It’s no secret that staying on a healthy diet all the time is hard for just about everyone. We’re tempted by the high-fat, super-salty foods that are simple to make and enjoy. Fast food restaurants and takeout seem like easy choices, but oftentimes provide calories that don’t help fuel the body.

If you have found that your parent struggles to eat healthy food, there may be several reasons that cause a roadblock for her that you can discuss and find paths around. While knowing that healthy eating will provide her with better health is a great incentive, sometimes other things come up that make following through on those good intentions difficult.

Healthy food is expensive.

When going to the grocery store, it might seem like budget-wise, it’s a much better deal to buy that bag of chips than that pound of grapes. When your parent is on a fixed income, splurges on fresh fish might not seem like a good idea to her. You can help her start by having a food budget and then creating a shopping list that she’ll stick to. It’s often those impulse items (those delicious smelling donuts) that end up using all of the budget. If impulse buying is a problem, you might have someone from her companion care at home team go with her to the store to make sure she buys all the healthy food first, and then if there’s any money left over, buy a small treat or two.

Eating alone makes bad choices easier.

If your parent often eats alone, she might find it much easier to pop in a frozen pizza for dinner every night because no one else is there. She might even skip a meal for ice cream all night. But those momentary choices have long-term health consequences. Consider having someone from a companion care at home team join her for meals. That person can even help with meal prep if cutting, chopping, and mixing salad items seems too overwhelming for your parent. And eating with someone is almost always more pleasurable and will reinforce good eating habits even when your parent has to eat alone.

Food doesn’t taste as good as it used to.

Your parent may have found in her later years that food just doesn’t seem as tasty as it used to. Some lifestyle habits, like drinking alcohol or smoking can reduce the senses of taste and smell, which may affect how the food tastes. Medication and some ailments can do the same. Instead of your parent grabbing that salt bomb of a frozen meal to get some flavor, introduce her to fresh herbs, spices, and citrus to her meals to jazz up the flavor. She might be surprised by how much better a grilled taco tastes with some lime juice squeezed on top.

There are plenty of reasons that eating healthy may not be your parent’s first choice, but if you can find the cause of not eating right, you’ll be more likely to help her make better food choices in the future.

If You Or An Aging Loved One Are Considering Hiring Companion Care at Home in Gulfport, FL, Please Contact The Caring Staff At Assisting Hands Home Care Today! 727-748-4211.