WWYD - 13 yr old just binged on an entire bag of Oreo cookies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you make something a forbidden fruit, humans want it even more?

I've always bought everything. I exposed our kids (now HS and college) to every single type of food growing up. Yes, even the FunYuns and the PopTarts and the Boo Berry Captain Crunch cereals. Why? Because I didn't want to food to be a forbidden fruit.

Skip ahead to today, and we never finish a cake or pie in our house. I throw half of it away. I've had a big bowl of Christmas bite-sized chocolates sitting on the counter since Christmas, and our DDs have not touched it. I'm eating it all very, very, very slowly and will likely throw the rest away to make room for the Easter candy.

When you make it inaccessible, you make it desireable, OP.

For some, not all. To assume otherwise is ignorant, particularly re: dopamine and the impact of sugar and highly processed foods. For many 1 is too many and 1,000 are not enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you make something a forbidden fruit, humans want it even more?

I've always bought everything. I exposed our kids (now HS and college) to every single type of food growing up. Yes, even the FunYuns and the PopTarts and the Boo Berry Captain Crunch cereals. Why? Because I didn't want to food to be a forbidden fruit.

Skip ahead to today, and we never finish a cake or pie in our house. I throw half of it away. I've had a big bowl of Christmas bite-sized chocolates sitting on the counter since Christmas, and our DDs have not touched it. I'm eating it all very, very, very slowly and will likely throw the rest away to make room for the Easter candy.

When you make it inaccessible, you make it desireable, OP.

For some, not all. To assume otherwise is ignorant, particularly re: dopamine and the impact of sugar and highly processed foods. For many 1 is too many and 1,000 are not enough.

Yeah..considering the collective weight of health of the US, it’s safe to say most struggle with over eating highly processed foods. Forbidden or not.

[Anonymous]

In our family of four, all of us has ADHD. The only time one of my kids ever binges is when I restrict. I know ADHD presents differently but I don't think that bingeing once in a while (if you can even call this a binge) is necessarily related to ADHD.

Also ADHD can come with more intense emotional overreactions to stressors like parents trying to control you too much, so with ADHD it might be even more important to loosen the reigns.

[Anonymous]

OP needs to make healthier cookies like homemade oatmeal cookies and have available cookies and ice cream for dessert instead of fruit. Then your kid wouldn’t be tempted to eat a bag of Oreos. Unless you plan on keeping him locked up at home he is going to go get snack food if there is none at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you make something a forbidden fruit, humans want it even more?

I've always bought everything. I exposed our kids (now HS and college) to every single type of food growing up. Yes, even the FunYuns and the PopTarts and the Boo Berry Captain Crunch cereals. Why? Because I didn't want to food to be a forbidden fruit.

Skip ahead to today, and we never finish a cake or pie in our house. I throw half of it away. I've had a big bowl of Christmas bite-sized chocolates sitting on the counter since Christmas, and our DDs have not touched it. I'm eating it all very, very, very slowly and will likely throw the rest away to make room for the Easter candy.

When you make it inaccessible, you make it desireable, OP.

For some, not all. To assume otherwise is ignorant, particularly re: dopamine and the impact of sugar and highly processed foods. For many 1 is too many and 1,000 are not enough.

Our kids are in perfect health, and well within their BMI for their age and height. They are skinny. Their sweets consumption is low, but their friends will come over and pig out on sweets. Our kids' brain cells are rubbing together just fine, even though they had Peanut Butter Crunch that one time.

[Anonymous]

So, Oreos aren't sold in a bag.

How many Oreos are we talking?

[Anonymous]

Did not read everything but you are describing my childhood and I am still battling an eating disorder. You have been restricting food and then you allow him a whole bag to “manage” on his own. What I wish my mom did was instead of doling out one cookie a week, set out a plate of a few cookies with some fruit several times a week. That’s healthy and appropriate for a teen.

[Anonymous]

Something that I just learned today: Oreo binging is a gateway to meth addiction! I never suspected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, Oreos aren't sold in a bag.

How many Oreos are we talking?

I wonder if it is one of those mini Oreo bags. They are not that big.

Even if it was a regular package of Oreos, it is really not that big of a deal to eat them all over two days.

[Anonymous]

Now I’m craving Oreos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My childhood friend whose parents were like this in terms of controlling their eating as teens struggled as an adult with food and eventually alcohol and drug addiction. She would come to our house, where this stuff was available but by 13 we were expected to know how to control ourselves, and binge. Her life ended tragically.

I had a friend like this--she would go to other people's houses and just binge on chips, cookies, etc. Her mom was obsessed with being thin and banned anythign that wasn't sugar-free from the home.

My parents didn't restrict junk food out of any kind of weight concern - they just believed in wheat germ and whole grain bread. When I went to friends' houses I could not get enough of their peanut butter and fluff on white bread and Captain Crunch.

I have to say, I think over the course of my life, it was better that we didn't have a lot of junk food in the house. Even though as a teenager I, too, would 10000% have eaten a whole bag of Oreos - in my 50s now I def internalized good eating habits. Including thinking dessert should be an occasional treat, not a regular food group.

Funny thing is that my parents, now in their 80s, have so much junk in their house you wouldn't believe it. Eight kinds of cookies, a giant bag of M&Ms, chocolate covered pretzels, even SODA! We were never allowed soda! They go out for ice cream several times a week. It's pretty funny. Neither has a problem with weight or diabetes, so I'm glad they're enjoying themselves.

Re OP's kid - I think I'd just talk to them about how sometimes it feels really good to eat a lot of sugar all at once, but that can't be how we do it all the time. Then look away because if that's the worst your teen is doing, gd bless you all.

I feel similarly. I'm glad we didn't have unlimited junk food. I probably would have eaten a lot more.

We lived far from a store and didn't have a lot of money so it was cheaper to store flour and sugar in tubs and make stuff say home. We did have homemade cookies or pie most of the time and sometimes I'd sneak a few extra since we were only allowed one or two a day, max. But when I went to friends' houses and they had foods like Cheetos or Twinkies, they tasted kind of gross. Oreos were one that I liked, but after a few it was enough. It was rural, so we had a big garden and I would eat a ton of carrots straight from the ground washed from a hose or from the root cellar. I'm confident that if we had access to junk food at home I would have developed a taste for it and eaten more. By college my tastes were pretty developed.

[Anonymous]

In our family of four, all of us has ADHD. The only time one of my kids ever binges is when I restrict. I know ADHD presents differently but I don't think that bingeing once in a while (if you can even call this a binge) is necessarily related to ADHD.

To the extent that you are merely trying to make the point that people with ADHD have a spectrum of symptoms, and binge eating is not necessarily associated for every individual with ADHD, I agree.

To the extent that you are stating that there is not an association between ADHD and binge eating in some instances for some people, that is false per reputable sources on ADHD, including NIH research, CHADD, ADDitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now I’m craving Oreos.

Same.

Working from home, stress, and Oreos? Dangerous…I’d definitely work through a row or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid wants sugary dessert every night. That’s not healthy either. People piling on OP for restricting sweets aren’t being entirely realistic. She wants to teach good habits. Letting her kid eat dessert every day is not going to lead her son to not being obsessed with sugar.

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of dessert every day. I am naturally thin and have a sweet tooth. My kids are also thin/athletic. They like a little treat after dinner which doesn’t mean huge bowls of ice cream, but maybe a little cup of rice pudding or a handful of gummy bears or a little bit of fruit sorbet. We find ways to reasonably satisfy the sweet craving instead of winding up with kids spending allowance money on Oreos and then crushing a bag in 24 hours. Sugar is nbd to my kids, they will even pass up cake at birthday parties if they’re not hungry.

But having dessert is part of a bigger picture of meal times. From a young age we’ve talked about listening to hunger cues, eating enough protein, enjoying foods in moderation, eating a variety of foods, etc. Meals and snacks are eaten at the kitchen table. They don’t just mindlessly wander the house shoving food in their face. They also are really good water drinks — sometimes hunger is actually thirst, so they know to drink during the day.

My parents gave me a lot of leeway with food growing up and I’m still a size 2 in my 40s after having 3 babies. Better to help kids learn food autonomy early on so they can balance food intake as an adult.

I hate posts like this

Not that pp but posted a few times on this thread.

We are a thin, active and healthy family. My three kids all play sports. I have tween and teen boys and they eat a ton. They eat steaks, chipotle, pizza, chips and cake. We are not a big cookie family but they will eat a lot of other food.

I think when kids are deprived of something, it makes them want it more. This happens especially in college when kids have freedom after having controlling parents.

To be clear, I hate it because the poster describes herself as "naturally thin" with "thin/athletic" kids who have not been deprived from dessert or sugar, but I could make an Almond Mom found poem from the restrictive subtext. Hunger is actually thirst! Don't wander around the house shoving food in your face! No huge bowls of ice cream, have some fruit sorbet instead! Do you really need that birthday cake? If I was a size 2 after three babies, you can be too! I don't see it as different from what everyone is piling on the OP for.

[Anonymous]

I'd take a watch and wait approach. If it was a one-time or rare thing because he was feeling stressed or just super hungry, put it from your mind. If it becomes a more frequent occurrence, it may be time to take action to help him control (not punish him).