How To Outsmart Your Picky Eater

This post was sponsored by Hood as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

I have a picky eater.

Seriously, he will only eat cheese, bread, macaroni and cheese, quesadillas, yogurt, orange marmalade, and grape jelly. Oh and every sweet known to man. So trying to convince him that other foods taste good as well is an uphill battle. I have found some tips I am going to implement and will let you know how they have worked to outsmart my picky eater. I’m living in the trenches with ya!

Outsmarting Your Picky Eater

Have a Strategy

You need to have a strategy in place before you do anything else. Have responses prepared for when they beg for something else to eat, not finishing their meal, and outright refusal to eat at all.

Plan Meals and Snacks

Kids thrive on a routine. Decide when meals and snacks will happen throughout the day so that they know if they haven’t eaten at one meal time, they won’t get any food until the next meal/snack. It becomes a slippery slope of them refusing the meals you want them to eat and then getting something they do want before the next snack you have planned.

Keep Foods Simple

Making a casserole with a slew of vegetables sounds like a good idea because you theoretically get them to try several new foods at once. However, kids tend to shun “mixtures” of food, especially if it looks unfamiliar. Simple, plain foods such as sliced fruit or vegetables and dip tend to be a bigger hit.

Hide the Veggies and Fruits

Now, I said don’t do casseroles, but I didn’t say anything about hiding food in things they already like. If they like spaghetti with pasta sauce, blend some veggies in with the sauce that don’t alter the taste. Or make a smoothie with fruit they like and add a new kind with it.

Decisions, Decisions

Give them two options that are healthy and acceptable to you and let them decide what they want to eat. They might decide they don’t want either, but you are at least giving them some control over what they eat. This helps the child feel like they have a “voice” in what is eaten, and also introduces them to new foods.

Funny Food

There are so many different shapes that you can cut your picky eater’s food into. Look for cookie cutters in cute shapes that you can cut their sandwiches into. Or create a funny face with fruits and veggies. When they are playing with their food, they are more apt to tasting it.

Get help

If you have tried all of these strategies with your picky eater and none of them have sparked any sign of improvement, it might be time to speak to someone. There is a chance this is a sensory issue that goes beyond the scope of what this post is about.

For further reading, consider the following affiliate links:

Try Hood Calorie Countdown Dairy Beverage

Another item you could potentially swap out is the type of dairy beverage, such as milk, that your picky eater consumes. I switched out traditional chocolate milk for Hood Calorie Countdown Chocolate Dairy Beverage and boy is he hooked!

What are the benefits of Hood Calorie Countdown?

Hood Calorie Countdown is a combination of ultra-purified milk, from farmers who have vowed not to use artificial growth hormones, and cream with water (and a few other ingredients) to provide you with a creamy, tasty dairy beverage with less calories, carbs, and sugar. For example, Hood Calorie Countdown 2% Reduced Fat, per a 1 cup serving, contains 42% fewer calories, 75% fewer carbs, and 75% less sugar than traditional whole milk.

All while still providing 15% of your Daily needed Vitamin D, 25% of Calcium, and 15% of Vitamin A. So you aren’t sacrificing the healthy aspects of milk, but you are getting a healthier version.

How do you incorporate Hood Calorie Countdown into your diet and healthy lifestyle?

It’s really simple. For every glass of milk that you used to consume, just replace it with Calorie Countdown Dairy Beverage. That’s it. If you are counting calories, carbs, sugar, etc. now you can delegate the extra you saved from switching to other areas of your diet. For example, I am now trying to keep the amount of net carbs I eat a day under 30 g. Meaning the number of total carbs minus any dietary fiber. By having a serving of Calorie Countdown 2% Reduced Fat Dairy Beverage, I am only consuming 2 g of net carbs in the morning. That is a significant reduction that I can now use for the rest of my breakfast, don’t you think?

How was my shopping experience at Walmart for Hood Calorie Countdown?

My shopping experience at Walmart went very smoothly. They could have had a few more checkout lanes open, but that’s for another post. Calorie Countdown is in the refrigerated section right next to the regular milk. It’s not like some kinds of almond or coconut milk that is shelf-stable, it will need to be refrigerated at all times.

Get a $0.75 off coupon here to try out Hood Calorie Countdown Dairy Beverage today!

I’m guessing you can tell what veggie I snuck into this chocolate smoothie by the slight green tint to it (it was spinach). But all little man tasted was chocolate and peanut butter!

 

I think we have a winner!