Does your childhood diet affect your eating habits?

It did.

Growing up my mom was a busy successful Realtor. We ate is ful service restaurants probably 4 nights a week. My dad and step mom were on a tight budget and dinner most of the time was some kind of pasta loaded, cheesy casserole or hamburger helper with canned veggies. The family would have a heaping bowl of ice cream EVERY NIGHT for dessert. My stepmom bought bread at the hostess outlet store so we always had a ton of hostess snacks too.

It's a miracle I wasn't huge until I hit 8th grade.. then through my senior year in high school my weight went up to about 230ish.

I eat much differently now. Meals at home are mostly clean and we eat out and have snacks in moderation..My son eats very well balanced meals. My parents are seriously stuggling with weight. They try to eat healthy with frilled meat and veggies but to them, potatoes with peppers and onions in a cup of EVOO , smothered in cheese, is a healthy side...

Yes, I hear my parents' voice any time I pick up junk food or pre-made pre-packaged food. My parents raised us on home made, fresh, and simple food. They were very much against popular processed products. They also stressed the importance of eating a plant-centered diet. We grew up really poor - but our diets are something they NEVER sacrificed. This is why I feel a lot of responsibility to keep up what they started.

Before my weight loss, absolutely. But at the same time, once I started living on my own I started branching out from what I would eat when I was a child. I started trying new foods, and new cuisines. I've been on my weight loss journey successfully for the past year and a half and now much of what I eat doesn't reflect at all my childhood. The saving grace for me is that my parents never allowed soda in the home. But it was only until my weight loss journey did I stop having it completely (I used to have it when I went out to eat now it's just water, ice tea or lemonade). My DD is starting off with much healthier eating habits because of my lifestyle changes and I'm so proud of her. Does she eat everything I do right now? Nope, but then she will ask for us to go out to get a bean burrito rather than McDonalds.

Yes. As a kid we ate very 'midwestern' - lots of casseroles, veggies from a can, etc. I later learned this was because my grandma cooked this way so it is what my mom learned. Both my mom and I now eat a lot differently - more flavors, variety, and freshness - but we still both gravitate towards 1-pan "stir fry" type dishes.

I've also noticed how differences crop up between me and my husband, or between us and our friends, when one of us is cooking dinner. I almost always substitute in recipes to make them healthier so I can eat more, but I have friends who always stick to the book and just eat less. My husband's family doesn't see anything wrong with having a meal of only carbs - making rice be a side for mac and cheese, or putting ungodly amounts of mayo in everything. I've pulled him over to the healthy side somewhat - he at least puts vegetables with the mac and cheese now

growing up in the uk in the 70s on a low budget we did not have much in the way of treats, take aways, puddings, sweets or meals out so that helped and veg was a part of main mains but it was really boring food and very low standard! all veg and potatoes were pressure cooked to death and meat was usually the cheapest cuts such as belly pork, high fat mince etc... We also got served things like *kitten* (don't ask if you don't know what these are as you really don't want to know) the cheapest possible frozen burgers and other lovely stuff lol. Vegetables were limited to core British ones e.g carrots and peas and fruit was seen as a treat to enter the house no more than once a week and be devoured within minutes and not replenished!
Despite all this myself and 3 brothers were all skinny throughout childhood and even today none of us are obese, though all of us are past being described as thin! I cook nothing like my parents at all, thankfully I learned to try new things many years ago from a good friend and slowly but surely expanded what I could make.

Strangely both parents are now very over weight with my dad being very obese. Their diet still consists of cooking things to death and they go for quantity rather than quality as they always did.

When I think about my childhood I become nauseated and don't want to eat, but that's about it.

I eat much differently now. Meals at home are mostly clean and we eat out and have snacks in moderation..My son eats very well balanced meals. My parents are seriously stuggling with weight. They try to eat healthy with frilled meat and veggies but to them, potatoes with peppers and onions in a cup of EVOO , smothered in cheese, is a healthy side...

It's not an unhealthy side. Maybe unbalanced a bit in terms of more fat than protein, but not necessarily bad at all.

The sort of "bad food" vs. "good food" mindset is exactly what I try to avoid with kids I've taught, watched, and hope to raise. Emphasis on nutrition and moderation is what I wish happened more often.

For the good, I was given an appreciation for flavor and vegetables.

For the bad, I was taught how to entertain and comfort myself with food.

Yep. As an adult, my mom's casseroles are still my favorite foods. I also crave the same treats as I did back then. But I do think a distaste or a like for certain foods is more up to the taste buds than if you grew up eating it. I love curry as an adult, but never had it as a child or even as a teenager.

Not at all. I grew up in a Mexican household with women that actually LOVE to cook a lot of unhealthy food. It's always your choice. If you make excuses, the most frequent one I hear from over weight women is, "It's in my 'genes' I can't help it". That's a load of BS. I studied to be a nurse, it's not in your genes, it just takes some people more effort than others.