How did you eat as a child?
lthames0810
Posts: 722 Member
Just curious about what you were typically fed as a child and we're you over weight back then.
For me this was in the US in the 1960's, a family of four: stay at home mom, my dad worked days so was home in the evening and I had a younger sister.
Breakfast was cold cereal with banana and milk in the summer, or oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar and milk in the winter.
Lunch was either a peanut butter and jelly or a bologna sandwich with an apple. (In my Three Stooges lunchbox on school days.). Milk to drink. Always whole milk.
After school was a snack to tide us over until Daddy got home of one cookie and a little milk. Don't want to spoil you supper!
Supper would vary much more than the other meals, but typically included a meat, a cooked vegetable, potatoes or rice and a salad. Milk or water to drink. Not usually a dessert, but if we had one it was something like canned fruit and a cookie. My dad insisted that we clean our plates (never a problem for me but a constant battle for my sister who hated vegetables and still does to this day), but I learned that if I ate too quickly, he would pile more food on whether I wanted it or not and he would insist that I eat all of that as well.
Both my sister and I were skinny little kids, but as was typical in that era, we were sent outside to play after school and on weekend mornings and not allowed back in the house until we were called in for a meal or if there was bad weather.
I still have this way of eating in my head as the model for good health.
For me this was in the US in the 1960's, a family of four: stay at home mom, my dad worked days so was home in the evening and I had a younger sister.
Breakfast was cold cereal with banana and milk in the summer, or oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar and milk in the winter.
Lunch was either a peanut butter and jelly or a bologna sandwich with an apple. (In my Three Stooges lunchbox on school days.). Milk to drink. Always whole milk.
After school was a snack to tide us over until Daddy got home of one cookie and a little milk. Don't want to spoil you supper!
Supper would vary much more than the other meals, but typically included a meat, a cooked vegetable, potatoes or rice and a salad. Milk or water to drink. Not usually a dessert, but if we had one it was something like canned fruit and a cookie. My dad insisted that we clean our plates (never a problem for me but a constant battle for my sister who hated vegetables and still does to this day), but I learned that if I ate too quickly, he would pile more food on whether I wanted it or not and he would insist that I eat all of that as well.
Both my sister and I were skinny little kids, but as was typical in that era, we were sent outside to play after school and on weekend mornings and not allowed back in the house until we were called in for a meal or if there was bad weather.
I still have this way of eating in my head as the model for good health.
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Cereal for breakfast. Sometimes cake. Lunch was balanced (either home or at school - protein, veggies, small dessert). Lots of junk for snacks after school (it was France. Bakeries everywhere), and 'balanced' dinner.
I was a fat kid. My mom's cooking wasn't the best at all. I only liked the high calorie stuff she made. And cheese and bread. I always had a high calorie snack when we went somewhere.0 -
i wasn't overweight and i wasn't exactly healthy? i only gained a bit of weight in middle school and that's where i began making healthier choices.
my family stocked up on lots of processed snacks in bulk too. i overate sometimes on those snacks and sugary candy.
my day typically looked like this:
breakfast: two slices of bread with eggs and bacon. the bacon was greasy and crispy. the eggs sometimes had sliced up ham in them.
i started eating breakfast from stores in middle school, like high calorie egg sandwiches or cuban bread with butter, croquettes, etc.
lunch: a small pack of gummies, a bag of chips, and a typical sandwich (two slices of bread, cheese, ham/bologna, sometimes a type of spread). i'd often get another snack too like a roll up or something.
snacks: processed foods (chips, gummies, candy). my mom would often make a sandwich for me when i came back from school or bring me a fast food, to-go meal.
other times, i'd fit guava, fruit, or watermelon juice in when we went to a nearby park.
dinner: typically whatever my mom makes but my parents would often buy take away or restaurant foods like lasagna, chinese, chicken and rice, etc.
if my mom made the dinner, it could be meatloaf with mashed potatoes and vegetables or creamy shrimp noodles.... it varies0 -
My mother was a nurse and she fed us fairly closely to the Canada Food Guide.
Cereal for breakfast
Main meal at lunch - meat & veggies
Small snack after school - one cookie and milk
Light meal at 6 pm - sandwich or eggs on toast or something
Small snack right before bed - fruit
Small but reasonable portions.
Desserts only on weekends, or if we did have a dessert after the evening meal, it would be a piece of fruit or something really small.
I was a very slender child and remained slender almost my entire life. I only gained weight in recent years, and only temporarily.
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I wasn't overweight until I hit puberty. More often than not, cereal during the week with banana or strawberries depending on the season, weekends were eggs. Lunch most often was school lunch, if I didn't like what they were serving than I would probably have a tuna sandwich and some carrots, or maybe bologna sandwich. Dinner was mostly chicken, fish and occasionally pork or beef with a side of salad (I didn't like cooked veggies) and a starch probably rice. We never had snacks in the house, no chips or cakes, or cookies. I'm not sure this was a good thing, as once I was able to have money and go to the store on my own I tended to buy all the things we didn't have at home, more often than not hostess stuff. Candy and cakey stuff. I would hide it in my drawer in my room. This carried into adult hood even when I was married, my ex and I would go to the movies and both get a box of candy, when I got home, I would hide mine in my dresser, my ex knew I had it, who was I hiding it from? Once we got divorced I had to physically force myself to bring any candy or things I deemed in my mind "bad" into the kitchen and out of the dresser drawers. Then I had to force myself to not hide them behind "healthier" things in the cupboard especially if someone was coming over and might see and then I got to the point where I could leave them out and didn't care if anyone saw. But that took a concerted effort on my part, it was so engrained since childhood.1
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I was never overweight as a kid, I was really active and ate overall healthy.
Breakfast- toast, eggs, bacon. Anything sweet would give me heck of a stomach so no pop tarts
Lunch- either bought at school (it was far less disgusting 10 years ago than it is today) or a sandwich, piece of fruit, crackers or chips, something sweet and water. In high school I packed my own lunch and instead of water took a soda pop.
Dinner- my dad cooked so it was meat, potatoes, beans or corn. EVERY NIGHT, until I got to high school and started doing some of the cooking. I made things like chicken stew, shredded pork, tacos, etc.2 -
Oh man. So, spoiler alert - I was a latchkey kid. My parents both worked full time and my mom was also pursuing advanced degrees in the evening (literal hero, everyone). So from an early age I was responsible for my own meals and usually for dinner at least once a week when my dad had Lions Club meetings or another obligation after work.
Typical Breakfast: cereal or pop tarts (occasionally toaster streudel if we bought it that week) before the bus.
Typical lunch: My parents gave me $10 a week for allowance. I could use that to buy lunch every day if I needed to, or I could save it for the weekend and use it for movies or going out with my friends. If I bought lunch, it was usually nachos, or there was a little market of snacks and I would get cookies, chips, and a bagel. If I saved the money, I'd pack a sandwich (often bagel with pepperoni and cheddar cheese) and some chips, and maybe fruit if we had it.
After school: volleyball practice or play practice. Sometimes we'd grab Subway (the only restaurant within walking distance of school) before games. If I didn't have practice, I'd come home and SNACK. Chips and salsa, mostly.
Dinner: If my dad cooked, we'd have a pan-fried meat like pork chops, some type of potato, and either canned peas or canned green beans (both of which I can't stand anymore). Occasionally he'd make pancakes or hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. If I was responsible for dinner, we'd have hot dogs and mac and cheese, or sandwiches and chips, or tuna helper - things children can make.
I didn't really discover food until college, and now cooking is my favorite thing. I cook dinner almost every night, now. When I was studying for the bar exam, I moved back in with my parents and took over the cooking. When I moved out, my dad was so upset he couldn't have my food anymore! Now I make things like grilled chicken and panzanella salad with roasted asparagus or grilled steaks with salad and roasted Brussels sprouts (I made both of those meals this week!).
I think it should be pretty obvious from my diet that I was overweight as a child. I don't blame my parents for that - I think they honestly did the best they could to get me and my brother food, knowing they might not be home to cook for us. I'm still working on my weight loss journey but it's been a food love journey as well!2 -
my mom made us each two softboiled eggs and a piece of toast on weekdays. school lunch in elementary school was a balogna sandwich - 2 slices with mustard - and i can't remember what else, but we had to buy a school milk. dinner was things like pot roast or meatloaf with a canned vegetable (mushy spinach, green beans or zucchini), mashed potatoes or rice with little butter and no other flavorings or gravy. always with a glass of milk and a piece of bread with butter. sometimes she'd make pasta shells with a scratch sauce and hamburger meat or a hamburger, van de kamp's halibut filets or a burger. i disliked my mom's cooking and food choices till i was 13 and my dad got her an electric skillet that came with some tasty recipes.
my mom did make some really great holiday meals, though - her turkey was superb - and we had a few "special" entres we only had a couple times a year - leg of lamb, some tasty roast beef or rib roast. and once a month we'd either eat out, get pizza from pizza man or get fast food - my mom loved jack in the box, and i found it a step up.
sometimes on weekends we had cereal or my dad made french toast. and on sundays we'd go to my grandparents' - if we went earlier, my grandpa would get a spread, and i'd always have a bagel, lox and cream cheese. later would be hamburgers and fries from johnnie's or my grandma might cook.
when it came to snacks, we rarely ate things like potato chips, and a serving of cookies was always 2 cookies, which always - always - made me feel deprived. we often had graham crackers as a snack, which i always disliked. at some point, my mom bought ding dongs or cupcakes. we had one snack a day at around 4 pm.
i also wasn't overweight till i hit puberty, and didn't really hit weight issues till my mid-twenties. but my constant disappointment in most of our food through my childhood may well have played a part in my problems with eating now.1 -
My grandfather had a garden so we ate a lot of fresh stuff. I was outside all the time except for saturday mornings and maybe an hour in the afternoons so I stayed pretty thin. Breakfast usually consisted of either cereal or grits, lunch was a sandwich and something else, dinner was always a meat and two vegetables. Sometimes it was a meat, a starch and a vegetable. Snacks were usually popcorn.0
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Farm kid born in 81.
Breakfast: whatever. Sugar cereal. Oatmeal. White bread with jam.
Lunch: I honestly have no recollection of what I was sent to school with. I think typically a sandwich on Wonderbread and some kind of packaged snack. Maybe a banana.
Dinner: Meat, potato, vegetable. Nearly without fail. Roast, boiled, boiled.
Lots of home baking. No restrictions of any kind.
I was so skinny as a kid. I only gained weight as an adult as a result of having 2 kids (I could eat everything I wanted for 5 years or so, and I forgot to stop), decreasing activity when I moved from being a student into having a desk job, and developing a love of craft beer. I wasn't THAT active as a kid, either. More of a book reader. I just had a good relationship with my appetite.1 -
I was not a fat kid until the 5th grade. My Italian parents used food as positive reinforcement. If I got a good grade, I got a treat. If I had a bad day, I got a treat to make me feel better. We ate lots of carbs and sugar. Cereal for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chips for lunch and of course, pasta and bread always with dinner. My dad was allergic to fish so none of that and my mom was a great cook. I am one of 6 kids and all but one of my siblings have struggled with weight issues. I finally overcame the cycle of emotional eating and rewarding myself with food. Now the focus is on healthy eating and exercise. When I had my own children I watched to make sure I did not use food as a reward. Both my children are healthy eaters.1
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I grew up in a European home so breakfast was usually an espresso with a lot of milk, sugar and animal cookies
lunch was a salami sandwich and dinner was usually meat and pasta (we didn't eat too many vegetables lol)
It's amazing how I still grew with such little protein. GH is amazing lol0 -
I was overweight through childhood and reached obesity during high school. I did eat typical American breakfasts like cereal or eggs and bacon, but in my parents' culture, there are other types of food used for breakfast, so I'd also eat that. I ate whenever I wanted and whenever my mom cooked. I was always praised for never being picky about vegetables like many other children. Nearly every day that my dad would came home from work, he gave my siblings and I various treats to share. I always aimed to call dibs for the largest share possible. It's no wonder I was overweight. In high school, I became less active (I outgrew outdoor children's games) but did not change my eating habits which is in part why I became obese rather than just overweight.
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I grew up in a European home so breakfast was usually an espresso with a lot of milk, sugar and animal cookies
lunch was a salami sandwich and dinner was usually meat and pasta (we didn't eat too many vegetables lol)
It's amazing how I still grew with such little protein. GH is amazing lol
This has nothing to do with your post but OMG I want to snatch that burger out of your profile pic and stuff it down my gullet. lol
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Age 12 and under, USA 1974-1986, below average weight, sahm, working father, 2 older siblings-
Breakfast was cereal most days. Sometimes oatmeal or malt-o-meal. On special occasions eggs, pancakes, French Toast.
Lunch at home would have been a sandwich or can of soup. At school the food was stuff like pizza, mac and cheese, fruit and milk. There wasn't a kitchen at the first elementary school I went to. I brought lunch sometimes and it was a sandwich. On Sundays there might be roast beef and such for lunch when we went to my grandmother's home.
Dinner was often meat, potatoes, canned vegetables.
Snacks were dry cereal, fruit, popcorn, cheese usually.
We had dessert on special occasions. We ate out mostly for birthdays or anniversaries.
At home we drank water, tea, hot chocolate, milk. Not pop very often.
No computer. No vcr. No cable tv. Not many video games. Walked to school and other places. We played outside a lot.
Age 13-18, USA 1987-1992, about 10 lbs under a healthy weight, working mother, working father, 2 older siblings (working or away at college)-
Breakfast during the week I skipped or had a candy bar and juice box- parents not aware of this. On weekends it was leftovers or a can of soup often.
Lunch during the week I usually skipped- parents not aware of this. No one at school noticed or cared that the quiet, skinny girl wasn't eating. On weekends lunch was a sandwich, fast food or frozen pizza, frozen dinners.
Dinner- still meat and potatoes and canned vegetables. I was cooking for the family but made what my mom told me to make.
Snacks- same stuff, more chips, crackers, some frozen foods or maybe canned soup... I made up for not eating during the day after school and on weekends I guess
Drinks- same stuff, less milk
More tv. No computer or video games. Walked less. Rode bus to school.
Often cold, tired, hungry and sick.
I started eating more regularly again in college although still often skipped breakfast. I got to a normal weight during and right after college. I didn't become overweight until around 26 years old.
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Age 12 and under, USA 1974-1986, below average weight, sahm, working father, 2 older siblings-
Breakfast was cereal most days. Sometimes oatmeal or malt-o-meal. On special occasions eggs, pancakes, French Toast.
Lunch at home would have been a sandwich or can of soup. At school the food was stuff like pizza, mac and cheese, fruit and milk. There wasn't a kitchen at the first elementary school I went to. I brought lunch sometimes and it was a sandwich. On Sundays there might be roast beef and such for lunch when we went to my grandmother's home.
Dinner was often meat, potatoes, canned vegetables.
Snacks were dry cereal, fruit, popcorn, cheese usually.
We had dessert on special occasions. We ate out mostly for birthdays or anniversaries.
At home we drank water, tea, hot chocolate, milk. Not pop very often.
No computer. No vcr. No cable tv. Not many video games. Walked to school and other places. We played outside a lot.
Age 13-18, USA 1987-1992, under a healthy weight, working mother, working father, 2 older siblings (working or away at college)-
Breakfast during the week I skipped or had a candy bar and juice box- parents not aware of this. On weekends it was leftovers or a can of soup often.
Lunch during the week I usually skipped- parents not aware of this. No one at school noticed or cared that the quiet, skinny girl wasn't eating. On weekends lunch was a sandwich, fast food or frozen pizza, frozen dinners.
Dinner- still meat and potatoes and canned vegetables. I was cooking for the family but made what my mom told me to make.
Snacks- same stuff, more chips, crackers, some frozen foods or maybe canned soup... I made up for not eating during the day after school and on weekends I guess
Drinks- same stuff, less milk
More tv. No computer or video games. Walked less. Rode bus to school.
I started eating more regularly again in college although still often skipped breakfast. I got to a normal weight during and right after college. I didn't become overweight until around 26 years old.
Pretty much my childhood in a nutshell.
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I grew up in Norway in the 70's and 80's, and I was skinny as a small child, plump as I entered puberty. Stay at home mom, stay away dad, lol.
Breakfast and lunch was sandwiches with cheese or meat (spread) or bologna/salami. I was afraid of butter and I hated milk so I think I had juice. Fruit flavored yogurt at school sometimes, when functioning cafeteria.
After school similar to breakfast/lunch, but more liberal choices of addons (jam, pb, nutella equivalent), or crackers, and squash or chocolate milk. Or pot noodles or cereal or cup'a'soup. Often tea w/sugar.
Dinner was almost always made from scratch - meat/fish, potatoes/rice/pasta, veg/salad, and some kind of sauce. Sometimes soup or casserole or pancakes.
If I was hungry at night, I'd have a rerun of the after school meal.
Weekends were often eggs and bacon or cereal for breakfast, and a more expensive dinner and dessert on Sunday.
I rarely ate fruit, almost only in the summer when I could pick my own, and at Christmas - and vegetables just for dinner.
Eating out was for birthdays or when accidentally unable to get home to cook and eat.
I would be pressured to eat a lot at meals. I would also sneak candy and snacks and ice cream, anything sugary.
As a young (and not so young) adult, I have had trouble adjusting. I struggled for years with balancing taste and nutrition, freedom and responsibility. I ended up slightly obese, but I'm normal weight now, and I believe I have found a good middle ground, taking the best from my childhood and reshaping it to fit my current situation.0 -
I grew up in late 80's/90's. My mom was a stay at home mom and cooked every night. Every night we had "family dinner" at the table at almost exactly 5:58 PM (when dad walked in the door from work).
Breakfast - Usually instant oatmeal, cereal, pop tarts or something quick. In high school, sometimes nothing (by my choice).
Lunch - lunch meat sandwich, chips and grapes or school lunch.
Dinner - Generally meat, starch (potatoes/rice) and vegetable; or some kind of casserole; or pasta with salad. Always drank milk with dinner (it was a rule in my house).
We didn't really do dessert nightly. But, my mom made cookies about every 10 days or so and we always had ice cream in the freezer. So, we would maybe have that in the evenings, but not necessarily daily.
I was not overweight as a kid, no one in my family really was. My dad had a physical job and my siblings and I were involved in all kinds of activities/sports. We also had a pool in the yard that we used all the time in the summer.
My weight came in my late teens/adulthood when I started "fending for myself" food wise. In college I had too much booze, Chipotle and Ben & Jerry's. Bad habits formed and continued. Now I am working on changing those habits.0 -
Age 12 and under, USA 1974-1986, below average weight, sahm, working father, 2 older siblings-
Breakfast was cereal most days. Sometimes oatmeal or malt-o-meal. On special occasions eggs, pancakes, French Toast.
Lunch at home would have been a sandwich or can of soup. At school the food was stuff like pizza, mac and cheese, fruit and milk. There wasn't a kitchen at the first elementary school I went to. I brought lunch sometimes and it was a sandwich. On Sundays there might be roast beef and such for lunch when we went to my grandmother's home.
Dinner was often meat, potatoes, canned vegetables.
Snacks were dry cereal, fruit, popcorn, cheese usually.
We had dessert on special occasions. We ate out mostly for birthdays or anniversaries.
At home we drank water, tea, hot chocolate, milk. Not pop very often.
No computer. No vcr. No cable tv. Not many video games. Walked to school and other places. We played outside a lot.
Age 13-18, USA 1987-1992, about 10 lbs under a healthy weight, working mother, working father, 2 older siblings (working or away at college)-
Breakfast during the week I skipped or had a candy bar and juice box- parents not aware of this. On weekends it was leftovers or a can of soup often.
Lunch during the week I usually skipped- parents not aware of this. No one at school noticed or cared that the quiet, skinny girl wasn't eating. On weekends lunch was a sandwich, fast food or frozen pizza, frozen dinners.
Dinner- still meat and potatoes and canned vegetables. I was cooking for the family but made what my mom told me to make.
Snacks- same stuff, more chips, crackers, some frozen foods or maybe canned soup... I made up for not eating during the day after school and on weekends I guess
Drinks- same stuff, less milk
More tv. No computer or video games. Walked less. Rode bus to school.
Often cold, tired, hungry and sick.
I started eating more regularly again in college although still often skipped breakfast. I got to a normal weight during and right after college. I didn't become overweight until around 26 years old.
I was my skinniest in college because of what we now euphemistically call "food insecurity." I was branded by the highschool guidance counselor as not destined for college because of my family's low income. I was going to show her and go anyway on my own dime. Probably not doable at all today, but I worked my way through college, a semi starving, semi homeless couch surfer.
When I graduated and went to work full time in accounting, much of my sudden "riches" we're spent on food...Lots of food. That's where my tendency toward sweet binges and my gradual weight gain over these decades got started.3 -
Was raised mostly by my grandparents until my early teens. Mediterranean diet (we live in the Mediterranean) and very traditional (since my grandparents were cooking). Usually just plain milk for breakfast (I hated breakfast, no one could force me to actually eat anything solid), sandwich as a mid-morning snack (always the same, basically bread, ham or chicken and cucumber), biggest meal of the day was lunch and most of the days it was vegetable-based with meat 2-3 times per week, afternoon snack was fruit and/or yoghurt, dinner was as a rule lunvh leftovers, or something really simple like pasta with tomato sauce or scrambled eggs or rice pudding, if no leftovers were available.0
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I'm barely not a kid so this is through the 2000's growing up in the UK.
Breakfast was cereal with milk on days it wasn't skipped. The only day any cooking is done in the morning is shrove tuesday/pancake day.
10:50 break at school was a packet of crisps, or an orange, which I'd leave in my bag.
My packed lunch for school was two plain ham/cheese sandwiches, or three sausage rolls, a packet of crisps and a carton of juice.
On the way home, I'd buy myself a few pence worth of sweets, or a chocolate bar.
At home there would usually be some form of chocolate as a snack.
Dinner was a large plate of a pasta dish, or a generous helping of frozen oven foods (sausages, fish fingers, chicken dippers, potato waffles) or some roast meat with potatoes and a veg that I wouldn't be expected to eat much of. Finishing your plate was not enforced but encouraged.
There was always a large desert as a reward for dinner, usually some kind of cake, sometimes with custard or ice cream.
During the evening, we often ate extra crisps or chocolate while watching TV (or in my case, playing on the laptop). There was a wicked comfort food habit going on!
I didn't have any friends at school, so I had no reason to leave the house - I spent my time reading/playing games/playing with my brother.
I started being ashamed of my weight around the age of 7 (I couldn't catch up to anyone in tag), started hating my body at 11 (look how huge my legs are compared to all the other girls' in school and ju jitsu class) and my obesity was a driving factor towards wanting to leave the house to go to university (I wanted to diet without criticism/influence of junk food in the house.) Unfortunately it turned out I was just as capable of feeding myself junk - just more expensive junk!0 -
My family went through periods of eating absolutely amazingly to eating like absolute garbage and it really didn't seem to correspond to how much money they had at a certain time. My grandpa and dad (grew up with them + grandma) were both trained as chefs. My dad worked at restaurants most of the time I was growing up, so my grandpa handled the cooking. He's an amazing cook, so everything we had was always delicious. Amazing beef stews, homemade chicken noodle soup, beautifully done pork loin, osso bucco, spaghetti with homemade meat sauce, perfectly seared rare steak, and just in general, a really diverse range of food.
Almost every meal I can remember from ages 4 to moving out at 18 was served with a side of salad (iceberg lettuce, vinaigrette, tomato, raw onion, and seasoned with salt & pepper). I don't really remember ever being pushed to finish my plate and portions seemed pretty realistic. My grandma even had a garden, so we would be drowning in fresh tomatoes as the summer went on.
Other times, there was basically no cooking done at all and the house would be stocked full of boxes with Little Debbie's face on them. I still can't go near Swiss Cake Rolls, Zebra Cakes, Strawberry Shortcake Rolls, and Cosmic Brownies without wanting to barf. I got up to 155 lbs at 5'4 and 10 years old because I swear, this was all we had around sometimes beside a fridge full of condiments, so I'd just eat them pretty much nonstop because they weren't really filling. That + there were always at least 6 24 packs of Pepsi just chilling and waiting to be consumed
I think my grandpa was in the process of launching his second business and just didn't have time to cook. My dad and grandma both worked in restaurants at the time and grazed at work, so they never really noticed that homecooked meals went from daily to bi-weekly. I started eating dinner over at a friend's house and kept on horseback riding 6 days a week and started dropping back down to a normal weight in no time. My friend was only a year older than me and responsible for making dinner for her family of 4 people, sometimes 7 if relatives were visiting (Cinderella, Cinderella) and that was probably the first time it occurred to me that I could cook without adult supervision.
My grandpa taught me to cook, so I helped him make dinner for a few years and then when I went vegetarian at 15, I started cooking entirely for myself. I was only overweight from ages like 10-11 (which I can safely say wasn't growth-spurt fat because I've only grown 1 inch since I was 9 years old) and from August to now. Even now, I'm only 1.4 lbs away from a healthy range again.
My grandpa is slightly overweight now because he really likes to indulge when he's out to lunch for work and my grandma and aunt are overweight because they believe fad dieting is the way to go. My aunt has actually been taking a capful of some weirdly marketing product that's basically aloe (laxative) for the past 4-5 years and takes an extra capful every week at her cheat meal (Olive Garden, it's scary to witness) and won't be swayed that it's impacting the progress she wants to see. My dad was actually up to 400 lbs for a couple of years, but he's in the mid 200s now and is working really hard to get back down to a size where he's comfortable.0 -
Born in 1988 - Canadian.
Breakfast: Corn pops with milk. Drank the milk afterwards. sometimes two blueberry Eggo waffles with margarine.
Lunch: Typically a turkey sandwich on white bread with an apple and if I begged my mom, DUNKAROOS!
Dinner: Typical Laotian dishes like rice with beef jerky, papaya salad, other proteins.
Was I overweight? No, I was actually underweight when I was younger (like 5-7) and then I got to a normal weight. It wasn't until puberty (11 years old and onwards) that I started to gain weight.
I wasn't a picky eater but I just didn't eat a lot. I would pick at my food and always beg to go play, rather than eat my dinner. My mom used to have to sit me down and feed me, but I'd always get distracted. I liked food, but I liked playing better.
I was never obese. Just overweight and maybe on the low end of 'overweight' if we used a BMI chart.
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OP, I'm in the same age range as you and my meals were similar but I think we had more variety.
Most mornings Mom would cook something. Bacon or sausage & eggs, hot cereal, etc. Occasionally we would have cold cereal but not often. Lunches were similar. They also included tuna, egg salad, chicken salad, ham, pb & banana and if it was cold out, hot soup. Campbell's, of course.
Dinners varied.
Women during that period were encouraged to use convenience foods. In retrospect, I'm amazed Mom cooked as much from scratch as she did.
Also eating out was rare. Takeout was unheard of.
I was never fat as a child. Very few of my peers were either. By today's standards, none were.0 -
Born in '74...
My parents were pretty much pay check to pay check, so we rarely ate out. Breakfasts were typically Cheerios, oatmeal, or cream of wheat except on the weekends my dad would make eggs, bacon, and potatoes. Lunch was usually a sandwich of some kind with an apple or banana and other little snacky things and dinner was usually some kind of meat/veg/starch or grain combo...
I wasn't overweight at any point in my childhood. I ran track and field starting in 2nd grade through my senior year in high school and participated in a variety of other sports as well...little gymnastics, swim team, football, wrestling, etc.
I didn't have a weight issue until I graduated college and took a desk job in my 30s.1 -
OP, I'm in the same age range as you and my meals were similar but I think we had more variety.
Most mornings Mom would cook something. Bacon or sausage & eggs, hot cereal, etc. Occasionally we would have cold cereal but not often. Lunches were similar. They also included tuna, egg salad, chicken salad, ham, pb & banana and if it was cold out, hot soup. Campbell's, of course.
Dinners varied.
Women during that period were encouraged to use convenience foods. In retrospect, I'm amazed Mom cooked as much from scratch as she did.
Also eating out was rare. Takeout was unheard of.
I was never fat as a child. Very few of my peers were either. By today's standards, none were.
About the convenience food...
Yes, I remember that most of the neighbor mom's used them a lot of the time. They were heavily advertised during the daytime soap operas. My mom was raised on a farm and didn't know anything but eating from the farm raised vegetables and live stock. My dad was from an immigrant family (Sicilian) who were not at all familiar with American convenience foods. I actually felt a little deprived by not getting Chef Boyardee (sp?) canned dinners.
My mom would only go so far as to make Spam and eggs** some weekend mornings. Maybe even serve Tang!
**Edit: Reminds me of a Monty Python sketch.0 -
I was pretty thin until about middle school and things started to catch up to me. My house didn't have any healthy options. Breakfast was usually two bowls of fruity pebbles or pop tarts. Lunch was always frozen meals or butter sandwiches with ham. For dinner my parents were huge on steak, porkchops and casseroles with cream of mushroom. Once highschool hit my choices really went out the window. I remember eating oatmeal cream pies, several at a time for a snack, KFC for lunch followed by handfuls of m&ms, etc. I was gaining weight and not happy and remember using food as an emotional tool. After some teasing began because of my weight I developed an eating disorder and compulsive exercise which left me really thin and lasted all the way into my college years. I still battle with disordered exercising/eating but consider myself in a much better place. Now that I have two children at home, I really don't want to deprive them of treats, but I also want to make sure that they have other options to choose from as well.
The funny thing was that in my family I was the one who joined a gym in Highschool and then my family followed. My family is not overweight and actually fairly healthy, but they just choose to not eat all day and then binge at night. I know for me that does not work.1 -
Same age range here. Born in 61
My Dad was a navy pilot and home 6 months of the year if we were lucky. Mom was SAHM
Breakfast – you ate depending on your bus schedule
MWFS was cereal, hot or cold.
T Th was eggs.
Sunday was family breakfast and either pancakes, waffles or French toast.
Always milk and OJ or another citrus available
Lunch was usually either a school lunch or a packed lunch of sandwich, chips and a sweet – fruit, pudding, snack cake. Milk
We could usually snack in the afternoon as available – cookies, ice cream, fruit.
Dinner was sit down. Protein, veggie or veggies, rice more than potato, and for a long time bread. I remember if we didn’t have rolls there would be a plate of sliced white bread. And Milk.
Then dad was retired. 100% disabled – surgical error. Started retirement pay but not the same income as before. After life settled down Mom went to work and Dad begin to cook. There were five children and not much money to stretch. We had many experiments that did not last long (ones that really scarred my taste buds powered milk; tang) and some experiments that did last: do you know how many recipes there are for SPAM? Somehow, overall food did not change. The breakfast ritual never changed. However, we ate a lot more casseroles.
I never had a weight problem until I went out on my own and then it has just gradually increased as my life became more sedentary. My biggest problems are lack of activity, empty calories – like Rum and Coke – and food that is just too darn much in one serving. And I am still trying to fit in milk as much as possible.
Calorie counting is perfect for me and in the age of the internet it is so darn easy.
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I always ate healthy. I was a naturally chunky kid, therefore I started counting "macros" (at the time just fat, later on calories, and it evolved to the full blown macro tracking that I'm at now) in 5th grade. I would skip cake at parties, eat apples, Special K cereal, and indulge every so often on French Silk ice cream and Rita's Water Ice. I knew that I wanted to "save my macros" for stuff that I actually liked and valued as worth it. I had a general idea of what eating healthy was, and that helped me to have a genuine interest in it now.0
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Yes, OP, I was a child in the 60s and my diet was nearly identical to yours. I was the oldest of four, with a stay at home mom and a working dad.
Cereal and milk for breakfast. PB&J or bologna sandwich on Wonder bread and a fruit for lunch. Meat (often fried), potatoes (often fried), vegetables (usually canned) and a slice of bread with margarine for dinner, with a glass of milk.
On the weekend breakfast might have been pancakes or french toast and lunch might include grilled cheese sandwich.
We didn't drink soda pop but we did drink kool-aid. Treats were usually cookies or popsicles- real ice cream was for birthdays. The occasional candy was generally Good N' Plenty or something like that- generally not chocolate.
I was beanpole thin.0 -
I grew up in the 80s and I started gaining weight when I was 7 or 8 years old.
Breakfast with the family was usually several plates of food akin to tapas that included eggs, hummus, falafel, cheese, Greek yogurt, olives, zaatar, mortadella, beans, chopped tomatoes and cucumbers...etc. Along with hot out of the oven pita bread and a bowl of olive oil for dipping and a cup of milk. If mom woke up late or my grandmother wasn't feeling well, it was a quick Greek yogurt sandwich with a tomato and a boiled egg for the road. I did not know what cold cereal or peanut butter were until way later in my adulthood. About 5 years ago in fact.
Then I would take a sandwich and a few cucumbers and a piece of fruit with me to school, and pocket money to buy something if I'm still hungry or want something to drink. I usually bought tomato juice. On non-school days before noon my grandmother would gather the women for tea, biscotti, gossip and a game of cards. I had bowl of biscotti soaked in tea and sprinkled with sugar and powdered milk.
Back from school, snacked on tomatoes until lunch. Lunch with the family (main meal) which usually consisted of lots of vegetables in sauce with rice and meat, usually chicken and occasionally beef or lamb. I skipped the meat because I didn't like it. Sometimes we had spaghetti with bolognese or marinara sauce, very rarely a white sauce, and I don't recall ever eating a cheese pasta. Never had mac and cheese - I still haven't tried it. Sometimes we had bean or whole grain based dishes, or dishes that were eaten with yogurt.
Every now and then we had extended family gatherings on weekends with lots of food for lunch and a platter of light snacks and veggie sticks for adults with alcoholic drinks before lunch, and colorful veggie sticks for the kids, then some type of dessert after lunch.
Then out to play and snacks. I usually packed a head of lettuce for playtime. We also had pocket money and could buy a single serving of something. Back for homework, more tomatoes, and maybe a butter and salt or butter and sugar sandwich. Sometimes a Nutella sandwich but it was rare because it was expensive. Occasionally, maybe once every 6 or so months we would go out for pizza or something.
Dinner was usually similar to breakfast if eating together, if not I either ate a sandwich or asked for a grain porridge like millet, buckwheat, barley...etc (semolina was my favorite). I did not know oatmeal back then but I suspect I would have loved it.
After dinner we would sit together as a family and watch TV. Sometimes we would make popcorn but not often. It was simple, oil pooped on a gasoline heater with salt and nothing else.
Then tomatoes until bedtime, a cup of milk, then off to sleep.
Come to think of it, I was eating all day... No wonder I gained so much weight.0
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