Healthy eating in a busy family

[Monstersincq]

I'm really trying to lose some weight but struggling to eat supremely healthily in the context of busy life and 4 kids. It's not just about weight loss but about health in general, as I get older I really really want to look after myself better. Would love to know what a standard day of eating looks like for people in similar situation. If I lived alone it would be so easy to eat incredible healthy food all the time. I love cooking and love healthy dishes.

My children are pretty unfussy as kids go and we don't eat any ultra processed food or anything like that. BUT I can't expect them to eat the kind of super spicy or more out there stuff that I'd like to eat all the time. I also really care about food and variety etc so I just can't bear to eat the same average thing all the time. I've got so little time I definitely don't want to make different meals for different people.

What's a day in the life for those of you who are having same meals as your family?

Something I do for my family ( 2 children, 4 and 9, both involved in martial arts, husband, also does martial arts, but is conscious of wanting to lose a little) is serve up something that I can have more vegetables with and they get some sort of easy to prepare carb that I just skip.

Examples,
lentil bolognaise, broccoli, cheese, they get pasta, I get a bit extra broccoli
chickpea korma, I have half naan and cucumber, they get more bread and a little rice (this is a fuel meal for hours of karate)
roast vegetables, some form of protein, they get couscous under the veg

or when I make things like arepas, I miss the cheese out (crying!) or have one slice of toast when we have eggs for breakfast not two, crackers with soup if they have cheese on toast. Sandwich and salad, I have the fillings but no bread.

Something I am aware of is not wanting to have meals that look so different to my children, we eat minimally processed, mostly vegetarian meals anyway, healthier eating is the normal, but I don't want them to notice me worrying about my weight, which is at a health issue level.

Hot sauces, kimchi, sauerkraut etc are all low calorie and add a lot of flavour to meals, we make our own kimchi for the gut health benefits plus it's cheap!

Hi, I've got four kids aged 1 - 13 and I work 4 days a week so I'm fairly time poor. I've recently lost 2 stone using Fast800 and have switched over to weight watchers for the final stone I want to lose. My kids are incredibly picky and one of them is veggie. I cope by batch cooking or starting dishes off at the weekend and we generally all eat a variation of the same meals.

Over the last week we have had:
Monday: Stir fry with chicken (kids all had noodles and and raw veg, quorn pieces for the veggie). I don't have noodles just the stir fry - We're having it again tonight with tofu. I buy the pre packaged stir fry bags so this is super quick and easy.

Tuesday: Veggie Chili - Everyone else had rice and grated cheese and greek yogurt with theirs, I had broccoli and some quark with mine.

Wednesday: Everyone else had macaroni cheese bake and salad - I had an M&S ready meal - bulked out with edamame beans and peas - I don't usually do this but husband and I were both working late and the freezer was a bit bare.

Thursday: Sausage and bean one tray bake recipe from one of the Fast800 books. Veggie sausages for the veggie child, mashed potato for everyone else, roasted cauliflower for me. The kids mainly picked the sausages out the bake and ate mash and raw veg.

Friday: Frozen pizza for everyone except me. I don't work on a Friday so usually make the effort to make myself something nice often from the Fast 800 books. I often freeze a portion for the times I end up feeding the kids mac and cheese too.

Saturday: Fajitas with quorn and loads of peppers and onion and mushrooms. Raw veg for those who don't like cooked. I had the filling with a small amount of sour cream and cheese but no wrap - had some extra broccoli instead.

Sunday: Burgers and chips - made the burgers myself using low fat mince. Brioche buns, homemade potato wedges for everyone else, celeriac chips for me, roasted corn on the cob.

So essentially, I pretty much eat what my family do but I usually avoid the carb and bulk out with broccoli or cauliflower or just more veg. I'm already making variations of meals to accommodate fussy kids so putting in extra effort for myself is actually more gratifying!

Other things we eat as a family, Spag bol (lentil or mince), falafels, tacos, roast chicken, Toad in the hole..., Veggie curry... Reading this all back it sounds quite plebby and not the sort of foody stuff you were maybe after. It's not how I would cook if I didn't have kids but I do enjoy my food and I do sometimes do different meals for me and my husband at the weekend.