Mothers

wifeyy
wifeyy Posts: 481 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
As a mum it is a real struggle for me to lose weight because i find it hard simetimes to focus on my eating plan if i cook for the kids. Like yesterday i started eating their mac and cheese while i was cooking for them. I always try not to do that but i can't help it. Sometimes i feel like being on my own for at least a month so that i can only focus on my meals and what i planned to eat.

Are there any mums out there with the same struggles? If so how do you manage to stick to your eating plan.?
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Replies

  • caradack1985
    caradack1985 Posts: 254 Member
    Oh yeah I really struggled with at, and picking at his food when he's finished. I just had to blanket not do it in the end. Making a concerted effort to not eat his food!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    You take a little, weigh it, log it and eat it

    And forgive yourself

    You make them healthy foods and count the calories in the recipe builder, eat a smaller portion and add loads of veg or salad ..log it

  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    Why are you feeding your children junk food to begin with? Why establish a bad and unnecessary habit for them?
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    azulvioleta6 wrote: »
    Why are you feeding your children junk food to begin with? Why establish a bad and unnecessary habit for them?

    Is this serious?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    I just remembered Americans make Macaroni Cheese out of a box sometimes...I have no idea what that tastes like but it sounds kinda sad to me ...my mother would turn in her grave (of course I'd have to kill her first ..hey mum..we might be coming up next weekend..make Mac cheese mkay?)
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    cecsav1 wrote: »
    If your kids are young enough that you have to make their meals, don't you choose their meals as well? Incorporate healthier foods in their diet and eat together. Kids can eat tuna and eggs and chicken and salad and cottage cheese and (fill in the blanks with whatever you would cook for yourself). :) You will create a foundation for healthy eating, introduce them to new foods, AND make things easier on yourself.

    Yaknow these foods are great but kids need fats and calories to grow and develop in a way that grown adults don't

    Hence the immortal teen fridge raider...at least he thinks he's immortal
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    edited August 2016
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    I just remembered Americans make Macaroni Cheese out of a box sometimes...I have no idea what that tastes like but it sounds kinda sad to me ...my mother would turn in her grave (of course I'd have to kill her first ..hey mum..we might be coming up next weekend..make Mac cheese mkay?)

    I love Kraft boxed mac n cheese! It's right up there with Spaghettios as a childhood food. With a working mom who didn't make much, she did try her best to have us fed and had to resort to boxed and canned food (so I can't hate on her for that.) My kid actually prefers it so I serve it up with some sauteed spinach and an apple and she's good to go.

    OP, like Sued0nim said upthread, bulk it up with veggies and add a protein and log it. Tuna is pretty good or one of those roast chickens from the grocery for additional protein. And remember to log log log!
  • lucylou1977
    lucylou1977 Posts: 25 Member
    I cannot be doing with making separate meals for everyone so I eat the same as my kids, but often I'll have a smallish portion and add extra veggies or a salad. For example, if I make macaroni cheese (which in our house is butter, flour, full-fat milk, cheese and pasta) I'll stir cauliflower into the sauce for my portion so I have less pasta. The kids don't like cauliflower so they'll have peas or broccoli on the side instead. If we have fatty meats, like sausages or meatballs, I eat the veggie versions of those foods. On the whole though, family meals are not really an issue for my weight loss - I put on weight because of what I ate between meals, mostly in the evenings after the kids had gone to bed.

    As for the kids' leftovers, I've never touched those. I remember my mum telling me that eating us kids' leftovers caused (in part) her weight problem so I've just never gone there! It helps that my kids are good eaters though.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I don't make my dd a lot of food that I don't also eat.
    I cook less at a time and give her portions she can really eat, put away her leftovers or toss them in the trash.
    If I eat something I log it.
    To keep from nibbling while cooking I sometimes chew mint gum.
    I prelog my day. I didn't drastically change the type of food I eat. I eat foods I like so I don't really feel tempted by other people's food.
  • mds438
    mds438 Posts: 18 Member
    I don't make different meals for the kids. They eat what we adults eat - meat, sauce, vegetables, potatoes etc, no need for differences. As for the kids leftovers they are tossed out, but most of the times there is very little leftovers from them as they take the food themselves - they are 5 and 10 year old slender boys.
    But yes, I struggle not to nibble at the food while preparing the food or worse, eating the sweets we have stored in the kitchen.
    It is important for me that we eat together and that we eat the same food - there is no need to make special servings, as long as I make sure, that there always is something on the table that everybody likes. Eg. the vegetables are raw and in separate bowls and there is always pasta, rice or potatoes and ketchup, oh do they love ketchup :blush:
    And if I do make mac-n-cheese, I make it from scratch (not from a box) and make it for the entire family and use it as a side dish with eg. roasted chicken and a salat.
  • marieamethyst
    marieamethyst Posts: 869 Member
    Boxed mac n cheese is one of the few things my picky, underweight 3 year old will eat. Making it tonight for dinner, and just eating the amount that fits in my calorie goal for the day and moving on. I don't have the time to make separate meals for everyone, so I just eat whatever I prep for them. If I go over goal, I try to get in some exercise to balance it out. I've found drinking water while doing food prep helps keep me from "snacking". :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I serve my kids what I make most of the time. Some days (or at lunch) I just make them whatever they like... but I plan something tasty and healthier for myself. Bottom line is that you have to want to lose weight more than you want the mac'n cheese. Or yeah.. just eat it within your calories.
  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    I eat low carb, but my kids and husband do not. I just skip the starchy side and take more meat and veg. If it's a mixed meal (like the mac n cheese already mentioned) I'll just take a tiny portion (I make mine with bacon grease and butter, flour, real cheese, whole milk, pasta, and add some crumbled bacon to it... Heavenly) and add a big salad and some extra cooked veggies to my plate (not something we have often - wheat exacerbates my eczema). If it's something I can easily deconstruct, I'll do that (spaghetti and meatballs - I just have meatballs and salad; tacos - I just have taco meat and fixins on salad). We don't eat communal meals for breakfast or lunch, just dinner, and I don't eat their leftovers, that goes in the garbage can (better there than on my backside). I've found their habits have improved as mine have - they are more inclined to request eggs or fruit and yogurt for breakfast now, rather than sugary cereal; they're more likely to snack on cheese and nuts rather than fruit snacks. Sure they still get "kid food" and treats, I just don't eat that stuff. It helps me to view their food as just that - THEIR food. Not mine.
  • ouryve
    ouryve Posts: 572 Member
    edited August 2016
    Both of mine have asd with all the delightful restrictions that go with it. Impossible for us all to have the same meal, so I try to vary it a little eg dh and I have a chicken casserole with new potatoes, one child will have the meat with oven chips and the other will have the meat and veg cooked into an acceptably red sauce for pasta.

    In your situation, I would serve myself a small portion of the macaroni cheese as my carb and log it! Part of your weight loss journey is being able to establish lifelong habits, including incorporating normal, everyday, delicious foods into your diet.
  • ouryve
    ouryve Posts: 572 Member
    And yeah, I have an invincible almost teen. Acceptable foods don't even touch the sides.
  • sweetilemon
    sweetilemon Posts: 122 Member
    I'm in the make the same for everyone camp...If I'm eating healthy so is everyone in my family. I will provide extra or healthy snacks to those that aren't getting enough cals/still hungry.
  • caradack1985
    caradack1985 Posts: 254 Member
    It's just me and the kidlet here. For a start, he eats four or five times a day and I eat once; secondly, I like spicy food and he likes plain. If I only cooked meals we both liked then we'd be eating cheesy pasta and sausage and mash for the rest of our lives. Even then, I'd want to add loads of spinach to the pasta and mustard to the mash. I much prefer just making separate meals!
  • wifeyy
    wifeyy Posts: 481 Member
    Thank you all for the tips!
  • irishmisst
    irishmisst Posts: 9 Member
    Totally get where your coming from, do what I do pour washing up liquid over their left overs therefore tou cannot eat it
  • Golbat
    Golbat Posts: 276 Member
    Yes, this is a hard thing for me! I just try not to finish off their plates. But it is a hard habit to get out of.
  • LLT38
    LLT38 Posts: 172 Member
    azulvioleta6 wrote: »
    Why are you feeding your children junk food to begin with? Why establish a bad and unnecessary habit for them?

    Why do you think macaroni and cheese is junk food? I make it from scratch for my daughter - pasta, milk or cheese aren't junk. Food is neither good or bad - it's fuel for our bodies. If you eat too much food, you can gain weight or have other negative health consequences. I am trying to teach my daughter that you can have any food in moderation within a healthy, balanced diet.
  • samchez0
    samchez0 Posts: 364 Member
    Yeah that can be an issue for me and my husband too. We usually just make them the same thing we eat though and they've grown to like most of it.
  • samchez0
    samchez0 Posts: 364 Member
    azulvioleta6 wrote: »
    Why are you feeding your children junk food to begin with? Why establish a bad and unnecessary habit for them?

    Because I'm not going to completely deprive my kids of yummy food just because some stuck up snob thinks the occasional box of mac and cheese for lunch means I'm completely destroying any future eating habits.
  • msalicia116
    msalicia116 Posts: 233 Member
    azulvioleta6 wrote: »
    Why are you feeding your children junk food to begin with? Why establish a bad and unnecessary habit for them?

    Do you have kids? Just curious, most harsh criticisms come from non-parents.

    I am definitely not a fan of processed foods like boxed mac and cheese, sp.o's, I can't even think of the other American quick food crap we have, oh tater tots, fries, you get the picture. It's tasteless IMO, minus the vatt of salt most of that stuff is preserved with. I honestly think it numbs your palette. Once you quit consuming processed junk, you can't go back. It's too overwhelming and quickly your body will react with swelling, indigestion, etc.

    As vehemently as I feel about most of the American diet, I'm a mother, and know my preference isn't everyone's preference. That moderation is key, that kids can break down your attitudes about a lot of things, and you become more flexible in ways you can't even imagine. It's a very complicated balance, which doesn't get any easier with elitist attitudes and judgements by other people, especially non-parents. If you're a mother, you should know better, if you're not, might want to take a moment to reflect on how imperfect you are.

    OP, I make seperate meals. For some that's completely impractical. But like I said, I can't stomach the bland food my son prefers. I notice I pick at his food less if I have my own, and I like that he is more and more interested in my choices from the exposure. It works for us.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    My son is ASD with "restrictive dieting disorder", which is just being recognized but pretty common with spectrum children. If I ate what he ate I'd be huge and sick since his diet is grain heavy and I have allergies. We eat different things. He is also vegetarian, I'm not. A lot of nights he will have a sandwhich with a small dressing free salad while I have a large salad with 4-6oz of meat. Its just habit to eat different meals because we have been doing it so long. If you stick with it you will get used to it, if not just distribute the plates different. Have a small portion of the Mac with a large salad or steamed veggies as your main course and reverse the portions for the kids so the Mac is their main.
  • jhmomofmany
    jhmomofmany Posts: 571 Member
    Usually we all eat the same things, just different portions, as others have said. I might skip the dinner roll, not butter my potatoes, and I always serve myself extra veg. Sometimes I have an entirely seperate meal. But it never fails- if I fix myself something different, they want that! Even if it's just deviled egg instead of hotdog or whatever. Lol.

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