Eating healthy is tough when you have kids

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  • TanyaHooton
    TanyaHooton Posts: 249 Member
    edited October 2016
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    My kids are directed to fruit, veggies, or leftovers for snacks. Luckily the youngest loves avocado and lemons and celery and every fruit on earth. Or leftovers might mean potato salad or mac and cheese, or it might mean birthday cake. Not every day is an A+, but most of them are.

    I'm very tight with the budget and I do the grocery shopping so all money goes toward home cooked dinners, grilled food for the man, organic produce, and their lunches. I rarely buy crackers, chips, ice cream, nuts, cookies. Even for their lunches they have cheese sticks, yogurt, fruit cups, water. You will not find snacks in our pantry, only ingredients to cook other things. I have no willpower so this is the solution that works.

    Once a year they get Halloween candy. I let them have it, even overeat, because they do it once a year and life should be about not being sensible sometimes. I will indulge too. But the next day I go back to apples and dark chocolate. I can get more of that candy anytime anyway.

    Same with Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's one or two meals each month. How often do we get pumpkin pie? I know I waited a whole year...
  • Strawblackcat
    Strawblackcat Posts: 944 Member
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    I limit myself to only good candy. Hershey's is nasty, in my opinion, since it's way too sweet. So I save my calories for a fancy piece of dark chocolate instead. :)
  • xX_PhoenixRising_Xx
    xX_PhoenixRising_Xx Posts: 622 Member
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    In general - everything in moderation. Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to eat it all, work some into your calorie intake. I buy food that is generally just for my kids - I have four (age 7 - 13), they're all active, play competitive sport, not overweight and very healthy. They know what portions of food look like because I taught them, and I have no issues with them eating some potato chips or a muesli bar. But that's their food. I plan my weeks and have food in the cupboard that I like to eat, it's often different to what they like to eat but if I want some of theirs or they want some of mine, no sweat.

    I guess my best advice if you really have no will power with chocolate or candy in the house is to weigh it and log it before you eat it. See the calorie cost in black and white. And specifically - Halloween isn't really a thing here but it's much like goodie bags from a birthday party. No way would I eat food that has been specifically given to them!
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Why not teach kids moderation? Offer them what you consider a healthy diet, fit treats in there, and have your share. I also have kids and first for their sake, the cupboards are not full of chocolate and cookies. I buy treats in portions, do not buy in bulk, and teach the kids to e.g. have a couple of cookies with breakfast and one after dinner and then follow the same rules of eating one portion at a time myself.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I will never understand why a parent wouldn't feed their children a healthy diet. I always saw that as one of my responsibilities as a parent.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    ummijaaz560 wrote: »
    Those who throw out perfectly good candy, do you feel bad? I mean people spend money for the children to be able to get a treat, is that not wasteful?

    Why not just limit the amount of doors the kiddies knock on to limit the amount of treats received?
    Or maybe I'm just sensitive to wasted food in America. :)

    No, I don't feel bad. That falls smack dab in my "I don't care" bucket.
  • Sloth2016
    Sloth2016 Posts: 846 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Only let your kids knock at known ketogenic eaters' houses. Heck, might as well start 'em young!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    How do you fit bulletproof coffee in a jack-o-lantern lunch pail?
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,114 Member
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    Buy things you don't like. Maybe coconut is not your favorite? Buy Mounds or Almond Joy.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
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    So weird question, maybe, but why can't you have any?

    I know that it can be tough but, as many have said, you need the willpower all on your own to do it. I personally LOVE those little halloween bars and it's a completely crazy reason why but here it is: I can eat an ENTIRE chocolate bar, even two, and it fits in my calorie goal. It sounds silly but I am very much a person who wants to eat an entire something and I always finish my plate which is why my personal struggle has been portioning. So if I can eat an entire one of something I am mentally satisfied.

    I wouldn't deprive myself, at all. If you enjoy chocolate then have some. I have found that my biggest binges come from when I deprive myself not when I have a little of something that I want. Just some food for thought.
  • Missy_Lifts
    Missy_Lifts Posts: 9 Member
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    We have snacks in my house all the time. If I want something, I add it into my macros so I can make sure to have it. Those Twix & KitKats are hard to resist. :wink:
  • jvcjim
    jvcjim Posts: 812 Member
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    healthy is a matter of choice and opinion. we have 6 kids (all raised now) they ate the same foods their mother and i did, only 1 of them is overweight (in college she tore both acl and stopped exercises and starting drinking, hence the weight gain). my wife is overweight and i am topping the obese scales! (bmi 70+) they just ate more realistic and rational portions while i chose to let myself go. there were always all sorts of sweets and fruits in the house so it plainly came down to choice and overindulgence for me.
  • chunky_pinup
    chunky_pinup Posts: 758 Member
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    Just as important as your health is to you, so should be your childs/childrens' health. If you are aknowledging that their snacks are unhealthy (that's how you worded it), why are they getting it in the first place? We are on a tight budget. We all eat the same things - toddler included. If I wouldn't eat it myself, I'm not going to get it for her. Of course, she gets to go crazy on candy in the next coming months (Halloween, Christmas, etc.) Occasions like that, of course she can indulge - just like I allow myself to! But, outside of those occasions, that stuff isn't in our house. It's moderation. Just like it's good for me, it's good for her, too.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    ummijaaz560 wrote: »
    Those who throw out perfectly good candy, do you feel bad? I mean people spend money for the children to be able to get a treat, is that not wasteful?

    Why not just limit the amount of doors the kiddies knock on to limit the amount of treats received?
    Or maybe I'm just sensitive to wasted food in America. :)

    I wouldn't personally throw out candy unless it involved a huge behavior problem. I don't have an urge to eat all the candy though.
    I would not let my child trick or treat if I wasn't okay with the candy coming back. I know people spend money on that stuff and it is disrespectful IMO to encourage my child to ask for a treat and then discard it.
    However, I have tossed gifts of homemade Christmas cookies because there is no way our family could consume the quantities we were given. I actually didn't really feel very bad about it. Maybe because it was a ridiculous amount, we didn't ask for it and the shelf life is more limited. I don't give food gifts like that anymore because I feel they are more a burden.

    People should make up their own minds how they want to handle these things though.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 1,049 Member
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    Don't buy unhealthy kids snacks. Teach them how to eat properly at a young age and, hopefully, they won't have the issues we have. Healthy cheese and crackers, granola bars, and even a cookie can be worked into your calorie amount for the day.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
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    I don't bring anything into the house I can't say no to. Cookies and ice cream don't really do it for me, so those can be around and I'll never touch them. Your mileage may vary.

    I make the money. I buy the food. I cook for the family. They can eat what I buy.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    Lounmoun wrote: »
    ummijaaz560 wrote: »
    Those who throw out perfectly good candy, do you feel bad? I mean people spend money for the children to be able to get a treat, is that not wasteful?

    Why not just limit the amount of doors the kiddies knock on to limit the amount of treats received?
    Or maybe I'm just sensitive to wasted food in America. :)

    I wouldn't personally throw out candy unless it involved a huge behavior problem. I don't have an urge to eat all the candy though.
    I would not let my child trick or treat if I wasn't okay with the candy coming back. I know people spend money on that stuff and it is disrespectful IMO to encourage my child to ask for a treat and then discard it.
    However, I have tossed gifts of homemade Christmas cookies because there is no way our family could consume the quantities we were given. I actually didn't really feel very bad about it. Maybe because it was a ridiculous amount, we didn't ask for it and the shelf life is more limited. I don't give food gifts like that anymore because I feel they are more a burden.

    People should make up their own minds how they want to handle these things though.

    When I am lucky enough to get gifted more yummy things than we can possibly consume before the shelf life expires, I just freeze the excess. That includes mini Hallowe'en chocolate bars. When they're frozen, you can just take a couple out and let them thaw. Really helps cut down on spontaneous/mindless munching, too. :)

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