Kids of the House - Doing With What You Have

helloclaire

If you are the child of a family, you don't get to make the food choices. You don't get to choose what the family buys or eats. This is very tough.

I used to blame this for my weight (despite I was the heaviest in my family) but now I've changed my perspective somewhat. I just do with what I have.

Today we went shopping to Costco, and they don't have a lot of varieties. String cheese, for example is 80 calories per stick and I know there are the lower-calorie ones with 50-60 cal per stick. But this string cheese is better than my snacking on other foods. Same goes for chocolate pudding (130 cal per cup is not bad at all if you ask me), et cetera. We bought yogurt. There's none of those 100 cal ones but I'll do with what I have.

Of course at times we have a very fattening meal and it'd be kind of a spoilsportlike (huh?) to refuse to eat it/demand a different meal. If this happens I try to portion it as much as I can, but of course it is difficult. My family doesn't understand why we should go for healthier recipes, mostly because we all work all day and don't have the time.

Any other members on here who don't get to make the shopping/food choices?

Krae79

That would really be tough. If you have no say on what is brought, maybe just watch the portions and try to exercise more. That would be awful trying to eat right, but not having the option of buying what you want. Have you asked your parents for these lower calorie items? Maybe see if there are extra chores you can do to earn allowance so you can purchase them yourself if you want to? Keep your chin up and don't give up!

3kidsin3years

Sorry, not in your position at all, I'm the one that does the shopping. But, I would like to commend you for doing the best with what you have, it sounds like you're a bright gal, way to go! I think it's tough in some families, and I can see how it would have been tough to grow up making good choices in either mine or my husband's families, both not the best (and at times, downright awful) at healthy eating. But again, you have the right mentality, you make the best of what you have. Good luck to you and maybe after your family sees what you are able to accomplish, that'll inspire them to make some better choices!

significance

Do you cook at home? I bet if you offered to do the cooking, your parents would be happy to buy the ingredients for a healthy meal. (My family started a cooking roster when I was about 14: my sisters and I each cooked one night a week after school, my parents each cooked one night a week after work, we had "Thursday night special" (steak sandwiches, which hardly count as cooking at all) on the night the grocery shopping had to be done, and we either ate out or mum cooked a second night on Saturdays.

helloclaire

We have most meals at work (it's a family business and during the summer I am there all day). Lunches come from a place we have a contract with so not much power over that, but it's generally healthy and good. For dinner it depends (it's still at work).

significance

It's always more difficult with bought meals. If the lunches are healthy but the dinners vary, do you have the option of a bigger lunch and eating less at dinner?