My kids steal food.

[Anonymous]

My son stole food too. He was about ten and we had a friend renting a room with us while she went to a nearby college. She came to me and said someone was taking her potato chips out of her cabinet, the one we had given her to use for her own food. I knew immediately it was my son because his little sister was too short to reach it. Also, he has had a huge appetite since he was an infant. When confronted he confessed. He stopped doing it. But, once he was old enough to go to a store by himself he would buy himself the treats he wanted and there was no stopping him. I guess we could have forbid him from entering stores but he actually walked by places like Dunkin Donuts and 7-11 on his way to and from school. We could have prevented him from earning his own money but he was very industrious and motivated. Bought his own cool bike with money he earned, bought his own first car with money he saved.

He's an adult now. He has struggled with his weight all his life. When he is able to be physically active he does better. He struggles with appetite self-control. It's part of who he is. When he was a healthy weight (200 lbs at 6 ft) he felt great, but he hasn't been able to sustain it for more than a few years. Then his desire for the food he loves wins again.

Maybe there's something we could have done differently when he was a child but I don't know what it is. We did the best we could with him, considering his natural personality and appetites. I guess my bottom line at this point is he is a wonderful guy and I love him more than I can even say.

Good luck OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t bring myself to read through ten pages, but I got to page three and no one said the words “yes basket” yet. If it hasn’t been covered, OP, Google it.


Also it is possible - but VERY expensive - to only stock “yes foods” in the whole house. Requires lots of grocery trips (or instacart deliveries) and meticulous meal planning, but it’s possible. Not often feasible, but a potential last resort., OP, quote and respond if you need details.

Not OP but id like more info

She already said to Google it. You'll burn some calories typing.

A yes basket is exactly what it sounds like - stock it with food (adult provided food) and the answer is ALWAYS yes. Before dinner? Yes. After lunch? Yes. Right before bed? Yes, but brush your teeth again please. It gives kids control of something, and especially for kids with food hoarding problems or coming from food insecurity(ie foster care), it is reassuring to know there is always a yes.

Turning your kitchen into a yes kitchen is much harder on the parent end. It requires very careful planning and extensive patience because if you buy food Tuesday for dinner on Thursday but the kid eats it on Wednesday, you can’t be upset or angry because the kitchen is a yes, you already gave permission. This DOES NOT work for everyone. It is VERY hard to keep up, especially for long periods of time. However, if food restriction fights are breaking families and relationships, for a committed adult, it is another technique to try.

I have been trying very hard to do this in my house. As you said it’s very hard and more expensive than we can really afford. My DD loves raspberries and mangos but I can’t buy 5 packages/pints every week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, having sauce left over after you sauce a 1-lb box of pasta is not a sign that you have great quantities of sauce in the first place. This makes me wonder about your judgment regarding portions.

You people are insane. I am sorry the idea of batch cooking healthy food is so offensive to you that you need to pick the whole post apart.

It doesn’t offend me. I do it! The issue is that a pot of sauce the size you are describing is not a “batch.” You may be chronically overestimating how much food you are providing. If not, not. But you asked for feedback. This is the feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, having sauce left over after you sauce a 1-lb box of pasta is not a sign that you have great quantities of sauce in the first place. This makes me wonder about your judgment regarding portions.

You people are insane. I am sorry the idea of batch cooking healthy food is so offensive to you that you need to pick the whole post apart.

It doesn’t offend me. I do it! The issue is that a pot of sauce the size you are describing is not a “batch.” You may be chronically overestimating how much food you are providing. If not, not. But you asked for feedback. This is the feedback.

I am not underestimating how much food I am cooking my own family. How is cooking a gigantic pot of sauce not a “batch”? Also I did not ask for feedback, I was responding to someone who said it’s unrealistic to cook healthy food and have a job. I’m not op. So again, I think you need to figure out why you are so obsessed about other people not cooking enough food for their families.

[Anonymous]

We leave healthy snacks on the kitchen table for our kids. They are welcome to take anything they want from those snacks. It's usually fruit, but sometimes I add carrot sticks or sugar snap peas. They will graze on fruit and vegetables all day long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Typical day: breakfast burritos and fruit. Chicken nuggets, string cheese, apples and ketchup for lunch. Chili with ground beef and rice and a veggie for dinner. Snacks about 11 and 2 and 4. Snacks might include: pepperoni, fruit leather, yogurt, carrots, bell peppers, cheese and crackers, popcorn, plus a serving of whatever we baked that day. We go for hot chocolate at Starbucks once or twice a week. We do dessert of fruit and cool whip or a serving of ice cream.

The additional food is on top of all that.

Those aren't the healthiest meals, IMO. Also, you don't need two desserts a day (baked treat plus dessert) - that's probably 500 calories right there. Try exchanging those for more protein and make sure every snack has protein too (carrots and hummus, apple and peanut butter)

Here are my kids' meals today:

Breakfast - omelets with cheese, mushrooms, and turkey bacon (This is what we had, it's not for health reasons, sometimes we have regular bacon)
Lunch - ham and cheese sandwich with cherry tomatoes on the side. They were still hungry, so they each had a mandarin orange.
Dinner - chicken souvlaki with couscous and tzatziki sauce

This is the diet of a peri menapausal woman.

That is the comment of a mom who only feeds her children dino nuggets and mac and cheese.

No doubt this comment is by the pp who accuses others of having an eating disorder while he shops only perimeter of the grocery store and feeds hummus to her kids! Yet, she thinks she has no eating disorder!

Sounds like you are overweight, I am sorry for your struggles. It’s not a good reason to put down others who care about feeling healthful foods to their families though.

LOL! How much do you weigh and how tall are you? I stand proudly at 116lbs 5'4" and 50 years old. Yet, I eat ribs, and chicken, and steak, and pasta and rice and three proper meals a day. None of them is a "salad." More like, as all are saying, you have an eating disorder.
I have never been overweight, nor did I ever count calories like a nut job, why should I? The best way to eat is the Med way and moderation but no restriction. I would not even respond to you, but you do have a child! I hope you take a look at you, a long look, and realize what many of us realized already about you. You are causing you child an eating disorder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Typical day: breakfast burritos and fruit. Chicken nuggets, string cheese, apples and ketchup for lunch. Chili with ground beef and rice and a veggie for dinner. Snacks about 11 and 2 and 4. Snacks might include: pepperoni, fruit leather, yogurt, carrots, bell peppers, cheese and crackers, popcorn, plus a serving of whatever we baked that day. We go for hot chocolate at Starbucks once or twice a week. We do dessert of fruit and cool whip or a serving of ice cream.

The additional food is on top of all that.

Those aren't the healthiest meals, IMO. Also, you don't need two desserts a day (baked treat plus dessert) - that's probably 500 calories right there. Try exchanging those for more protein and make sure every snack has protein too (carrots and hummus, apple and peanut butter)

Here are my kids' meals today:

Breakfast - omelets with cheese, mushrooms, and turkey bacon (This is what we had, it's not for health reasons, sometimes we have regular bacon)
Lunch - ham and cheese sandwich with cherry tomatoes on the side. They were still hungry, so they each had a mandarin orange.
Dinner - chicken souvlaki with couscous and tzatziki sauce

This is the diet of a peri menapausal woman.

That is the comment of a mom who only feeds her children dino nuggets and mac and cheese.

No doubt this comment is by the pp who accuses others of having an eating disorder while he shops only perimeter of the grocery store and feeds hummus to her kids! Yet, she thinks she has no eating disorder!

Do you have something against middle eastern food? First you shame me for feeding my children couscous, now you think hummus is bad for children? WTF???

Hummus is great for kids, in addition to meat, pasta, veggies, never as a meal.

[Anonymous]

Here is a simple fact op. You caused your children's weight problems. You and DH buy their food. Yes, you are acting as they are "stealing" food. You are the blame for your dd being overweight.
You are buying her food. You are punishing children for eating food. You are asking for advice on how to control your kid's eating some more as if you didn't cause enough disordered eating.
Quire frankly, I am appalled that you are not asking the one and only question you should be asking. What do YOU need to do to help your kid and to correct your mistake?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is a simple fact op. You caused your children's weight problems. You and DH buy their food. Yes, you are acting as they are "stealing" food. You are the blame for your dd being overweight.
You are buying her food. You are punishing children for eating food. You are asking for advice on how to control your kid's eating some more as if you didn't cause enough disordered eating.
Quire frankly, I am appalled that you are not asking the one and only question you should be asking. What do YOU need to do to help your kid and to correct your mistake?

You can become overweight eating too much of anything. It isn't just from eating "junk"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Typical day: breakfast burritos and fruit. Chicken nuggets, string cheese, apples and ketchup for lunch. Chili with ground beef and rice and a veggie for dinner. Snacks about 11 and 2 and 4. Snacks might include: pepperoni, fruit leather, yogurt, carrots, bell peppers, cheese and crackers, popcorn, plus a serving of whatever we baked that day. We go for hot chocolate at Starbucks once or twice a week. We do dessert of fruit and cool whip or a serving of ice cream.

The additional food is on top of all that.

Those aren't the healthiest meals, IMO. Also, you don't need two desserts a day (baked treat plus dessert) - that's probably 500 calories right there. Try exchanging those for more protein and make sure every snack has protein too (carrots and hummus, apple and peanut butter)

Here are my kids' meals today:

Breakfast - omelets with cheese, mushrooms, and turkey bacon (This is what we had, it's not for health reasons, sometimes we have regular bacon)
Lunch - ham and cheese sandwich with cherry tomatoes on the side. They were still hungry, so they each had a mandarin orange.
Dinner - chicken souvlaki with couscous and tzatziki sauce

This is the diet of a peri menapausal woman.

That is the comment of a mom who only feeds her children dino nuggets and mac and cheese.

No doubt this comment is by the pp who accuses others of having an eating disorder while he shops only perimeter of the grocery store and feeds hummus to her kids! Yet, she thinks she has no eating disorder!

Sounds like you are overweight, I am sorry for your struggles. It’s not a good reason to put down others who care about feeling healthful foods to their families though.

LOL! How much do you weigh and how tall are you? I stand proudly at 116lbs 5'4" and 50 years old. Yet, I eat ribs, and chicken, and steak, and pasta and rice and three proper meals a day. None of them is a "salad." More like, as all are saying, you have an eating disorder.
I have never been overweight, nor did I ever count calories like a nut job, why should I? The best way to eat is the Med way and moderation but no restriction. I would not even respond to you, but you do have a child! I hope you take a look at you, a long look, and realize what many of us realized already about you. You are causing you child an eating disorder.

lol sure you only weigh 116. Surrrrre.

Also, a nice big salad can be a delicious healthy meal. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make it bad. Your posts are those of a jealous fat woman, not a thin fit woman.

[Anonymous]

Oh also, to the one obsessed pp who doesn’t like hummus or salad and eats an all meat and carb diet, there are several of us who have posted about healthy meals. You are out numbered and, quite frankly, sound very sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh also, to the one obsessed pp who doesn’t like hummus or salad and eats an all meat and carb diet, there are several of us who have posted about healthy meals. You are out numbered and, quite frankly, sound very sad.

You need to shut up. You are disordered and insane. On top of it, I am 116lbs, the heaviest I've ever been!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh also, to the one obsessed pp who doesn’t like hummus or salad and eats an all meat and carb diet, there are several of us who have posted about healthy meals. You are out numbered and, quite frankly, sound very sad.

You need to shut up. You are disordered and insane. On top of it, I am 116lbs, the heaviest I've ever been!

116 pounds? No. Probably more like 116 kgs. Go eat a plate of ribs and think about why you think a healthy diet is “disordered”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t bring myself to read through ten pages, but I got to page three and no one said the words “yes basket” yet. If it hasn’t been covered, OP, Google it.


Also it is possible - but VERY expensive - to only stock “yes foods” in the whole house. Requires lots of grocery trips (or instacart deliveries) and meticulous meal planning, but it’s possible. Not often feasible, but a potential last resort., OP, quote and respond if you need details.

Not OP but id like more info

She already said to Google it. You'll burn some calories typing.

A yes basket is exactly what it sounds like - stock it with food (adult provided food) and the answer is ALWAYS yes. Before dinner? Yes. After lunch? Yes. Right before bed? Yes, but brush your teeth again please. It gives kids control of something, and especially for kids with food hoarding problems or coming from food insecurity(ie foster care), it is reassuring to know there is always a yes.

Turning your kitchen into a yes kitchen is much harder on the parent end. It requires very careful planning and extensive patience because if you buy food Tuesday for dinner on Thursday but the kid eats it on Wednesday, you can’t be upset or angry because the kitchen is a yes, you already gave permission. This DOES NOT work for everyone. It is VERY hard to keep up, especially for long periods of time. However, if food restriction fights are breaking families and relationships, for a committed adult, it is another technique to try.

I have been trying very hard to do this in my house. As you said it’s very hard and more expensive than we can really afford. My DD loves raspberries and mangos but I can’t buy 5 packages/pints every week.

I do this. It doesn't mean you have to have everything stocked all the time. It means they can always eat what you have. Buy the amount within your budget, and when she finishes the raspberries or mango, that's it until next week. In the meantime she can eat apples, oranges, grapes, whatever is less expensive. You can make this work!

One thing, try to be a bit of a flexible cook. If I don't have quite enough of something, I'll sub it out for what I do have. I don't get upset if something is missing, I just try to figure out something that will work well enough in its place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh also, to the one obsessed pp who doesn’t like hummus or salad and eats an all meat and carb diet, there are several of us who have posted about healthy meals. You are out numbered and, quite frankly, sound very sad.

You need to shut up. You are disordered and insane. On top of it, I am 116lbs, the heaviest I've ever been!

116 pounds? No. Probably more like 116 kgs. Go eat a plate of ribs and think about why you think a healthy diet is “disordered”.

I am likely healthier and better weight than you and have healthier eating habits. But, you keep insulting people that are 116kgs. I would never insult a person for their weight. It shows to all what kind of person you are.