almeeker

Last night we had a potluck dinner to attend. I had already eaten and fed the children, but they of course wanted to eat again. Mostly because there was a lot of junky food they don't get at home anymore, right. So fine they all got a plate of whatever, but I told them ahead of time to please remember they had already eaten dinner.... Okay so my 8 year old gets a plate of junk food, and then wants to go back for more and I said "absolutely not". She's a little on the chunky side, and has no concept of when enough is enough (an inherited condition I'm afraid), and of course she's arguing with me about it. She points out another kids plate and says it's not fair that so and so's gotten another plate blah blah blah. At that point I notice that my friend's somewhat chunky 12 year old child has a plate, no lie 4"-5" deep, filled with nothing but carbs, sugar and fat. It was all I could do not to jump up and intervene, but it's completely not my place. But seriously I had to sit there biting my tongue until every last bite was gone. All I could think was that a year from now, when I've been at this long enough to make it second nature I'm going to be worse and less in control of what I say. I'm already bracing for the "mean-wackjob-food-Natzi-mom" label.

cjohnson728

I am somewhat the same way. I always notice what people shop for, order, and eat. Not sure if it is a function of being conscious of health and weight or if I am just a people-watcher, probably both .

I guess my rule is, think what you want, but be careful what you say. With food as with anything in life, not everyone thinks the way you do and we all have a right to different opinions.

Yeah, sometimes I look at people's plates and think that it's not fair that they "get to" eat all those carbs, sugar, fat, etc. That's when I have to remember what I'm doing this for.

Your reward will be your child making better choices one day on her own. Maybe you could explain it to her once you are out of the situation. It's also possible that her healthier eating habits could be a good model for her friends.

One thing that worked with my son (he's 13) was the garbage-in-garbage-out theory. If he eats too much junk, his sports performance won't be as good as it could be.

In fact, yesterday a rainbow came forth in my family room and angels sang...he bypassed the three boxes of Quaker granola bars in the pantry and took a Kashi bar. Later that evening he asked if we could have something besides hamburgers because "they're not that good for you." So I know it is getting through on some level. I just explained that extra lean ground beef on a whole wheat roll isn't going to be the end of the world and smiled to myself.

Built

I had to laugh when I saw the title of this thread because my husband's been calling me the nutrition natzi for years! You know, I don't really blame those kids who see all the forbidden goodies in front of them. I do think parents need to bring nutritional dishes. What happens in a lot of cases, I think, is Mom and Dad are beat after a long day and so they don't have time to prepare anything and stop at the Kroger or Albertsons for cookies, cupcakes, fried chx., chips, pizza, etc. And that's for a sports banquet! Some kind souls do come with a veggie or fruit tray for which I am so grateful!

I don't say anything out loud but I try to bring nutritional options for folks like us who don't want to trash our bodies. This isn't to say I don't enjoy an occasional treat, but those banquets tends to be glutton fests.

lemonthyme

Hubby brought home Wendy's fish sandwiches for dinner and my impulse was to rant about him sabotaging me. Instead I took a deep breath and thought how can I approach this without blasting him.
So after looking up the calorie count and seeing that it had 480 calories I cut it and only ate half and added a salad. I figure I have to learn how to handle all kinds of food situations and this was a diplomatic way of not squeltching my husband and still keeping in control. By the way it wasn't very good.

Lizzycritter

Good to hear. Went to Wendy's the other day, was craving a fish sandwich. They were awesome last year. Got home and had a chicken sandwich in the bag . And not even a good one, it was the spongy pre-fab dollar menu kind. Their registers were down and took over 1/2 hour to get it in the first place. I was so steamed I threw out the chicken sandwich and had a bowl of cereal instead.

Amazon2Andes

I personally do not like going to places where people are eating copious amounts of foods (buffets, bbqs, etc). For myself, I can go and eat only what I should - but it does ruin my good time to watch the others at my table eating all the things they shouldn't. It is one thing for me to pass them up on the buffet, but to have them all brought back to the table and eaten in front of me by others is just not going to help my diet.

I don't have kids, but I am a bit like that with my mom, who is obese with all the health problems that go with it. I ask that for the few times we eat together, that she make healthy choices. It never works, and I was always finding myself arguing over the choices she made. I don't want to control anyone's food intake but my own, so now we just don't eat together.

I am not a Food Nazi - I Dictate my Food, instead of letting it dictate me. If people don't like it, then I truly find them un-supportive, and I am not afraid to point that out should they push the issue.

HuggieGirl

I don't see myself as a "food Nazi" just yet, but I am so OCD its not out of the possiblity. What I get bothered about is when I have a "friend" that needs to lose more than me (not much but she is aware of it) and she knows I am wanting to lose some weight. Yet when we go out somewhere, she always manages to end up at some fast food place. She and her two teenage daughters of course buy all the junk and what is there for me to get? She even does this at home--putting me in the situation of being tempted for all this yummy food that is loaded w/calories and not at all healthy. Short of just not going anywhere w/her, what can you do? Anyone else feel like that? Maye if I was already a "food Nazi" then I wouldn't be so tempted, but I just am getting started. No real "will power" developed yet.

almeeker

When I know I'm going into an unhealthy eating situation, I always pack a lunch or take a healthy dish to pass. It sounds weird and cheap, but then I'm in control of what goes in my mouth. From now on, with your friend and kids, decide where you'rs going before you go. Like call her up and say "I'm going to..., wanna come with?" Take the control of that decision away from her, since you know she will make a bad choice. The other option is to say beforehand "I'm eating healthy today", so they know in advance that you need at least one healthy option on the menu. Most places have at the very least a salad or some such.

HuggieGirl

^^^ You are right. I need to start taking charge of it and not allow others to manipulate (if that is what she is doing) me by putting me in a difficult situation.

picnic4

I still live at home in a 6 person family and dinner can be SO frustrating. I am trying to eat 5 small meals a day in 3 hour intervals and my whole day will be going well until dinner time comes when either my mum has no idea what we're having at 7pm, or she gets on the phone for an hour, or at the last minute she realises she doesn't have all these ingredients. Last night I got home from work just after 6 and we were having beef stroganoff (a low cal version), we stopped and got tomato paste on the way home, and my mum said she had "sorted the rest out" so we went to make it and realised there were no onions, no sour cream, hardly any garlic, and no parsley. So my dad had to go out and get the other ingredients and i ended up eating an hour after i had planned. It's just so frustrating!!! I don't get much support at home except for my dad

It's not too bad with most of my friends, except for one who is overweight and hates exercise and loves eating out.