.<\/p>\n Debra asked: If there\u2019s one thing I tell my health coaching clients over and over again, it\u2019s this: get comfortable with undramatic efforts. I know it\u2019s not sexy to go slow, especially when you\u2019re lacking motivation and jaw-dropping (and extremely unhealthy) before-and-afters are plastered all over social media. Diet culture tells us that this kind of glow up is normal. It\u2019s absolutely not.<\/p>\n Fast progress is rarely real. And, research proves it\u2019s not sustainable. Sure, you can micromanage your caloric intake or \u201cdiet down\u201d until you reach your goal. But then what? What happens when you start eating normally? It\u2019s unlikely you gained your extra weight quickly, so why would it come off quickly? This is the time to practice the art of patience.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not here to give you some rah-rah motivational cheerleader pep talk. I\u2019m not gonna say, \u201cyou can do it!\u201d or the tough-love version, \u201cjust suck it up!\u201d Instead, I\u2019m going to share a little nugget of wisdom with you.<\/p>\n True change and personal growth aren\u2019t easy. They require self-compassion and radical honesty, two traits of human behavior I think we could all use to improve on. I know you\u2019re discouraged with your results, but instead of focusing on the fact that you haven\u2019t yet met your goal, take this time to look at the positives:<\/p>\n Working on yourself is hard, frustrating, and even painful at times. It\u2019s also 100% worth it.<\/strong> Offer yourself the kindness of not giving up on yourself.<\/p>\n I know you can do this. But if you need extra health coaching help moving forward, I recommend checking out myPrimalCoach. It\u2019s Mark\u2019s latest venture and it\u2019s a powerful way to work with a real health coach 1-on-1 from the comfort of your home. We built it with real change and personal growth in mind.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Debbie asked: Here\u2019s the thing about meal plans. Usually, they suck; they don\u2019t teach you anything about food and they can be a little boring and inflexible. And rarely do they last. Many nutrition and health coaches are trained to give their clients meal plans (thankfully, the ones who graduate from the Primal Health Coach Institute know a better way), but just because meal plans are a staple in the health and fitness world, doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re a good thing. And they probably aren\u2019t what you need.<\/p>\n More than 45 million people start a new way of eating each year and most of them don\u2019t stick with it. Here\u2019s why. With traditional diets and meal plans, you\u2019re instructed to eat a specific amount of a specific thing at a specific time. You might be thinking, YES, that\u2019s exactly what I want! Except it\u2019s not. While that might work for a few days, or if you\u2019re lucky, a few weeks, ultimately, one of three things happens:<\/p>\n These are just a few of the reasons I don\u2019t do meal plans. If I were you, I would get familiar with which foods support you and make you feel vibrant and healthy, and then learn how to cook those foods in a way that\u2019s appetizing to you. Don\u2019t outsource this one. Instead, spend a little time doing the work. Like the saying goes, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.<\/p>\n Tell me what you think below. And if you want to work with your own health coach, visit the new myPrimalCoach site, and let me know what you think of that too.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhile I\u2019m doing well with my primal lifestyle, I\u2019d like some help getting my 3-year-old to eat better. Out of ease, my wife and I (wife isn\u2019t so primal) have been buying processed things for him and since I stay at home, I do have more control over his schedule and diet for most of the time. What are some strategies I can implement for getting him to eat healthier foods and what sort of foods should I feed him?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nHow to Change a Picky Eater\u2019s Preferences<\/h2>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve been doing Primal about 2 months and am starting to struggle. I have not missed a day of exercise for 2 months and have slowly improved my eating habits. I had a goal before vacation, and I didn\u2019t reach it so I\u2019m a bit disappointed. How do I stay motivated when the results are so slow?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nSlow Process is the Best Kind of Progress<\/h2>\n
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\u201cI know what my macros should be but trying to get my meals to match them has proved beyond challenging. Can you recommend a good program that allows one to put meal plans together (with recipes) based on individual macros?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nHere\u2019s Why Meal Plans Don\u2019t Work<\/h2>\n
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