Preteens eating my diet food

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Replies

  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
    cebreisch wrote: »
    I have two girls. I swear, one of them is going to be a dietician! She keeps talking about having "healthy snacks" and not eating certain things because they aren't healthy! LOL I keep telling her sometimes it isn't necessarily the item itself that's not healthy, but the amount of it that's unhealthy (1 cookie vs. the whole container of cookies).

    I started buying greek yogurt, light string cheese, I'd get a certain sort of pretzels and portion them out into baggies....then my kids started eating them too. I just order more of that stuff now.

    If my new habits of eating better is rubbing off on them, then I'm all for it!! LOL

    I feel sad for your daughter and her relationship with food.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    Who told you you were supposed to put yourself last? Nonsense. Tell the kids that if they eat your designated foods, there will be consequences, then follow through. They eat all your raspberries? Take away privileges. They'll get the message.

    .... or .. buy enough raspberries so that everyone can have them?
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
    Hmm. If someone ate MY portion of the fresh raspberries, strawberries or shrimp, I can see being miffed. But I can't imagine buying stuff like that and saying it's for me and only me.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    edited January 2015
    Lock it up. Drill holes and install a hasp and staple into one of your refrigerator drawers and put a padlock on it. put a small lockbox in the pantry. Seems extreme, but it would be a firm message to drive home to the kids, "I'm serious. This stuff is verboten."
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    I don't think it's going to matter much in the long run either way. You can lose weight without your treats. Withholding treats from the kids while you enjoy them is unlikely to ruin their lives or doom them to years of therapy later on.

    I agree that mom doesn't have to put herself last, but buying food that everyone loves but only mom is allowed to eat is not something I would have ever done.

    If fresh fruit is too expensive for everyone, once thawed, is frozen fruit really so bad in your yogurt?
  • myheartsabattleground
    myheartsabattleground Posts: 2,040 Member
    little to no HP references. Very disappointed.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    603reader wrote: »
    cebreisch wrote: »
    I have two girls. I swear, one of them is going to be a dietician! She keeps talking about having "healthy snacks" and not eating certain things because they aren't healthy! LOL I keep telling her sometimes it isn't necessarily the item itself that's not healthy, but the amount of it that's unhealthy (1 cookie vs. the whole container of cookies).

    I started buying greek yogurt, light string cheese, I'd get a certain sort of pretzels and portion them out into baggies....then my kids started eating them too. I just order more of that stuff now.

    If my new habits of eating better is rubbing off on them, then I'm all for it!! LOL

    I feel sad for your daughter and her relationship with food.

    Why?
  • MelRC117
    MelRC117 Posts: 911 Member
    sullus wrote: »
    gothchiq wrote: »
    Who told you you were supposed to put yourself last? Nonsense. Tell the kids that if they eat your designated foods, there will be consequences, then follow through. They eat all your raspberries? Take away privileges. They'll get the message.

    .... or .. buy enough raspberries so that everyone can have them?

    How much raspberries to buy then if they eat a whole container in one sitting? 1, 5, 20?

    Why is it so bad to just ask them to remember they aren't the only ones in the house? I know self-centered preteens. Who would have thought.

  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    zarckon wrote: »

    The mom is always supposed to put herself last.

    You, ma'am, are wrong. This is not 1952, and the mom gets just as much right to be happy and have her share of splurges as anyone else. More so than the kids, even. If you are not healthy and happy, how can you possibly be expected to care for other people, on top of yourself? Criminy, what a dangerous and self-destructive thought process. What apparently goes on in your head alarms and worries me. :\ I hope you can fix that, and soon.

  • Will_Run_for_Food
    Will_Run_for_Food Posts: 561 Member
    Can you keep some stuff at work?
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    edited January 2015
    603reader wrote: »
    cebreisch wrote: »
    I have two girls. I swear, one of them is going to be a dietician! She keeps talking about having "healthy snacks" and not eating certain things because they aren't healthy! LOL I keep telling her sometimes it isn't necessarily the item itself that's not healthy, but the amount of it that's unhealthy (1 cookie vs. the whole container of cookies).

    I started buying greek yogurt, light string cheese, I'd get a certain sort of pretzels and portion them out into baggies....then my kids started eating them too. I just order more of that stuff now.

    If my new habits of eating better is rubbing off on them, then I'm all for it!! LOL

    I feel sad for your daughter and her relationship with food.

    Seriously? Because she understands that the food that she eats has an impact on her health?

    ETA: she never said anything about "good" or "bad" food, or shaming her for her food choices (quite the opposite, she is teaching her moderation), so maybe you are projecting a bit here?
  • laura2813
    laura2813 Posts: 84 Member
    When my children were at home and I bought stuff that was for me I would tell them so. If they decided to eat what was mine I would tell them all the extra I get for them will stop if they choose to eat my items. I didn't mind buying them stuff they ask for and having healthy stuff for them but my problems came when I went to get a snack for me and it was all gone. There were a few times I didn't get that special snack they wanted or and ice cream treat because they had indulged on my stuff. It seemed to work after they had to do without their special stuff a few times. In no way should you think you are being mean. There are limits in life..... why not learn some limits now? It's like eating your co-workers lunch out of the refrigerator at work. It's just not the thing to do.
  • PrizePopple
    PrizePopple Posts: 3,133 Member
    I don't consider the Greek yogurt and fresh fruit that I purchase "me only" items. Limiting them on things that I feel are better choices is just not something I do. My daughters are 7 and 10, and if they want yogurt and fruit then by all means they can help themselves to it.

    Portion some out for yourself and put it on your shelf. Seriously, if I put a note on the yogurt saying it was mine for my smoothies my husband would look at me like I'm high, eat some yogurt, and then tell me to go buy more. And that's what I would do. I'd go buy more. If it's getting consumed and money is not an issue, buy more, buy enough for your kids to eat it too if they enjoy it.

    Now my Fiber One 90 calorie brownies... my girls know those are my treats because I don't eat the cookies in the freezer like the rest of the family. Same goes for my Quest bars, but those are a little expensive, and not something they would be interested in anyhow.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    edited January 2015
    Nope. Not the parent of the year but we were never raised to separate food from each other. It's in the house, it belongs to everyone. You go get more if need be.

    What about buying enough for everyone, and saying please don't eat my share? I see nothing wrong with that, personally. Learning to share is important, and part of that is learning not to take someone else's stuff, be it toys or their portion of food they're saving for later.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Oooh, this takes me back. My teens turned in to food destructors practically overnight. I did NOT have a lot of extra money so practically overnight the home-made cookies ended and were replaced with a monster generic box of chocolate chip cookies. My children mourn that day even now. Chinese noodles and canned beans in the cupboard. Those were the inexpensive foods I could think of that might reasonably fill their corners before (a nutritious, balanced) supper.

    A friend of mine, also a single parent, came home to discover that her teen son had cooked the roast and eaten it at a single sitting.

    It sounds like you have an abundance of healthy choices available at all times. There's no reason why they should rifle through your designated section. I second the advice to have a designated "mom only" section.

    I love noel's advice about changing the wifi password. Warn the preteens ahead of time of the consequences of hitting up the "mom only" section.

    Don't worry. These days I bake cookies for my (adult) children now and again.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
    We share all the food. Certain thing I know my kids and I both enjoy, like fresh berries, I buy more of. It's not uncommon for me to have 5 or 6 boxes of berries in the fridge, also 4 or 5 bunches of bananas. We all eat two of those a day, at the very least. My two year old plowed through the last box of blueberries this morning. Time to go shopping. =)
  • I'd suggest having a specific tupperware for your special food- you're the one who needs to eat certain things to remain on diet targets, without those treats you'll splurge. Find some container, label it 'Mum's' and if they can't see what they're missing it's not mean! I often get houmous for ME and my partner earlier said 'I don't think I'll have any of that this time'. I was like 'Good! It's mine!' I didn't want him having it last time. Men and children especially have less of a hard time than us. I'm generalizing and I know some guys really fid it hard to lose weight but most men approach weightloss as 'I'll eat less' and then they do. Simple. They don't realise yummy healthy snacks are what get us through the emotional pull towards high-sugar/carb yummy stuff! You mark your territory and enjoy those healthier snacks.
  • sweetdixie92
    sweetdixie92 Posts: 655 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    .... It appears that some people have never heard of discipline? Those who think discipline is a bad idea, I sure hope *you* don't have kids. Kids are not adults, they are supposed to mind. If they don't, consequences are appropriate. Such as the consequence NoelFigart1 has proposed there.

    I agree. I'm 22 and thankful my parents didn't just say, "oh well...kids will be kids." Yes, they will, within reason. If I bought food specifically because I'm trying to watch what I eat and I had a kid that could care less? There would be consequences.

    I think it's great that you do what you can for your family. Too many moms out there seem to have forgotten what being a mom REALLY is. But at the same time, your family eating the food that you have designated for your diet seems unappreciative and downright rude. I don't think it's out of line for you to buy special things...sounds like you deserve it!

    On the flip side, I live at home and sometimes will buy special low calorie food for myself because I don't eat chips and other snacky food much. If my dad gets ahold of it...goodbye food! Lol. I have to hide it!
  • my3boys424
    my3boys424 Posts: 146 Member
    I don't see anything wrong with having separate food just for you during this important journey. That being said, I'd buy double the raspberries and shrimp etc and put yours in a separate, labeled container. You're not depriving your family of good food, just making sure that you have what you need to be successful.