How did you grow up?

julieh391

My mom was a decent cook but hated doing it, so we ate out at least a couple times a week growing up. When Mom cooked it was pretty traditional 80's food like pork chops, chicken, goulash, spaghetti and meatballs, tacos, pizza, lots of white bread and margarine, milk with dinner..We never had fresh veggies in the house (always frozen or canned) but always had a lot of fruits (the basics like apples, bananas, oranges.) My parents both have exercised every morning for as long as I can remember and are in way better shape than all of their friends. They kept very little junk food in the house, so I used to sneak to the convenience store near my house and buy candy bars and chips and ice cream, but I was always a skinny kid. I became a vegetarian at 15 and started doing a lot of my own cooking. At 16 I was vegan and pretty much cooked all of my own meals. I worked in an organic foods store for 5 years before becoming a nurse, so I have all the tools to be healthy, and yet I let it get away from me.

halzuzu

I am also a child of the 70's. My parents were into Yoga, they didnt allow myself or my sister to eat any sugar or junk food, no candy, no soda, no punch/juices, potato chips etc. Not even any gum (which resulted in my getting caught for stealing Hubba Bubba from the local grocery store. hehe). My mom cooked pretty healthy alot of chicken however, she wasnt the greatest cook so we did eat out a few times a week. When my parents split my mother was unable to get out of bed most days cause of depression. There was a lot of ordering pizzas and leaving money on the counter so my sister and I would go to Jack n the box, McDonalds etc pretty much for all meals everyday so my weight ballooned up around this time. I continued eating unhealthy until my mid 20's when I found out I have diverticulitis, high blood pressure, high cholestoral and landed in the emergency room. That completely changed my relationship with food. I havent had McDonalds or eaten red meat in over 12 years. If you had told my younger unhealthy self that my older self would look forward to going to the gym every morning and hitting the farmers market for fresh fruits and vegetables I wouldve said youre crazy, but here I am. Live and learn.

Cwilbanks12105

Ramen noodles, Vienna sausage, and chef boyardee and Mac and cheese is what stocked our pantry. Otherwise known as poor folks food lol

lstnlondry

I love this post! I am a child of the 70s and 100% mexican! We were raised on homemade tortillas, beans & rice and some kind of meat. We were a family of 6, both parents worked, no one was obese, we ALL moved all day long, no one sat in front of a tv, got a ride to school, and if we wanted a sweet treat from a stor we walked! Sugar cane was The Best! Mcdonalds was a yearly treat that WE SHARED!

As a mother of 4 I have gone back to homemade beans & rice but I can't whip out tortillas like my mom!

fitnspin

I grew up with only my mother and a lone child.
At some point I was kept by a nanny who only made us eat spaghetti everyday which I guess was bad, plus was boring. I remember lots of pression on me, to not get "fat" from my mother or being told that others from my family thought I got "fatter". She would buy lots of candies still tell me if she let me eat what I wanted, I'd get fat.
Fat fat fat. Lots of unwanted, scary advices on what not to eat (basically anything) but no restraints per say. I remember being sick for drinking too much aerated water one week, which I now despise. I think I ate normally for a kid, but sometimes if I ate one thing one time that she thought was too much she would get angry despite it was habitual.
Still she'd somehow binge on food, though I'm not sure it is since I don't know whether she feels guilty, she has very bad habits of not eating the day and then eating lots of candies, chocolate; then I didn't have a nanny anymore and she worked the day, so she prepared something for me to microwave. Once I didn't eat enough because I was impatient to begin/finish a class project to be the first to show it, so I almost fainted presumably from that (or because I was scared because I cut my face, IDK, now it still happens that I hurt myself by error and almost faint but I've been told it was because I didn't eat enough) so for a while I was scared of not eating enough and eating too much...
At 8 I thought I was too short, so I chose to eat lots of meat and yogurt, milk, etc. because I read it helped growing. Still for most my childhood I would also eat apples, etc.
Then, well, I had EDs, etc. And here I am trying to relearn to eat.

AlayshaJ

I was raised pretty damn healthy. Dried seaweed, oatmeal, fruit, and vegetables were my snacks as a child. My grandma made these light pizza dough stick things, with no cheese or anything, just herbs, as a treat. They were THA BOMB. I got white cheddar macaroni and cheese from time to time... The only late night snack we were allowed to have was chopped ham. Everything was home made. Store bought microwave ready food was scarce. We ate a lot of beans... all kinds of beans.

sarah3333

My parents grew up Amish, so you can imagine the food we ate. Delicious and huge portions!

Stagezz

Love how this thread turned out!

princessdracos

I was born in the late 70s, grew up in the country, and until I was 8 years old, it was Mom, Dad, my sister, and me. Dad did a lot of hunting, and we had a huge garden. Both of my parents were awesome cooks, but I only remember "snapshots" of eating as a child. For instance, I can't remember what we typically ate, but I remember liking cow tongue, squirrel pot pie, scrapple, country ham pot pie, and other country foods. I remember picking strawberries at my grandparents' farm and taking a salt shaker to our garden and eating leaf lettuce straight from the ground sprinkled with salt. I remember picking blackberries and "eating" honeysuckle. When my parents divorced, we moved in with my grandparents. That meant bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast and meat and potatoes for almost every dinner. Cookies, popcorn, and ice cream bars were an everyday thing. Salad was a special treat with Sunday dinner, and then only if we were having steak or spaghetti. I was extremely active, but I still gained a lot of weight...I rode my bike for hours, played basketball, and walked the neighborhood with a neighbor who walked every day regardless of the weather. I still blame puberty for spurring my weight gain...lol
I still struggle with the thought of eating salad more than once every day or two because of my upbringing. I also love to bake, so I make sure to share with my coworkers so I don't eat a whole batch of cookies! I really wish I could go back to my middle school years and log everything I ate and wear a heart rate monitor to see if I was as active as I remember. How interesting would that be?

_Thanatos_

I'm a mid-80s kid. When I was really young I used to be a picky eater and didn't want anything. My mom had to make me eat. But then as I got older my appetite grew as well. I'd eat all sorts of junk. Lots of sweets, fast food, anything. I actually thought it was funny the amount of food I could eat all at once. Hmm.. But thank goodness I've fixed all that. I am in control of my diet now. I do not let my taste for junk foods drive me.

graelwyn

I think my mother did fairly well with us. She cooked quite a bit, as I can clearly remember having some homemade fish pie. We also sometimes got things like campbells canned meatballs however, which I used to love. We always got a proper sunday roast, usually lamb, chicken or turkey with plenty of vegetables and potatoes. We were taken to restaurants from an early age also, including hotel restaurants and chinese. I remember I always got a small chocolate bar when I got out of school when I was about 7 years old. Sunday we had a sort of traditional tea however of pilchards or sardines on toast and malt loaf and some cake, I believe. My father sometimes made homemade spaghetti bolognaise, presumably he learnt the recipe when in Italy as a younger man. From 13, 3 of us became vegetarians so there were a lot of bean stews and homemade veggie meals which was probably pretty healthy.

After the age of 10, I did start eating a bit worse, having a lot of sweets and ice creams and the like, probably in reaction to abuse. My parents didn't really do anything about that, and gave me the money for such things. I was taken out when younger to a little cafe as a treat every week or two for cheesecake or a knickerbocker glory. I was not overweight as a child. I have never really been overweight, actually.

We travelled a lot so I got the chance to try all sorts of different foods. I never had any issues with eating fruits and vegetables.

sgthaggard

Growing up, we had a vegetable garden (15x30 feet) out back as well as another on land we 'borrowed' from a neighbour. Our parents gave us a great appreciation for natural foods. Besides our gardens, we would 'forage' - morels, wild asparagus, puff balls, fiddle heads and my parents were extremely adventurous when it came to food. I remember them making tempeh and wine out of sumach berries. We were also fairly active - x-coutry skiing in winter and swimming all summer.

In term of a healthy lifestyle, we definitely got off to the right start.

meshashesha2012

i grew up in a healthy househood. i wasnt allowed to eat candy or any of the fun sugary cereals. the only time i was allowed *somewhat* free reign with candy was during halloween. my mom's opinion was, i earned the candy so i should at least get to eat it.

I was allowed snacks like chips and little debbies but it was only the snack sized portions and that was after i begged and begged and begged and was finally allowed to pack one or the other in my lunch.

we never ordered out. my mom cooked home every meal that wasnt a left over from another meal she cooked. we and everyone else in my family had a garden so there was always a network of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, collards, peaches, berries and peppers. my great grandparents had a chicken coop so we also got fresh eggs. also it's not like i grew up in the country either. this was 1970's/80's in cincinnati :laugh:

i was a picky eater but that wasnt really an option in my house. you ate what got cooked or else you didnt eat. oh and not eating wasn't an option. my family is southern and west indian so there was no way i'd be telling my mom wht i would and would not be eating :laugh: my least favorite was liver. my mom would try and dress it up as hamburger by putting in a hamburger bun and sticking a slice of cheese on it, but i knew what it was.. the worst combination was liver and lima bean day :mad:

of course, once i got into high school my eating habits changed. i wanted to eat burgers, pizza and take away like the other kids and i started doing it. also i had more extracurricular stuff so we didnt have as many sit down meals as when i was younger, so i could get away with going to mcdonalds or something

pesigrandi

I grew up in the 60s-70s and we ate mostly from scratch. Meat, starch, salad and a veggie. Sadly, the veggies were mostly out of a can. My mom hated cooking so we had a small rotation of the same meals: chicken/mashed potatoes, spaghetti w/meat sauce, meatloaf/baked potato, etc ... always with a green salad and awful veggie. Breakfast was always oatmeal or another hot cereal. Lunches were peanut butter sandwiches with whole wheat bread and fruit (nearly always an apple, orange or banana). We drank powdered milk. We rarely had dessert. We seldom went out for dinner. My brothers and I were all skinny. My mom struggled with her weight after the last kid but in reality she was probably only 20-30 pounds overweight. My dad was a stocky muscular man from a physical job but he liked his beer so he had a bit of a belly.

I still eat meat but try to limit my carbs. I hated veggies as a kid but now I love fresh veggies either sauteed with onion and garlic in olive oil or over the grill (in a grill pan). The only thing I eat out of a can these days is tuna and sometimes beans. Instead of hot cereal I prefer eggs for breakfast. For the most part, whatever I eat for dinner is what I eat for lunch the following day. Which means meat, veggie and usually a salad.

When I first moved out of my parents house I started eating a lot of fast food and junk food (chips, candy, etc) that we never had growing up. I was surprised at how bad I felt even though it didn't cause me to gain any weight. I wish I still had the great metabolism that I had back then!

12by311

Lived on a farm growing up. We grew a garden. We canned and froze veggies. Made homemade salsa. Homecooked meals every day...big meals, cooked with real ingredients, not fat free, sugar free stuff. I can actually remember when my mom started buying snack cakes to bring in the house, so I was probably in high school by that point. Had our own beef cattle.

We were very active, doing things outside, at the lake, at the park. Played all sports.

I still grow a garden, still eat beef from my dad's angus cattle farm. Still am active, love being outside. Still involved in sports, I coach.

kimlight2

I was born in the 70's, both parents worked to make ends meet. Dad was a Type 1 diabetic so no sweets were in the house, if he couldn't eat it no one could (not his rule just the way it was). My Mom would make alot of pasta dishes, she was first generation italian american, lots of red sauce very little cream sauce. We didn't eat alot of red meat it was to expensive.

When I was older I started working at McDonald's to pay for horseback riding lessons and later board bills for my horse. I started eating there because it was free when I worked and I worked alot. After college I began riding and training horses professionally and I still ate at McD's and Wendy's. I would skip breakfast and dinner and lunch would be a Big mac, large fries and a diet soda. I was also working from 8am to 8pm always on the move either riding, teaching or cleaning up the barn and was at my skinniest.

I started putting on alot of weight when I was in a car accident in 2002 and could no longer ride or be as active as I was but didn't really change my eating habits. I would eat 3 meals but they were junk food until 2 years ago, after I was married, had a child and lost my father. I realized what I was doing to myself and found this site. I was ready to make a change so my son doesn't have to learn the hard way what I am learning now. He eats what we eat no matter what and it is portions appropriate for his size. Junk food is allowed in the house but it is in moderation. Fast food is ok but less then once a week if we don't have a choice and if you get a burger no fries get apples instead. We are trying to make it common sense for him.

mmarcy7

Born in the early 70's. Family dinners all together every night. All special events or holidays involve a big meal. Dessert after every meal, plus lots of snacks in the house. I mostly got fat due to being sedentary (my mom never exercised either) and then starting in high school depression/anxiety/emotional eating.

Crochetluvr

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 grew up in the 50's and 60's. We had to eat everything on our plates whether we liked it or not. If my dad liked it, we had to learn to. Dessert wasn't in the family budget (except for holidays) and snacks were mostly for my dad. We had our meals and a RARE treat....like if the ice cream man came around and we had some extra money. Sometimes mom would buy donuts or cinnamon bread from the bread man . Pasta, macaroni, noodles, bread were king in our house because they were cheap. I was overweight from the time I was 11 years old.

I had to learn how to eat on my own....and it took a long time....TOO long. If I had learned when I was a kid, I might not be diabetic now. I learned that Diabetes doesn't happen in a year or 2 years....the possibility starts when you are younger and eat whatever you want. That's what I did after I got married....I was making up for all those years living at home. I not only kept OD'ing on the carbs, I ate all the junk I couldn't have when I was a kid. And now I am paying for it.

kls13la

Funny, my brother and I were just talking about this, because all three of his young daughters are overweight.

I was born in 1974. At my house, we ate whatever mom put on the table and that was it. If we didn't like it, we just didn't eat. She never forced us, and she never gave us a choice about what we "wanted" to eat. We either ate or we didn't -- our choice.

For breakfast, we usually had Cheerios or Raisin Bran with 2% milk, Cream of Wheat, or occasionally on the weekends scambled eggs and bacon or pancakes. We never ate toast that I can remember. Lunch was typically a ham and cheese or PB&J sandwich, an apple or orange, and a homemade chocolate chip cookie. Dinner always involved a meat and vegetable (broccoli, cauliflower, or brussel sprouts usually). My mom sometimes made a pot of spaghetti with meat sauce with salad as a side. Occasionally we got a bowl of neopolitan ice cream for dessert.

We hardly ever snacked. We ate our three square meals, and that was it. There was no "sitting on the couch with a bag of potato chips and a tub of french onion dip" going on, like I see my young nieces do now. We weren't even allowed to go into the refrigerator or cupboards. If we were lucky enough to get some potato chips, my mom would give us five or six chips and that was that. We drank either 2% milk, water, or Kool-Aid. Getting pop was a special occasion, and even then we would only get half a glass. We very rarely ate fast food or ordered pizza. If we did eat McDonald's, we each got a junior cheeseburger or McNuggets and all four of us kids split a large fry. There weren't a lot of sweets in the house. My mom made homemade chocolate chip cookies sometimes, or we got popsicles.

In other words, although we may not have had the most well balanced meals all the time, I didn't grow up in a world that revolved around food. I don't remember ever being that concerned about food as a kid. As a result (maybe?) neither me or my brother or sisters have ever been overweight. (Obviously I'm here to lose about 10-15 pounds, but I'm well within a healthy weight for my body -- I'd just like to be a bit thinner and fit.) I really appreciate that now. I've never been a big snacker or sweets eater, and I really think it is because of how I grew up.

KeriLoy

Sorry I couldn't read all the posts *mouth watering memories*.....
1. Clean Plate Club
2. If you finish what is on your plate ...you get dessert
3. Good ole fashion cooking...nuff said

I was a skinny bean pole until after my 3rd child was born...the I don't know...I think gravity hit

rbn_held

I was born in 1977. My brother and I grew up in the country with little money. We had lots of veggies from the garden and alot of wild game that we would hunt. We ate what was put in front of us or we didn't eat. We sat at the table as a family every night and ask to be excused before leaving the dinner table. We didn't snack alot and if we did want a snack we had to ask for it, there was no helping yourself. Dessert wasen't something we had very often. We had milk with dinner unless we were having sauerkraut (then we got soda because Mom said milk and sauerkraut didnt mix well lol). Otherwise Soda was for special occasions and holidays. We spent most time outdoors because we didn't have gaming systems, cable or computers and we didn't have A/C. I was 31 before I lived in a house with A/C (until then I had no allergies). We spent most of our time playing in the creeks, hunting or just exploring the 800+ acres we lucky enough to live on. So needless to say it wasen't until I started high school and started working when I really gained weight. I wouldn't change for childhood for nothing. My parents still live in the same place (and still no A/C). Brings back alot of childhood memories whenever I go home to visit.