Unhealthy family, difficult to stay on track?

newblue95
newblue95 Posts: 53 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,
I'm a soon to be college student, so I live at home. My parents and brothers are NOT healthy eaters, at least by my standards. We have cupboards full of chips, crackers, cookies, and a fridge full of diet soda and processed meats and cheeses. I work a part time job, about 25 hours a week, and I exercise for 30 - 90 minutes 6 days a week. But it is so hard to eat clean because I don't have very much money AND I have super easy access to junk food!!
Any suggestions? I'm willing to go grocery shopping and cook for myself, which I pretty much do anyway. They say if you keep good food in your fridge, you'll eat good food... but if your family keeps junk food in your fridge, you might eat junk food!!
Any help, encouragement, similar issues appreciated!

Replies

  • tyoung8
    tyoung8 Posts: 115 Member
    I have this same issue.! its all about self control and making better decisions for yourself! junk food and crap will be everywhere and always available. Its all about moderation and choices. :)
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
    You are the one who makes the choices that will support your desire to lose weight or not. You cannot expect anyone else to change the way they eat if they don't want to. You just have to say no to their choices.
  • rosemaryhon
    rosemaryhon Posts: 507 Member
    Yea, your idea to buy your own food sounds sensible to me. If you have tasty foods available to you, you should be able to avoid the temptation of the other stuff. For *me* the key is to always have foods available to me that fit in to my eating style.

    Good luck!
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    You are the one who makes the choices that will support your desire to lose weight or not. You cannot expect anyone else to change the way they eat if they don't want to. You just have to say no to their choices.

    ^^^ This!!!

    You are an adult, you make your own decisions. They don't make decisions for you and you don't for them. Simple. Don't get me wrong, I get that it's tempting and all, but you have the final say and decision. My coworkers brought in donuts the other day, which are like my kryptonite. I made a decision and said no. They've brought in pizza for us to eat before, I again decided no. Temptation is always there, whether it's at home, at a restaurant, anywhere.
  • harphy
    harphy Posts: 290 Member
    Join the club! My family is obese as well but luckily I don't live with them. But they make remarks every time we see... Like said above - buy your own food and cook for yourself. And additon - expect sabotage from family members. Eating healthy is not that expensive as they say but you have to put some effort in it. Cheap and good food: beans, peanut butter, tuna, oatmeal, eggs, bananas, soya, tomatoes, apples, frozen veggies, yoghurt...Maybe you could get a fridge of your own so you can store your food seperately?
  • newblue95
    newblue95 Posts: 53 Member
    Thanks for the motivation everyone! I think the transition will just take some time, for my family to get used to me cooking separately and for me to get used to buying my own stuff.
  • melinda200208
    melinda200208 Posts: 525 Member
    Unfortunately, you are going to need self control. It's hard to really say anything seeing your living with your parents. I think they would be offended if you said anything because it is their house.....try to buy healthy foods and stick to those. I know it would be very challenging for me as well to have all that junk food around. With being on a budget- ask your mom if she could pick up healthier foods/snacks for you when she goes grocery shopping. I can't imagine she would mind buying her daughter some healthy food??? Good Luck! That would be a very difficult situation for me as well.!
  • determined_erin
    determined_erin Posts: 571 Member
    Yes! This was the same problem I had. I tried in college to lose weight, but when I came home for breaks, it all failed. I moved into my own apartment last year after graduation. I have been working hard on losing weight this year and couldn't have done it without the distance from my family's food. If you are forced in that environment, it is very difficult. You will either have to talk to them about your goal, have great willpower to avoid the bad food, or simply move out.

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