How did you grow up?

Stagezz

I read these threads day after day and am extremely impressed how healthy some of these people are...were you raised like this? How did you learn these behaviors?

I am a child of the late 70's...grew up through the 80's & 90's...A small town girl, with a huge extended family. A family that every meal contained Meat & Potatoes & Gravy or some sort of pasta and lots and lots of sauce...Why? Because potatoes & pasta stretch....you can feed a ton of people at a minimal price. Where seconds were encouraged, portion control was nonexistent, and a meal always contained buttered bread and a glass of whole milk to wash it all down. Once supper was cleaned up and dishes were put away, Grandma would pop 3 huge bowls of popcorn and add 1/2 pound of butter on it with SALT! And you know what...They were all thin and healthy...AND HAPPY

Now as a 30-something adult, trying to eat better, measuring and counting and obsessing about drinking water...Trying to keep my calories between 1200-1500, some days to many, the next not enough...I try to eat only lean meats, and many veggies, and salads, and fruits. In a face paced world working 60+ hours a week, find myself eating frozen lunches, and cereal bars. Driving myself crazy with the scale, one day i'm down 2 pounds a few days later i'm up 3 pounds over and over! And you know what...I'm MISERBLE...

Something has got to give...I am really believing this processed crap and convenience is the cause of most of my problems....I really need to revamp my diet...time to slow down my life just a bit...It goes by so fast.

Thanks for Listening! ) Love to hear your stories too!

diannethegeek

I grew up on casseroles and gravy in my early days and fast food in middle school and high school as my parents became busier. Our town didn't get a Subway until I was in high school, so we're talking Dairy Queen and Sonic. Ten years after moving out of that town and I still have Pizza Hut's phone number memorized!

After school, my sister and I would be sent down to the old-fashioned soda fountain down the block most days and we'd have an ice cream sundae, soda, or milkshake. We walked down the block to the convenience store most nights to buy candy bars for the family. And while we learned about the food pyramid in school, it certainly wasn't put into practice in my house. My parents still think there are no calories in ground turkey breast!

Learning to eat healthy meals has been a lifelong learning process for me since leaving the house. I educate myself and experiment in my cooking whenever possible. I try new recipes and new foods as often as I can.

Sometimes it works, sometimes I fall back on microwaved lasagna for a few weeks.

Anna800

I grew up eating a ton of vegetables and fruit. Rarely ate meat and never ate salads. I used to eat a english muffin with butter for breakfast everyday and a tall glass of orange juice. Kicked the orange juice habit in college.

suzieqcookie

i was just telling someone the other day that how i ate growing up is my biggest downfall... we had a "sunday dinner" every night!! seconds were fought over, and you couldn't leave the table til your plate was clean.. i didn't hear "stop when you're full" til i was in my 30's! My family, however, all struggle with their weight. It is hands down the hardest habit to break because of the memories attached to it. I do fine making light meals, but when i make something like a roast with all the trimmings, it makes my soul happy as well.

Snow__White

Home cooked Croatian meals made from scratch!
and thats what i cook for my family too

mtaylor33557

I grew up in rural South Alabama.

In the south they fry everything, cover it in gravy, have biscuits at almost every meal, cook bacon and sausage nearly every morning.. well, you get the picture.

Also, about the time I hit high school my mom started back to work and was working nights, while me dad worked days. We ate fast food at least 5 times a week.

I didn't have a weight issue though. I was active. Band, Dance, Softball, etc. Then I got older and I can no longer eat like that.

My MIL still cooks like this everyday, she has had a heart attack and now has diabetes.. but for some reason, She and my FIL can not be persuaded that it has anything to do with the way they eat. :huh:

mandycasey

I was born early eighties and mum always cooked a real homecooked meal - money was tight and it was cheaper, lovely midweek roasts, stews, spag bol, bubble and squeak, toad in hole all the favourites. xx

Im_NotPerfect

HA! I grew up on Pasta, Meat, Casseroles, and anything bad for me. We had "goodies" every night before bed if we ate a good dinner. We were part of the "clean plate" club. 2% milk and some sort of bread with every meal. Sunday breakfasts were always oatmeal, grapefruit, Jiffy blueberry muffins, and OJ. And we ALWAYS had cookies around.

We were active. Can't remember weekends when we weren't busy....usually sailing (racing). But I was still heavy (stupid cookies...).

Today I STILL have an affinity for cookies (which is why they're RARELY in our house), but thankfully I married a man who grew up eating TONS of veggies and loves them. My tastes have changed because of him, so now we eat a lot of lean meats, tons of veggies and fruits, and still a lot of pasta. My husband LOVES pasta! LOL But now I know how to control my portions.

ambitious01

:drinker: I grew up eating greasy southern foods. Breads with EVERY meal. Meat and potatoes. beans and greens cooked with tasty grease. I tend to stay too busy, so as an adult I have high blood pressure due to frozen and canned foods. Worse yet there was alcohol with every single meal. Yep, I had some adjusting to do.

wildcata77

I grew up Southern, in NC, but it's not all as bad as it sounds.

Yes, family reunions and church homecomings had lots of cream-of-something casseroles and we like our breakfast hearty and with meat, but we also have tons of local farms, most people grow gardens, and my mom only bought skim milk growing up.

I would say I grew up with a fairly healthy diet by today's standards...smart portions and dinner was usually a protein, a grain/starch, and 2-3 vegetables.

MinnieInMaine

I'm also a child of the 70's-90's. It was easy when we were kids because we ALWAYS were running around outside playing so it didn't matter what or how much we ate. My problems didn't start until I was in my late teens and became more sedentary and started eating more junk. I wish I knew then what I know now!

anneouel

I can't remember anythng before I was 10 (i dont know suppressed memories?) but after the age of 12 I basically fended for myself which ment I typicaly didnt eat veggies lol. Lots or meats and can'd soups

JenAiMarres

I grew up as an only child being raised by my mom only. We didnt eat actual "meals" ever...maybe just a baked potato or a salad or veggies...She never drank soda. We never watched TV. She supported my busy lifestyle with dance, gymnastics, and cheer so I was always very fit. She placed alot of emphasis on "fun", and loved to celebrate any occasion. We went to the pool every day after school and work...and she owned ALOT of bikinis.

So as an adult. my life is EXACTLY the same. I never really thought about it until reading this post but I guess she laid a really good foundation for me food and activity wise.

Thx moms!

*** let me add i do eat protein/meat now, which my childhood was probably lacking.

celebrity328

I grew up with an older parent so I ended up cooking for myself much of the time. My mom never really showed me how to cook I think most of my meals would be starches etc. I dont think I really ate many veggies/meat growing up. I was vegan until age 22 or so

About 4 years ago I had to have my gallblatter removed and got a rude wake up call about the diet I had. The doctor explain to me that the diet I had was the reason my gallblatter needed to be removed and scared the crap out of me ;(! I tried many different things in those years but found out recently Im allergic to gluten so thats been a whole different exp trying to learn how to eat healthy etc with being allergic to 90% of the things I loved to eat !

myfitnessnmhoy

I grew up in a lower middle class family where my father worked hard to earn money and my mother worked hard to make the most of it. Which meant a mostly-vegetarian-ish sort of lifestyle with peanut butter and government cheese and milk being our primary protein sources. We had a small victory garden and ate what we could of our own food when possible, our local food co-op became our grocery store, we'd buy raw milk from a local farmer because it was cheaper, and my brother and I both got paper routes just as soon as we could and most of the money went into the grocery jar.

You learn the value of a quality calorie and the value of the hard work that goes in to a dollar real quick.

I'm not saying we were starving, or that we didn't have nice toys and stuff (my father had a small woodworking shop downstairs and he'd make us awesome toys), but there was a whole lot more love and hard work going on in our house than money.

And whenever a neighbor would invite us over to dinner, my parents would accept. Instead of wine or something, my father would just make up salad forks or a platter or something in the wood shop. We got invited out frequently. The neighbors also learned that we kids could eat a lot, and we never turned down taking leftovers home. Of course, we also knew that we might have to go mow their lawn with the old reel mower to show our appreciation.

Good times.

dfborders

Home cooked cheap meals that would stretch. Lots of cheap snacks (i.e. not healthy). We are all learning now how to do it properly. My mom and dad have lost a good bit of weight doing it together. I fell off the wagon but am starting up again. I don't blame them for my bad habits - at this age it is my choice to change those habits and take responsibility for them or to stay the way I am. I am (hopefully) going to change those habits and become healthier

Bobby_Clerici

My parents were totally CLUELESS!
I learned it all on my own. It must run in my blood, because after my grandfather died, we found some old scrapbooks he kept as a teen where he logged in calories, exercises, height/weight and measures of endurance and strength. It also included pictures.
This was from the 1920's.

I was pleasantly stunned.

Pollywog39

I was born a poor black child..........no, wait, wait........................

I was a child of the late 50's, early 60's......................My sainted mother raised 8 children on her own, after my father was killed in a car accident (I was 3 - the oldest was 9, the youngest wasn't born yet!) We all went to Catholic school (and that wasn't FREE), and Mom was a basic, but good cook.

I grew up on hot dishes (Minnesota!), stews, soups......anything Mom could make in a BIG pot to feed 8 kids. She baked bread (sometimes) and made hot biscuits, and we ALWAYS had dessert (often pudding or cake.) She made a vat of oatmeal for breakfast - with lots of brown sugar and whole milk on it. She was an excellent baker - cookies and cinnamon rolls, thick chocolate cake with fudge frosting. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

She liked to splurge on us once in a while - when we had pizza night or would have a dinner of deli-meat sandwiches and tomato soup. We all tried to earn our own money for pop and candy bars and such....and were little entrepenuers in the neighborhood, cashing in pop bottles and selling wild strawberries to the neighbor ladies, and babysitting for relatives & neighbors.

None of us were heavy as children - that came later. Mom was always overweight, and most of us have struggled as adults. There are still things I HAVE to eat that she used to make, and will indulge on occasion. And I'm a BUTTER person.....none of this fake buttery *kitten*.........ugggh.

moesaid2

I was born in the late 70s. My family (aunts, uncles, mother's parents) were (are) large people. My grandfather died of a massive heart attack (he was also diabetic) and my grandmother was so large when she died we had to buy and oversized casket. However, despite all of this my siblings and I (there are 7 all together) maintained healthy weights as children, teens, and even in our young adult lives. It's only been since the past 6-8 years, that we (two sisters and I) have picked up weight.

We grew up eating chicken with everything...There were a million ways to make chicken--baked, fried, boiled, grilled, in casserole, in salad. Chicken was cheap back then. It was rare that we ate steak. Occassionally we would have fried fish or sloppy joes or hamburers. We also ate bologna and hot dogs for lunch, BUT we played outside ALL THE TIME!! And we always had fruit and veggies that we ate all the time.

I believed I learned what not to do by looking at my aunts, uncles, and grandparents because they were obese and have chronic disease problems.

I do believe that how a person grows up affects them. My aunts and uncle didn't spend as much time as my siblings and I did outside and they ate foods that was always fried and laced with lard, bacon fat, gravy, etc. I'm not saying that we didn't eat fried foods, but I think because we were active, we weren't overweight children....

denisebme

I was born in the 60's. Also in a small town, and also to a "meat and potatoes" family. Both of my parents were overweight, but as kids, I was always stick thin, probably because I was non-stop motion. I grew up with 2 television channels, no cable, long before video games, in a very small town. We ran everywhere, and we lived for being outside, or on our bikes, roller skates, anything that would give us forward momentum.
It's those eating habits that I learned growing up though that didn't work so well on a less active adult. My husband is also a "meat and potatoes" type, and we raised 6 kids, so I can relate to cooking meals that stretch as far as possible.
We are "empty nesters" now, even though our youngest, who is almost 21, still lives at home while she finishes college. I've really changes the way I cook, much to my husbands dismay some days. He was diagnosed with fatty liver disease a few years ago, and we've been able to completely reverse that with a cleaner, organic, lower fat diet.

marjoleina

I grew up in Europe, we ate potatoes, vegetables and fish or small piece of meat. No fast food, no processed food, applepie on birthdays. No pop. And we didn't drive everywhere either, bicycles, or publuc transit.
This was in the dark ages.
When I came to the States I promptly gained a lot of weight...
Now I eat vegs, fruits, whole grain. No dairy, no meat. I do drive everywhere and make up for that by driving to the gym