upbringing influence the way you eat?

Anonycatgirl

I grew up pretty much without fast food, mostly because it wasn't readily available in my town until I was a teen, and then I never acquired a taste for it. (Even pizza was a sit-down thing for the most part.) I rarely ate the classic "kid food," such as Twinkies, Velveeta or Wonder Bread, and then only visiting friends; my mother refused to spend extra money on stuff she thought was nasty. At home, I ate whatever the adults ate, including steak-and-kidney pie or liver and onions, and it never occurred to me it was unusual. My mom was a good cook and baker, but also worked full time and contended with health problems, so I started cooking at an early age to help out. We always ate well...but we also ate quite a bit.

Which is pretty much the story of my life now, except with more fruits and veggies. Good, healthy, homecooked food for the most part, but I've had to learn portion control.

malavika413

I'm away at college now, but I grew up eating my mother and father's home cooking. Primarily Indian food, at least 5 nights a week. We're from south India, so not always the typical Indian restaurant food (that's Northern cuisine). I love it. I hate being away from home and I travel home every month for both my family and the food.

The food was always prepared with health in mind. Portion sizes are another story. My parents grew up in poor households (my father probably below the poverty line) and they've always wanted to give me and my sister more and more. Somehow sister grew up a size 0 and I got chubby and gross, haha.

Exercise? Nope, none of us were ever active. We were couch dwellers. TV, board games, movies, plays--as long as it involved sitting down we did it together. Now, 3 out of the 4 of us are overweight and battling, and we're getting better.

I love them dearly and I'm proud of all of us, taking our health into our own hands.

tibby531

I was raised on "the poor side of town" in southern california. the only responsible adult in the house had to work 50+ hours a week, AND make food for the family (so most meals came from a box or can or bag). ...the other adult would challenge me to see who could eat the most the fastest, and taught me how to sneak an entire bag of candy out of the pantry without drawing too much attention.

once I got out on my own, my "food" budget was really the only bill I could adjust, so there would be times where there wasn't any food in my apartment, and IF my friends invited me over to eat, I would stuff myself with as much food as I could hold, because who knew when there would be more (they were good friends, there was food at least once a day).

now I'm trying to stick to the outside of the grocery store. I enjoy getting produce that I haven't tried, before, and making it part of a meal. "portion control" is still an issue, because I'm still stuck in that, "but when will there be more food?!" mode, even though there is more food every few hours.

eating habits are learned at an early age. and traumatizing events are... well... traumatizing.

zoeysasha37

I grew up and still live at the jersey shore, so lots of pizza!( my favorite!!) we lived in a shore town and had a small family. We ate dinner together every night and often cooked / baked together . But we did enjoy and still do, going out for pizza ! I don't think my region, or parents had much influence on my eating habits now. I got overweight because I ate too much. When I was tired of being overweight , I learned moderation and portion control. So there's nothing special about my story .

icrushit

I'm not sure my upbringing influenced the way I eat to be honest, but they did influence the comfort foods I go for, but that's pretty normal I imagine, tastes of childhood and all that.

If anything, I would say my upbringing held me back in the consumption of healthy food, as my mum as nice as she is, is not a great cook, and will often opt for the quick or processed option, be it a lot of fried foods, or boxed junk foods.

When I left home, I learned to cook for myself, and learned pretty healthy habits, and that's what I really mean by my upbringing holding back my adoption of healthy habits. In fact pretty much every good habit related to food or health has been something I put into place myself since my young adult years.

What my upbringing can be blamed for is putting the weight on me in the first place, but I had a decent enough upbringing otherwise and can't really have too many complaints. If I did, they would all be of the first world problem-type, lol

seltzermint555

I was just thinking about this. I remember that there was a girl at my elementary school who would have raw bell peppers in her lunch every day. Not as the whole meal, but as the side. I distinctly remember my parents talking about that girl's parents, and how they were being unreasonable and mean to deprive her of "kids' foods"- like the Cheetos and Little Debbie snacks that they always bought for me and let me eat whenever I wanted.

Now, I don't know what that girl is up to now- maybe she learned moderation and healthy habits, maybe she did feel deprived and went crazy once she left home, I dunno. But I know that I was not taught moderation. I was not exposed to varied, healthy foods (honest to God, I was in college when I found out the natural form of the cherry wasn't maraschino). I wasn't encouraged to do physical activities, and in fact wasn't allowed to play outside at all because of gang activity/shootings that happened regularly. And now I'm over 300lbs and have a lot of work to do.

BTW, I just ate some raw bell pepper as part of a snack.

I've had some really similar experiences!! Growing up, salad was just not a part of our family meals and the ONLY salad I tried until my mid 20's was my mom's favorite...iceberg lettuce w/ tomato and lots of croutons (all of which I hated)...I was 27-30 before I ever tried many vegetables, and around the same time I discovered steamed and raw veggies are actually my preference in most cases.

Also with the school lunches...I took my lunch to school and I think my parents really tried to make it semi-healthy but they just did not know very much about that or have a wide variety of options in mind. For me it was usually a Lunchable or bologna & cheese sandwich, a Kudos bar (more like a candy bar), and some grapes. Chocolate milk or Capri Sun to drink. Some kids would bring cans of Coke, string cheese, Snickers bar, and Doritos for lunch and I thought they were so lucky. My mom thought string cheese was bad for you LOL.

I don't remember any kids with particularly healthy packed lunches but I do remember going to friends' houses for dinner and thinking it was weird that they had salad and glasses of water or milk to drink. At my house, we drank iced tea or diet cola. Even as a child that was totally normal to me.

dakotababy

I lived with 2 financially well-off parents, and 3 siblings. At supper, my parents would make a HUGE amount of food for all of us. I grew up used to having a surplus in food always at my finger tips. Having take-out or desserts also created an environment of selfishness and survival of the fittest. If there was cake - you had to eat it quick, or it would be gone. Growing up, it made me distrust the idea of "leaving some for later" if I was not actually hungry at that time, as it would disappear.

It came to light as I was reading Intuitive Eating. I tested this theory one night with my boyfriend. We bought pizza - and of course, I wanted to eat the entire thing thinking subconsciously "I will not get another piece if I do not eat it all right now". I had my boyfriend promise he would not eat any of my left-overs. I left myself 2 pieces in the fridge. I did not feel the need to eat the pieces, I saved them until the next day for lunch. It was a relief.

I noticed this is a similar pattern of all of my siblings growing up - it is like we all would fight to get the most...and when you didnt, you missed out. I contribute this greatly to binging on anything delicious and dessert-type foods.

DawnieB1977

I grew up in York, in the North of England.

My mum didn't work when we were young, so we never had lots of extra money, so never had take-away and very rarely ate at a restaurant. All our meals were home cooked and we had a lot of stuff like casseroles, fish, veggies, shepherd's pie, jacket potatoes etc. My mum isn't very adventurous so we never had anything spicy for example. We always had wholemeal bread, skim milk (although whole milk as young kids), never went to fast food places etc. We had those bite size chocolate bars as treats.

As an adult, I am very similar I think, except I do like spicy things, and we have the occasional take-away. I have 3 kids, and they have been to McDonald's once (not the 4 month old lol) when my MIL took them. We mainly cook from scratch and have wholemeal bread, brown rice etc. I don't buy fizzy drinks and all my kids drink is milk or water, and we drink coffee/tea or water.


Even when I was at university I ate healthily. Well, I didn't eat much really. I don't think the amount of alcohol I consumed was particularly healthy though lol.

happysquidmuffin

I love this thread! So interesting.
I grew up eating lots of delicious home-cooked meals, but I also had plenty of access to a variety of junk food. I got really chunky in middle school, but that was mostly due to me becoming a very "snacky" kid, some of my snacks being entire sandwiches - I developed a taste for hotdog-pickle-ketchup-cheese sandwiches (2 hotdogs each cut in half) and I swear that those gross things were a big contibuting factor. I slimmed down once I started high school, and very slowly gained weight over the years, but then ballooned to about 40 lb overweight all in my first year and a half of marriage. I'm now 27, 2.5 years married, and about 10 lb under my highest weight ever. Haven't had kids yet. Uh oh - I digressed into my life story.

Anyways, I see some influences of my mothers cooking in my own habits today: I can always find some sort of processed junk food in my cupboards, fridge, or freezer, even though I've been trying desperately to commit to a diet with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, salads, less bread, etc. I grew up with many dinners that were either some sort of casserole, pasta dish, or chicken with some sort of carby starchy side. I did eat some fresh produce, but the majority came from a can or a bag in the freezer.
I ate ok growing up, with a balanced diet, but there were alot of unhealthy elements too.

So to sum it up, my upbringing influenced my food habits in such a way that now I want to eat almost the opposite of what I used to eat. Now it's much less meat, less bread, simpler, fresher foods, and lots of fresh produce.

Walter__

My family is full of fat-*kitten*. They can't just eat until they're full - they feel the need to binge. Every time.

Of course growing up with them I followed their same habits. That's why I got so damn fat.

farfromthetree

I grew up in a household where there was always a great dinner served. My mom was a great cook. She would be insulted or become angry if you did not take seconds and clean your plate. So, as I got older it was kind of a habit to have seconds. If my kids were not hungry or didn't like something, I never made them eat (and tried to not be insulted!)

Edited to add:When I first got married I felt like part of being a good wife was to cook these huge meals, meat, psata, veggies, bread..Now I usually pick two.

SpicesOfLife

not sure about food but beverages for sure. we never had a lot of money so my mum never wasted money on drinks, since we had mountain spring water coming from the taps. i guess thats why i never really developed the taste for it. i cant even imagine drinking coke, sprite, ice tea, etc.. when im thirsty, its just gross to me.

LB2812

A definate yes for me! We were poor, my parents didn't know how to cook, and my mom was an extremely picky eater who didn't like anything. So my diet was very limited and unhealthy, though I know they were doing the best they could. I would eat a bowl of white rice as a dinner. Or a bowl of pasta. The main "vegetable" was corn. I rarely ate a piece of fruit. Frozen TV dinners were the norm. Cookies were a plenty. My mom thought it was just awful my cousins weren't allowed to drink soda - look at us, we could have it all we wanted! Needless to say I was overweight.

I ended up going vegetarian as a teenager which got me started on the path of healthy eating, balancing meals, exploring new foods, eating vegetables, etc. etc. etc. I still struggle with carb overload (god i love white rice!) but my eating habits and the way i look at food is significantly different now then it used to be. I love to cook. And I don't even drink soda now!

wertgirlfor

Definitely. I've spent the past few years undoing all the bad habits my mom passed down to me.
We didn't have a lot of money growing up, but when I was little we had enough and ate pretty decent. We had veggies/fruits with dinner from the garden in the summer and then canned during the winter. My dad did the grocery shopping and he cooked dinner most nights. When my mom cooked, it was usually boxed stuff like macaroni and cheese or she'd make me grilled cheese. My dad is average size, whereas my mom is/was very overweight.

Then when I was around 10 (I think) my mom went back to work from being a sahm, and suddenly had a lot more income and decided she was going to do the shopping. Around this time the housing market also went bad, leaving my dad, a contractor, out of work. My mom is a big impulse buyer and binge eater, so when she went grocery shopping, she usually only bought junk food, boxed meals, frozen meals, etc. And since my dad didn't have money to buy "real food," he no longer cooked. So every night was now "fend for yourself night" for dinner. Which led to me eating a whole box of Kraft mac and cheese by myself every night. Not normal.

Basically, I'm now learning to cook real, balanced meals out of actual food instead of eating boxed meals and junk food all day. It's hard, but ultimately I feel 1000x better now that I've stopped eating absolute **** every day lol.

crystalewhite

I'm from a smaller town in north Texas and I grew up in the country. My mom always had a garden, and just because it was a drive we did not go out to eat very often. She made desserts on special occasions or for family gatherings.

I now prefer home cooked meals, heavy on the vegetables, and don't really have much of a sweet tooth. I got a bit lazy over the years, but it's what I always come back to.

RET68

I grew up in West Virginia in the seventies. My grandparents and my dad both ate traditional Appalachian fare. My mom was a drug/addict anorexic who liked store bought, microwaveable foods. So we bounced back and forth between - Sunday dinners with rolls, fresh corn, green beans we'd stringed, fresh fruit pies, meats from a butcher or something like venison or squirrel, just fantastic food. Then, home to "diet" chocolate pudding, "meat" with lipton onion soup, something from the crockpot, soda, candy bars, chips just gross. When I was ten they decided I was fat so she didn't feed me for two days till I passed out.
When I went away to California, I had never seen salsa before or sushi-even spaghetti seemed exotic to me. I learned I could extend a student budget on Asian food lunches stretched out over a few meals. Chinese, Thai, Indian oh my. Then Mexican oh goodness, life became such a culinary adventure. But on a trip with my daughter to Ireland, when they had just started their organic revolution, prompted by the EU, I discovered again the roots of my grandmother's Appalachian food with Salmon!, and I was home.
Heaven to me is wild caught salmon with spring vegetables just barely steamed and seasoned. A little cobbler or cookies for dessert, Oats for breakfast, seafood, all day, steaks whenever, and potatoes. mmm, must make potatoes to go with salmon for dinner. yes, it's a plan...thanks

myrtille87

My parents are both big foodies who like to cook and try new recipes. Food is an essential part of any family occasion and I learnt to cook from an early age (I could make pizza from scratch when I was about 10). As a kid, I normally spent 5 weeks in France every year and was heavily influenced by the culture there where mealtimes are an occasion.

My parents eat good home cooked food and I would say have quite balanced diets, but jin large quantities and probably too much in the way of fat and carbs (but still including a reasonable amount of protein and veg).

I have always had this attitude - even set up cooking rotas at uni so we took it in turns to make proper dinners instead of eating junk like most students do. It was OK until I finally got a full-time reasonably paid graduate job and continued eating all the usual stuff plus desserts 3-4 times per week and various unhealthy snacks, plus a lot of wine.

So losing weight for me has so far consisted of cutting out most of the desserts and snacks (just occasional small portions), majorly cutting down on wine (have only had 2 glasses in the past 20 days) and portion control - I can continue cooking and eating in more or less the way I always have done, I just need to pay a bit more attention and not mindlessly stuff food in my face after work.

seltzermint555

I lived with 2 financially well-off parents, and 3 siblings. At supper, my parents would make a HUGE amount of food for all of us. I grew up used to having a surplus in food always at my finger tips. Having take-out or desserts also created an environment of selfishness and survival of the fittest. If there was cake - you had to eat it quick, or it would be gone. Growing up, it made me distrust the idea of "leaving some for later" if I was not actually hungry at that time, as it would disappear.

It came to light as I was reading Intuitive Eating. I tested this theory one night with my boyfriend. We bought pizza - and of course, I wanted to eat the entire thing thinking subconsciously "I will not get another piece if I do not eat it all right now". I had my boyfriend promise he would not eat any of my left-overs. I left myself 2 pieces in the fridge. I did not feel the need to eat the pieces, I saved them until the next day for lunch. It was a relief.

I noticed this is a similar pattern of all of my siblings growing up - it is like we all would fight to get the most...and when you didnt, you missed out. I contribute this greatly to binging on anything delicious and dessert-type foods.

My mom was one of 10 children and she's talked about this a lot too!! They were all spaced out and she was #9, so there were "only" 5-6 kids in the home during most of her childhood and teens...but she says that her brothers especially would POUNCE if someone ate slowly or didn't finish their food, and everyone learned to eat quickly. She said that even as a teen she would eat her morning cereal with three cereal boxes around her making a little cubicle so her brothers didn't know she had cereal left. LOL

I was an only child and I think this is one reason my parents took me out to restaurants with them all of the time. My parents were middle class but with just three in the family I suppose it wasn't very expensive. We would get Pizza Hut almost every Friday night, sandwiches from a deli on Saturday morning and then go to a nicer Italian restaurant on Saturday night with friends/family, and Sunday after church meant a variety of places, anything from Red Lobster to Grandy's. I remember learning at an early age to drink water in restaurants, get a kid meal or something cheap, don't order appetizers or dessert.

By comparison...I remember going to KFC in the late 80's with a friend, her parents, live-in grandmother, and 2 siblings...and the price even back then was over $50 for all of us to eat. That was a mindblowing sum to me at the time.

Francl27

Yes and no. I grew up mostly on canned veggies, and now I won't touch the stuff. But I was allowed to snack on what I wanted, whenever I wanted, and that one took a very long time to get rid of... Same with having some kind of dessert after each meal, even if it was just some kind of pudding. Or having some kind of treat every time I went somewhere.

Vacations is the worst for me though, there was always a huge emphasis on food when I was growing up and we were going somewhere (trying local food etc), so yeah, food is still a huge part of vacations for me sadly.