Anybody Recognize How Unhealthy You Family Eats?

dough21

I didn't realize how unhealthy my family eats until joining MFP. I'm appalled by it. I don't want to get into specific details but it's a lot of processed foods and fried foods.

sarahmaedzz

I realize the same thing. It astonishes me what some people will eat.

MostlyWater

You know what else is interesting? Next time you're in the grocery store, see what people BUY.

karisul1

Yes!! As I just watched my hubby eat Doritos and then Mac & Cheese...of course I needed a few bites! Gahhhh!!!

mockchoc

I don't like it at all but nothing I try works to change it.

laele75

My son's diet is 'Whatever he will actually eat.' Because he is a small child, most of his diet is unhealthy. All attempts to force him to eat anything ended with him refusing to eat anything for days. Even candy.

So yes, his diet reads like a most people's favorite binge foods list. I introduce new, better food to him all the time. Sometimes he eats it and we find something new he likes. Like grilled chicken or fish.

But mostly it's pizza, canned pasta, hamburgers, french fries, chicken nuggets and poptarts. And ketchup all over everything but the poptarts.

ETA: Before you say anything about childhood obesity, my son is eleven and weighs 72 pounds. He was a preemie and has had trouble gaining weight his whole life. At two he refused to eat outright (this was the beginning of the food wars as I termed them) and he had to have a feeding tube installed so he got enough calories to live. He still has it, because he is a picky eater who is growing faster than his caloric intake. He is the exception, not the rule.

But yes, his diet is pretty bad. I do my best.

gmallan

You know what else is interesting? Next time you're in the grocery store, see what people BUY.

You know what's even more interesting than this, the difference between the average groceries being bought by a person in a low socioeconomic area compared to a more affluent area. I noticed the difference when I moved and it explains (on a shallow level) why less well off people are more likely to be overweight or obese.

Luckily I was raised to eat pretty healthy. My Mum is one of those freaky people who doesn't like anything sweet/fatty or bad for you. The 'worst' things she eats consistently is fruit cake and wholemeal banana bran muffins. I did not inherit these taste buds otherwise I wouldn't be here haha

karl39x

I'm good about watching what I eat but my parents are the worst when it comes to cutting back on the salt, oils, and fats.

Moonbeem11

To Iaele75 - most of those foods can be made in a healthy way. Organic meat for hamburgers, fries from a good health food store in the frozen section ...etc. They still taste good, just most regular supermarket stuff is processed so heavily with chemicals.

dbmata

You know what else is interesting? Next time you're in the grocery store, see what people BUY.

JFC, seriously. Especially in New England, before a small rain storm.


Carts filled with kool aid, capri suns, milk, eggs, and bread.

Around here, I see a lot of people eating out of boxes. Frozen pizza, frozen macerate grains with faux meat, etc. etc. In fact, I feel like an outlier when I go to the local Winco and I come up with a cart full of vegetables.

gmallan

To Iaele75 - most of those foods can be made in a healthy way. Organic meat for hamburgers, fries from a good health food store in the frozen section ...etc. They still taste good, just most regular supermarket stuff is processed so heavily with chemicals.

You can make a lot of yummy things lot healthier by makign them yourself too. That way you are in complete control of the amount and type of oil and preservatives. Unfortunately people are lazy and tend to go for conveinience.

zillah73

Yup, I definitely noticed. I used to think my family ate pretty healthy and, compared to how some of my friends' families ate, we probably did. Dinner always consisted of a protein, a starch and a veggie which seems cool in theory, but it was usually hamburger helper and canned peas. Everything my mom made came out of a box or a can or a plastic bag from the freezer – lots of "add to boiling water and stir" crap. After my mom had her heart valve replaced and her doctor told her to watch her sodium, it broke my heart to see her going right back to the processed foods then defending herself by pointing out she wasn't salting her food once it was on her plate *face palm*.

JusticeGirl25

My parents typically eat healthy, every once in a while they like to go out and splurge on a good meal. I haven't grocery shopped with them since my high school days but it wouldn't surprise me if my dad hid a box of donuts underneath whatever my mother bought, lol.

My brother invited me out for lunch this past weekend and he ordered a plate full of nachos for an appetizer and philly cheesesteak with fries. I helped him out with a few of his nachos-had a garden salad with a tuna sandwich. He told me was invited out to a BBQ that evening and I told him, "In a few hours, you're probably not going to be hungry since you ate quite a bit this afternoon" and he told "I have a strong stomach. I can eat a lot."

gettinfitaus

My son's diet is 'Whatever he will actually eat.' Because he is a small child, most of his diet is unhealthy. All attempts to force him to eat anything ended with him refusing to eat anything for days. Even candy.

So yes, his diet reads like a most people's favorite binge foods list. I introduce new, better food to him all the time. Sometimes he eats it and we find something new he likes. Like grilled chicken or fish.

But mostly it's pizza, canned pasta, hamburgers, french fries, chicken nuggets and poptarts. And ketchup all over everything but the poptarts.

ETA: Before you say anything about childhood obesity, my son is eleven and weighs 72 pounds. He was a preemie and has had trouble gaining weight his whole life. At two he refused to eat outright (this was the beginning of the food wars as I termed them) and he had to have a feeding tube installed so he got enough calories to live. He still has it, because he is a picky eater who is growing faster than his caloric intake. He is the exception, not the rule.

But yes, his diet is pretty bad. I do my best.

Definitely the exception, I just wanted to send you a hug that must be hard.

FindingMyself24

My son's diet is 'Whatever he will actually eat.' Because he is a small child, most of his diet is unhealthy. All attempts to force him to eat anything ended with him refusing to eat anything for days. Even candy.

So yes, his diet reads like a most people's favorite binge foods list. I introduce new, better food to him all the time. Sometimes he eats it and we find something new he likes. Like grilled chicken or fish.

But mostly it's pizza, canned pasta, hamburgers, french fries, chicken nuggets and poptarts. And ketchup all over everything but the poptarts.

ETA: Before you say anything about childhood obesity, my son is eleven and weighs 72 pounds. He was a preemie and has had trouble gaining weight his whole life. At two he refused to eat outright (this was the beginning of the food wars as I termed them) and he had to have a feeding tube installed so he got enough calories to live. He still has it, because he is a picky eater who is growing faster than his caloric intake. He is the exception, not the rule.

But yes, his diet is pretty bad. I do my best.

I am in a similar situation with my daughter (almost 3). She is WAY under weight and most of her diet is unhealthy processed foods....Her doctors actually told me to give her the unhealthy foods and put butter on everything i can..i too have tried veggies and this and that but she wants what she wants and i give it to her because she needs to eat and gain weight and not lose...it makes me sad sometimes to see how skinny she is..shes a big picky eater too...sad part is that my 13 month old weighs more than her...my 13 month old will eat just about anything which is awesome lol...i totally agree with you!!

taunto

well, anytime I used to go on a diet I would think "OMG these people are killing themselves". But now I realize that it isn't so much about the food itself but the calories amount and... my family eats too much and moves too little but overall, they eat well. My people use a more oil than necessary which adds up additional calories but besides that, they're eating well.

Thank you MFP for teaching me the difference between unhealthy eats and eating too much of anything

Justjamie0418

YES!
My husband will not eat any vegetables, He will only eat chips by the bagful, he will sit and eat a whole bag of hot tamales, and 6/8 slim jims, just crazy. I cant change it for him though.

Growing up I moved from my moms to my dads and then to fostercare, I started gaining my weight when i moved with my dad, but I know my dad/stepmom STILL eat horrible. My dad will eat cereal by the half boxful and 1/2 a gallon of milk whole milk at that. When my sister was still alive they would cook 3 lbs of bacon for the three of them for one meal, they eat alot of homemade meals full of high fat, creams, butter, etc. It makes me sad because before my sister passed away ( at 16 from a car wreck) she was obese and had been most of her life. She would eat peanutbutter white toast for breakfast with a huge glass of Chcocolate milk (whole). Drowned everything in Ranch, just bad bad choices. I know she struggled with her weight and fitting in, and I contribute that to my dad and stepmom and thier very poor eating habits.

As for my own kids, I try to get them to eat as well rounded as they can, but each of them have very different nutritional needs. Out of the 5, My oldest boy is tall and lean, but has weird sensory issues so only eats what he wants, which suprisingly is pretty healthy, my 7 year old is overweight, so I have to limit her snacks, and helping sizes. She will eat healthy stuff from time to time for snacks, but will also hoard things after I leave for work and my husband is in bed, My 5 year old is pretty much a vegetarian and shes borderline diabetic, but slim, so I make sure she gets enough protein, my 3 year old is underweight and always has been (he was deemed failure to thrive as a baby) So he gets nutritional drinks and such in addition to his food, my one year old basically eats what she wants, but my husband has a bad bad habit of indulging her in the junk food he eats. I get pissed off to see my 20 month old carrying around a slim jim in her hand! Its tough to manage, but i think I'm doing an OK job.

tachyon_master

My father has had multiple heart attacks and suffers from cancer in multiple forms.

He smokes, he drinks and he eats fried food and red meat like it's going out of fashion. Against all advice from medical professionals etc.

As he says, he's an adult and he knows what he's doing. It's his life and he's going to live it how he wants to live it - and stuff everyone else. And while I don't necessarily like it, he's got a point. He's informed, he knows exactly what he's doing to himself, and he chooses to do it anyway. It's his choice as an adult. So be it. Like it or not, you can't force an adult to do what you want them to do if they're not breaking any laws.

laele75

To Iaele75 - most of those foods can be made in a healthy way. Organic meat for hamburgers, fries from a good health food store in the frozen section ...etc. They still taste good, just most regular supermarket stuff is processed so heavily with chemicals.

Thank you for the suggestions. Unfortunately, all my attempts at these before (trust me, I've tried) have ended with him not eating. Picky eater is so picky that most attempts to change his diet end in utter failure. Also, organic is expensive and we have a very tight budget. I have to buy only one kind of frozen pizza. He won't eat any other brand. Hamburger has to be not less than 12% fat or he won't eat it. French fries I can at least bake, but he will only eat certain brands. Chicken we have a little bit of freedom on, he actually likes grilled chicken. Fish is new and I am please with that because the boy needs more healthy fats. He does occasionally nibble on fruits and veggies at school, so I don't push. It gets better and better every year, but yeah, I look at what he eats and it really makes me feel terrible sometimes. But he needs calories more than he needs anything.

As I said, he's a special needs child that the doctors can't even tell me why he lacks interest in food. He's not to be used as a standard for anything.

I am in a similar situation with my daughter (almost 3). She is WAY under weight and most of her diet is unhealthy processed foods....Her doctors actually told me to give her the unhealthy foods and put butter on everything i can..i too have tried veggies and this and that but she wants what she wants and i give it to her because she needs to eat and gain weight and not lose...it makes me sad sometimes to see how skinny she is..shes a big picky eater too...sad part is that my 13 month old weighs more than her...my 13 month old will eat just about anything which is awesome lol...i totally agree with you!!

Oh god, the worst years of the food wars were the early ones. He wanted all his food plain and was pretty much only eating three things. I feel for you, because you cannot reason with a 3 year old. At eleven I can say 'You can't have TV or candy until you eat something else first.' and he does it because he knows I'll do it. Preschoolers have little understanding of consequences and you pretty much have to tough it out and just make sure they get enough to get by. Hang in there, it gets better as they get older.

Definitely the exception, I just wanted to send you a hug that must be hard.

Thanks. It's better than it used to be. The hardest part is cooking two meals and avoiding all of his junk. Luckily, I have lost my taste for processed, oversalted food, so I can pretty easily ignore it.

bethlaf

I didn't realize how unhealthy my family eats until joining MFP. I'm appalled by it. I don't want to get into specific details but it's a lot of processed foods and fried foods.

Being the mom , i have eliminated much of that, not all , but a lot,
i didnt make a big deal of it , and no one has really complained, god bless the economy and hostess going out of business about the same time !!

LollerskateDJ

We used to be like that. I mean just 2 years ago, I would dominate the frozen food aisle. Frozen pizza, TV dinners, Ice Creams, Frozen Snack Foods and cookies and chips and a lot of crap side dishes like Rice A Roni and Stove Top stuffing. JESUS CHRIST HOW HORRIFYING.

My son(8) who has High Functioning Autism was the pickiest eater for the longest time but he's eating much better now than before. My oldest daughter(4) is the pickiest eater, loves white rice, spaghetti, yogurt, bananas and some other somewhat healthy food. Won't eat beef or non-fried chicken, fish, so I have her on vitamins and give her one of the Carnation Essentials. And my youngest(3) eats almost anything, especially most vegetables. It's the nicest feeling to shop outside the outer perimiter of the store aside from a couple aisles to get essential canned goods and stuff.

Our biggest guilty pleasure are pistachios. So delicious.

allshebe

My son's diet is 'Whatever he will actually eat.' Because he is a small child, most of his diet is unhealthy. All attempts to force him to eat anything ended with him refusing to eat anything for days. Even candy.

So yes, his diet reads like a most people's favorite binge foods list. I introduce new, better food to him all the time. Sometimes he eats it and we find something new he likes. Like grilled chicken or fish.

But mostly it's pizza, canned pasta, hamburgers, french fries, chicken nuggets and poptarts. And ketchup all over everything but the poptarts.

ETA: Before you say anything about childhood obesity, my son is eleven and weighs 72 pounds. He was a preemie and has had trouble gaining weight his whole life. At two he refused to eat outright (this was the beginning of the food wars as I termed them) and he had to have a feeding tube installed so he got enough calories to live. He still has it, because he is a picky eater who is growing faster than his caloric intake. He is the exception, not the rule.

But yes, his diet is pretty bad. I do my best.

When I was a kid, I was forced to eat a couple of relatively common vegetables that I didn't care for. I still don't like those vegetable and won't eat them unless they are mixed up with other things (more or less "stealthed"). When my kids came along, the only rule was that they had to try things (and could spit out if they didn't like it). If they didn't like the entire meal, there was always the option for them to make themselves a PB or PB&J sandwich (which they could do on their own from about age 5). Neither of them suffer from "clean plate syndrome" the way I do. They DO eat some junk food, but mostly healthy stuff, by preference. I've given up on my husband. He'll lose weight or not when he's willing to change his lifestyle and eating habits - he doesn't eat totally "bad", but there's definitely room for improvement.

I'm presuming your son's feeding tube supplement is balanced and appropriate for his needs, so yeah, whatever you can do to get him to eat anything - and especially "explore" new tastes is good. You can only do what you can do.

KenosFeoh

Oh yes! My son's GF lives here, and I have seen days where she ate nothing but donuts all day (about 5 of them). And she's slender to average (but no visible muscle definition)!

I'd look like a butterball if I ate like that. Plus I enjoy my balanced diet. A day without fruits and vegetables is not a good day.

Speaking of food wars, I have a 4-year-old grandson like that. He doesn't like to eat and hates most food. At my house, he never would have been given fast food at his age, but his mother gives it to him. She'll even make a special trip to get him chicken nuggets because it's one of the few foods that he says he will eat. At my house, he gets what other people are eating with strong encouragement to at least taste, plus I feed him the few things I know he will eat like apple slices, cheese slices, plain saltine crackers, french toast. Of course some days he hates everything and won't eat at all. Period. Not even the chicken nuggest his mom brings for him.

He looks like a concentration camp survivor - really thin, dark circles under the eyes.

laele75

Okay, now a suggestion from me for those dealing with picky eaters. Let them help prepare food. Even the three and four year olds. You can have them mix things and dump premeasured ingredients in bowls. My son will often try food he's helped to prepare, even if he won't eat any of it. It's progress.

And yes, the formula is high calorie and designed as meal replacement for children unable to eat on their own. Hence giving it to him right before bed and right after breakfast. Any other time and he eats even less.

jennymonster

You know what else is interesting? Next time you're in the grocery store, see what people BUY.

You know what's even more interesting than this, the difference between the average groceries being bought by a person in a low socioeconomic area compared to a more affluent area. I noticed the difference when I moved and it explains (on a shallow level) why less well off people are more likely to be overweight or obese.

Luckily I was raised to eat pretty healthy. My Mum is one of those freaky people who doesn't like anything sweet/fatty or bad for you. The 'worst' things she eats consistently is fruit cake and wholemeal banana bran muffins. I did not inherit these taste buds otherwise I wouldn't be here haha

Well, it does make sense. Most affluent people are more educated which means they most likely know more about nutrition. I work in a grocery store in an affluent town full of doctors and lawyers and it's no coincidence that the organic section of the store is one of the most profitable departments. I love observing peoples shopping carts! I get sad when I see parents and children shopping together and their cart is full of sugary cereals, frozen pizza, and tv dinners.

Francl27

My family wasn't too bad, apart from using margarine in everything (including reheated stuff because they didn't have a microwave) and canned veggies. The main issue I guess was letting us eat any snack we wanted apart from meals... and breakfast left much to be desired (nutella sandwich, cake, anything really). And that we always had way too much cheese (but we're French).

dandandee

You know what else is interesting? Next time you're in the grocery store, see what people BUY.

Yup. I work in a grocery store as a cashier so I've seen it all!

Seriously though, now that I make a conscious effort to watch what I eat and to find out what's in the food I'm eating it absolutely pains me to see some of the stuff my dad eats. My parents eat healthy meals, but it's the snacking. I so wish there was a way of getting them to lessen the unhealthy snacks.