What are your hardest challenges eating with your family and how do you cope?

I have four kids and a husband who is a massive junk food junky.  Potato chips are a vegetable to him and considers one bag a serving.  Two of my kids are heading in the same direction I'm in and I'm trying to prevent it with all the strength I got.  So I guess there is two questions in here..How do you cope for yourself?  And how do you cope with challenging children with thier eating habits?  I get so frusturated me trying my hardest to eat healthy while everyone is not cooperating.  Yes, I'm aware it's me..I have to do this for me and no one else.  But I really want them to eat healthier too!  I can make thier dinner, but it doesn't stop them from eating else where.  It's hard to get through to them.  And my dh, well he tries to be supportive....but his stomach growling gets in the way.

i had that same problem and honestly used it as an excuse for SO long. i think the key is to find some way that your hubby can support you, even if he doesn't give up the foods you don't want around like chips etc. i got lucky and my hubby got somewhat of a wake up call. he had his yearly physical and blood tests done and found out that his blood sugar and cholesterol were both creeping up. diabetes runs in his family. so, he finally fully committed to the changes i wanted to make. if your hubby still wants to hold on to his chips, maybe find an area that he can keep them separate from the other foods. maybe even in a lock box if it's too tempting for you lol and ask him not to eat it around you! we made changes to what we buy and what we cook. we now buy organic as much as we possibly can and we've seriously cut down to a bare minimum the amount of processed food we eat. if it comes out of a box, it's probably not even going to be considered. my daughter has a bit of a pudgy stomach at age 7 and i'm terrified that i've started her down the path of turning out like me. so, i'm trying anything i can think of to show her and my son better eating habits. we made a rule of no seconds (unless it's veggies!) and seriously cut out the amount of sweets they were allowed. i know they can think we are being mean, but seriously, they don't NEED icecream every single day! now it's more of a treat for them to get icecream. even with all the changes, it's still a struggle. my daughter is ALWAYS hungry, according to her. and is always wanting something to eat. it's a fight sometimes to get her to understand that she can wait 30min to an hour till supper is served and that she is NOT starving lol

My husband can eat whatever he wants - outside the house.  If crap comes in I tell him I pout and tell him that he doesnt love me and he must want me to die...LOL  only had to do it twice - he doesnt bring junk home anymore!

I cook for me.  If hubby and son want what I am making they can eat with me.  If the dont - fine.. fix it yourself.  I wont shop for it, I wont cook it. For a long time they ate alot of hamburger helper (they could make themselves) but now have developed an interest in turkey chili, turkey spagetti w/ ww pasta, even turkey meatloaf! I AM WINNING!!!  LOL

Lol, your funny...took him twice eh?  My dh tends to  forget and does it without thinking.  Then he all the sudden hides it in a corner or something...like if I can't hear him crunching on it.ha Good for you that your winning!  I did that for a while when I lost a lot of weight before and it nicked me in the butt.  My daughter ended up gaining alot of weight (which I didn't want to happen).  She now has my eating problems.  So be careful with your son.  Be lucky he's changing into liking your eating habits.  I don't know how old he is, but if younger make him!  That's what I'm doing now with my younger two, I don't want another repeat of what happened to my daughter.....talk about major guilt.

My John is 13 and really tries to be a good eater.  He tends to be 'thick' and will never be a thin or skinny person.  What he is really learning to do is to read labels and understand how different choices affect him.  I really cant ask for more than that. Right now he is having trouble eating all his food because of his meds.. so he has been losing... that makes it even more important to be sure what he IS eating is quality food.

My hubby could use MY new way of eating... but refuses. He brings junk home. If I complain- he will keep it away. But he is hooked on Dorito's and often has those laying around.  Cookies and such- I tell them to keep them in the freezer. Cause the freezer is so totally OUT of my way- I forget the freezer is THERE... much less  the ingredience LOL I will cook for them but I have been fitting a lot into my own diet. I add grated carrots when I cook my spaghetti so the "filler" is healthier.  I am buying a lot more natural stuff like the cheeto's etc. I can have 32 of those and only use 3 points :) I am really doing this for ME. I think that has made the difference to- if they don't WANT to be healthy WITH me- so be it. I didn't even tell my dh I was on WW until I was like on my 2nd week:)   For the KIDS... I do step in and I DO try to limit them on junk food but they will get it on their own at 13. My 6 y/o is a bean pole! Tall and very slim. I also don't bake. I don't make many meals that I love LOL It's HARD! 

I just saw on there that you don't bake.  I just talked to my mother and I'm fuming atm.  We started talking about Christmas and she said "well it doesn't sound like you'll be baking much".   I said no, lol I usually don't!  I don't like baking and I don't need any of that, we all don't need it.  She said "well, you don't have to eat it".  She acts like I deprive my family from any "good stuff".grrrr  She just doesn't get it that if you can't control yourself then you need to keep it OUT!  My bariatric doctor even told me that.  Not everyone has the willpower and not everyone is not as addicted to certain foods as others.  Why doesn't she see this?  She thinks no ones an addict to anything, or depression is all in your head and just get up and do something about it.  She literally just has no idea.  Sorry...but fuming.

I still bake, but the "rule" is i eat one small piece of it and then it is out of our house - he takes it to work to share. I have greatly minimized how often I bake - it's like 1-2x a month.  We do not buy cookies or cakes ever, ice cream once in a while. I think that in the beginning of your journey, you do have to stay away completely from trigger foods. Eventually, you will be able to handle reasonable servings of things that use to be hard to control. It is as though you are de-toxing from them, so they have to be AWAY from you for a good six weeks at least, if not six months. I am 50 years old, been at this for many years.  Have an eating disorder, in fact, that is now, finally under control.  But I have had many many dark days/times with food. It is slow and painful this journey, but it can be done. As for your mom and other people who even say that about depression have ummmm, never been clinically depressed. Gee, if it were that simple, there would be no drug addicts or fat peeps, huh?   I will say that it is up to each of us to make sure we know when our lives are not working and do whatever it takes to get somehwere close to normal. So, if a person is truly depressed, s/he knows this by taking an inventory of people who love them and how many jobs s/he has gone thru in a short time or how many nights that migrate into years that they sit home alone not socializing with anyone and spend time eating or computering or ********ing or?????

Wow, you just explained my last ten or fifteen years.  I'm doing alot better, just one day at a time.  I've kept it to myself...as you can tell, the support would suck anyways.  My dh is great though, makes me get out of bed on some days..ect.  Been real well the past few months though so hopefully the worse is past me.   I really think my weight has a lot to do with it.  It just makes me miserable! As for the baked goods in the house.  Well, I'm a definate nibbler.  I am the queen of taste testing.  Cookie dough will be half  gone before it even gets to the tray.  Think it has always been a good way to "hide" that I haven't eaten anything, cause no one sees me doing it.  Then of course it's alright to eat one or two...because I  supposedly haven't eaten any yet!  BIG time closet eater!

Hello Holly...  I have snackers in my house too... and it took me 6 months to get them together.... I do the shopping... so I buy those 100 calorie snacks for snacks... and I am like Violamom... if they want something other than what I am cooking... they on their own.. I ain't fixing two separate meals....   My hubby is the sugar bandit... he'll go the corner store and get a 1/2 pound hershey bar with almonds in a minute.... I am not a sweets person.... I am a carbo-nator... high starchy foods... Lord... that is my problem.... For example... I love me some pasta... that is one of my favorite dishes.... So I modified the meal... I use whole-grain or whole wheat pasta... and turkey italian sausage...  I love garlic bread too.... Whew!!!  SO instead of using french bread.... I use whole grain or whole wheat bread and use light butter, garlic salt and italian seasoning to make my own.... I would say start by trying to find a healthy alternative to some of the family's favorite dishes... it can take time... but it is so worth it!!