A question for the moms:

[spatts]

For those of you that eat clean, do your kids eat clean too? Or do you make separate meals?

If you do make separate meals, why?

If your kids just eat whatever, does that make it harder for you to stick to your diet?

Thanks

 

[Zander1983]

What's it like in your family, spatts?

Off on a tangent, but I've found that by eating well my mother and one of my two younger brothers do likewise. As a result, my mother tries to prepare healthy meals for the entire family. The other brother eats like your average skinnyfat person (though he's lean naturally). My father is somewhere in between but rather overweight, like the majority of over-indulgent baby boomer professionals.

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

My son eats pretty much whatever we eat within the confines of a child's tastes. When he was little, he never ate cookies, candy -- and his only indulgence was ice cream -- if he was in the mood. We rarely went out for fast food even.

As he hit the 1st or 2nd grade, it seemingly caught up to him. Not sure if his tastes changed or just that so many other kids seem to enjoy junk or what the case was. I will tell you though, that when he does eat crappy (or too much junk) he does not feel good at all.

So I give him what we eat -- and sometimes he enjoys it other times, for example having steamed chicken - he will poke at it and ask if I could ever make fried!

When he eats garbage, I am not too tempted. I am not a sweets person so that is not an issue, and I do not have a liking for fast food (except pizza).

So, while at times watching him eat ice cream can be tempting, generally if I swipe a spoonful, it will satisfy me.

Now, if he is eating a plate full fries (not fast food) and a bacon cheeseburger....well that is tougher for me!

 

[BrickGirl]

I have a 4 year old, all he will drink is water, he turns down coke from other family members daily, says its nasty. He eats about 5 meals a day, sometimes 6. He eats pretty much whatever we eat unless he asks for something special, then of course he gets whatever he wants. But he only asks for about 3 or 4 special meals a week and the rest is what we eat. He weighs himself at the gym everyday we go and he loves to see the numbers get bigger, he just broke through the 40lb barrier he has been stuck at and is so excited

 

[SouthernBell]

HMMM, This is a biggg problem at my house. I am a Veggie eater, Love my Fresh Greens. My family on the other hand Hates veggies. Every once in a while I can convince my daughter to at least try it, but my son is not even thinking about it.

My husband barely eats anything, Nothing green. He even has a fit when the steak comes to the table with garnish on it. He is a big meat and rice eater. He dosen't even eat pizza . It is sooo funny because he says he loves the smell but won't try it. And no he's not like this because he is trying to eat healthy he just says he doesn't think he'll like it.

I work full time and also work from my home or should I say on the road I do houseplans so I am constantly going to meet with homeowners, I barely have time to cook but when I do it is usually what the 3-of them eat Spaghetti, Baked Chicken, Redbeans with Sausage, etc... And If it is something I don't eat I will prepare someting for me on the side.

And the three of them eat their fare share of Chips and Cookies. I have lost that fight , It sometimes makes it hard to stay on the diet but I do my best. The big NO NO for me is Chocolate candy is one thing my kids don't really care for so I usually don't have any around the house except around Easter, or Halloween. And in that case HMMMM I wouldn't want to have to throw it all a way...

SB

 

[Bikini Mod]

My children eat whatever I eat, but I don't always eat what they eat.

Funds are very tight for me so a staple meal for the girls is mac and cheese w/veggies and a protein source (either ground meat or tuna fish or turkey/chicken hotdogs - if that is all I can afford then that is what they eat). I won't eat this. I'll just eat peanut butter straight out of the jar or eggs or yogurt/oatmeal/peanut butter mix.

Sloppy joes on whole wheat w/veggies is another staple (I just eat the meat and some veggies if I have the room in my stomach.

Meatloaf made w/oatmeal, veggies, and potatoes is another meal.

If my sis helps us w/groceries then I make steak w/potatoes and veggies and MY GIRLS CHOW DOWN! ME TOO LOL

Black bean soup w/chicken breast added is another favorite.

For breakfast I have eggs and oatmeal every morning. (This has been a constant for me for 5 years!) My girls either get cream cheese and bagels w/bacon or pancakes (made w/extra eggs) and bacon or bird's nests (that is an egg fried in the center of whole wheat bread w/cheese.

They get PB&J on whole wheat, a juice box, fruit and a little junk (either some cookies or pretzels etc) for lunch every day. Or Salami again, if my sis helps us w/groceries.

I NEVER buy soda EVER. My girls drink water or milk or OJ (they get ONE juicebox in their lunches on school days).

I keep plenty of "junk food" in the house for them: cookies, ice cream, etc. But THEY KNOW that they are not allowed these items until they eat healthy portions of GOOD FOOD FIRST. I have raised them with proper nutritional knowledge so that they can make healthy choices for themselves even when NOT at home. Generally they will prefer to fill up on good food first because they see the difference between my body and the bodies of 99% of the teachers and other moms (heck even the male gym teacher!) and realize that when mommy says the food pyramid IS A BIG FAT LIE - I speak truth! heheheee. If they do not feed their bodies well, they will NOT grow strong and healthy.

I don't compete or model anymore so I am not nearly as stringent with my diet as I once was, but I do still earn my living primarily as a dancer so my physique is still fairly important. Not to mention that I FEEL BETTER when I feed myself better.

I can not see the point of making different food for children. What would be the point of that? Unless, one's diet is SUPER STRICT as in pre-contest.

 

[Puddles]

We all eat the same foods for meals, but the snacks will differ. My daughter has an entire shelf in the pantry full of goodies but she's gotta eat real food first. She's 11 and would happily be a vegetarian. She doesn't care for most meats, but has learned that I'm not gonna cook different meals for everyone either. There was a period of nearly one year when she ate no meat and I was going nuts making sure she was getting enough protein...but then she started wanting McDonalds and I said if I got her that, then she was gonna eat my meat meals as well! When she was still in a high chair, I would boil up a box of chopped spinach and she'd eat it plain by the handfull, she loves her veggies. If it's just she and I eating, we'll often eat meals w/o meat. Her favorite thing to eat from Wendy's is the taco salad...extra sour cream though. LOL She's really active and isn't overweight, but she's not thin either. She's gonna have to keep an eye on herself since she's got my genes. I homeschooled her for a while and when we did the nutrition portion I explained why the Food Pyramid will not work to keep her in the best condition. She understands why we eat the way we do but she'll go nuts on sweets if we don't keep an eye on her. She's also got ADHD and really craves sugars...explaining how they interact with her has helped her keep the intake down. Her ADHD is much more manageable when she eats right.

 

[flexygrl]

Hi,

You women are a true inspiration. I am going to have my husband sit down and read this. I may actually print it out and put it on my fridge. WE are always complaining that we are tired when all we have to worry about is work, dinner and the animals. I don't have any children yet but when I do I hope that I can manage as well as you are all doing. My hubby and I started talking about starting a family. During our first conversation about it I called my mom to make sure that on days we go to the gym that she will be able to watch the "baby". It is extremely important to me to keep up this lifestyle even after having a child. Now I see that it can be done.

 

[grlpwrd]

I have 3 kids - aged 11, 8, and 4. They all eat pretty much the same foods as I do (because I am the cook) except they have more cheat days than I do and sometimes I cook different meals for them. For example, I will have grilled chicken with steamed vegetables while they will eat grilled chicken and pasta with sauce plus veggies. They usually get more carbs, a little more fat, and their foods are more kid-friendly. I am used to eating separate meals and I don't eat their leftovers which was very hard at first.

They go to school and their friends/classmates have much different eating habits, like many of them eat chips at lunch every day and most of them eat prepackaged/high fat/high sodium foods. We're not like that, though.. I pack them a lunch every day for school and they choose 2 or 3 days a week which they can have a cheat snack with cookies or whatever. I don't want them to feel deprived nor punished and I want them to be able to enjoy in moderation so we compromise.

Oh..and this is unlike how I was raised. We ate lots of canned and packaged foods, we had sugary snacks and candy a lot, and we didn't learn the right way to eat. I think we're doing pretty good now.

 

[Scarlett33]

I have a nine month old and we are trying to start early with teaching him to eat healthy. He just started eating table food,so he eats what we eat. He loves water and has never had any sugary type drinks or sweets of any kind. I figure why start giving him junk, this is the perfect time to teach him good eating habits.