What To Do With Family Members Who Don’t Support Your Healthy Lifestyle

Happy Friday, everybody! Thank you for tuning in to my question and answer. And today’s Q and A, I’m going to address what to do with those family members that do not support your healthy lifestyle. Now, this question gets posed to me in a variety of ways. It’s typically “Sam, my husband does not support me. He comes and brings home all kinds of garbage food, and it’s really tough for me not to eat it. He doesn’t like what I cook for him or my children won’t eat what I’m cooking for them. And I just find it very difficult to kind of maintain this healthy lifestyle. They don’t like to go out and walk and things like that with me, they would rather sit and watch movies. What can I do?” So today’s video. I’m gonna address all of that.

So the first step to do when you’re dealing with resistance from those family members or those loved ones are made as the people that you live with need to expect it going in, right? So especially those that have just recently changed to a healthier lifestyle. You’re going to get resistance from those, especially if you’re trying to put your new found healthy lifestyle on somebody that’s not ready for it, right? You can’t shove your, what you love down their throat, or you’re just going to create more turmoil, more tension in that relationship. So expect the resistance going into it. Now, after you’ve grasped it, there’s going to be some resistance. You can do this either ahead of time or, you know, right after you start getting into your healthier lifestyle is you need to explain to that person why it’s important and not just saying things like, Oh, I just want to be healthier. It needs to come from a true place then you need to explain your why to them. So an example, and this is just something I’m going to make up off the top of my head, but like an example you would say to someone, I would say to someone that’s given me a lot of resistance, it would be… “You know, I am trying to get healthy right now because I have a generational problem in my family of men that are dying early. And I don’t want to pass it on to my children. I am afraid that if I don’t get healthier, I’m going to have a heart attack tomorrow. That is why I’m doing this. I’m not just doing this for no reason…” Something along those lines, the side note if you’re talking to children, it doesn’t have to be that in depth. You can simply say something along the lines of… “it makes daddy or mommy feel better when I eat healthier foods and I’m active that way I have more energy to play with you.” again, that’s just a generic example, but you get the point.

So if you explain to this person or the people that are giving you resistance why it’s important to you really, you need to set the example day after day before you can expect any change out of anybody. So you need to just be living that healthy lifestyle, letting your light shine through being that beam. Once they see how happy and how much more energy you have, how you’re feeling, how you’re looking, that’s going to wear off on them eventually. And then they’re going to be more receptive to the healthier lifestyle. Then maybe you could start incorporating, you know, family exercise, or there’ll be more receptive to your healthier meals. But at first, when you haven’t set the example at all, there’s going to be a lot of resistance. So to kind of recap that you need to go in expecting the resistance. You need to explain a true why it’s got to come from a deep place on why it is important to you. And then you have to set the example and it can’t just be one day, one week. It needs to be day after day and just be positive about it. 

And then over time, they’re going to change. Now, if you don’t have any children, or you don’t want to hear any on soliciting parenting advice, you can turn this video off right now. Cause I might go on a slight rant here. So those common question I get is Sam, what do I do? My kids won’t eat healthy. Well, you need to really ask yourself a few things. One, do you want your kids to be unhealthy? Do you want you to set your kids up to have an unhealthy lifestyle? That’s something you need to get in the mindset. And the second thing your kids, when you’re cooking for them, they might not eat it initially, but eventually when they get hungry enough, they’re going to eat what you put out on the table, especially if that is their only option. That’s the end of my rant there again, if you don’t want to take my unsolicited parenting advice, I’m not a pediatrician. So you don’t have to. All right. That’s all for today’s video. Again, expect resistance. Explain why it is important and be the example for your family. That is all for today. Thank you for all the questions I’ve been getting. I’ve been loving it. Everybody, stay strong. I’ll see you Monday.