No Wonder I Wasn’t Skinny!

[Alex Brecher 10,484]

I was just thinking about some of the things I used to eat that I didn’t realize were so high-calorie, and maybe even seemed healthy. I’m not talking about the obvious ones, like eating a pizza or ordering a Grand Slam at Denny’s. I mean the ones my parents fed me with the best of intentions, or the ones I just assumed were healthy.

Here are a few that come to mind…

• Juice! There was a time when we were going through 2 46-ounce cans of pineapple juice a day in our house…that’s over 300 grams of sugar!
• And speaking of healthy-seeming foods: canned veggies with sugar. Canned corn and peas, pickled beets.
• There was a period where my mom was baking a lot of bread, and we’d go through a 2-lb loaf every day.
• In college, I ate a lot of Cereal, especially granola. I didn’t realize how many calories it had.
• And I didn’t realize how much fat the veggies in college had. I guess that’s why they tasted so good. Those mushrooms cooked in butter were so good!

Looking back, I can see why I gained weight.

What about you? What “healthy” foods snuck into your diet – either because your parents gave them to you or you thought they were healthy?

[Babbs 14,680]

One of the many times I was on a diet as a teenager, my mom prepared me fried fish and creamed spinach because she said it was "healthy". I ate it happily, thinking "Wow, fish and spinach! If I keep eating like this, I'll lose 5 pounds in no time!" Honestly, back then,(1980's) we really didn't know any better, lol.

Her intentions were good. May she rest in peace.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

My beloved mother was a wonderful, wonderful cook. Here are just a few of the "wholesome" foods she cooked that I loved:

Fried okra with catchup. Don't make that face; it's good!

Cakes, fruit cobblers, pies of all kinds, homemade ice cream, and her amazing brownies with pecans. Damn!

Goulash -- beef and Pasta with bay leaf and other mystery spices.

Biscuits and cornbread with "real butter." OMG!

Whole milk. At every meal. Mmm-mmm!

And yet ... I was the only overweight kid in our family. And my parents weren't overweight. So strange. Hmmm ....

[ShrinkingPeach 1,291]

OMG, just thinking about the things my mom would cook. She really didn't know any better and my whole family is overweight.

Sausage gravy and biscuits

Fried chicken

Mashed potatoes with butter and real Mayonnaise in them

Fried Okra

Green Beans with fat back in them (yes a southern thing)

Corn on the cob (with butter of course)

Fried cube steak with gravy

Cakes, Cookies, cheesecakes, LIttle Debbie cakes, twinkies

Homemade biscuits made with flour milk and LARD, did I mention I grew up and still live in the south? lol

Hamburger Helper

My brother who is 11 years younger than me ate Chef Boyardee every meal for lunch and dinner.

I never got the whole nutrition thing cos that wasn't what I ate at home. I am learning a whole new way of eating with my sleeve.

My mom probably never knew a thing about nutrition, she didn't even graduate high school. She also did the best she could. We live and learn. Wow those are some memories I hadn't thought about in a long time.

[dhrguru 1,238]

Hmmm, our family downfall would be the cultural foods... We are from the West Indies. I swear we know more ways to make use of flour than most.... (Hence my carb addiction).

And frying things (even flour!)... Rice was like a vegetable in our family too, everything was served with rice and corn! Honestly I thought corn WAS a vegetable till I got married and my husband asked why I never served veggies.

Carrot cake, cheese cake and two infamous bakes in my family.... God knows how much I consumed in my lifetime.

Funny, growing up we didn't eat out much, my parents were all about home cooked meals. Who knew so much could go wrong with home cooked meals!!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

Great question, and fun to travel down memory food lane. Let's see....as a kid, whole fat cottage cheese was the "diet" food. It was good for you, so no such thing as Portion Control. One time we did weight watchers, and we had some sort of fried liver. Worst thing EVER. My mom mostly did know what was good for you and how to properly eat, and if we were going to watch what we ate, it was done right. However, we hardly ever did that and mostly had fast food, fried food, southern food, junk food, and it was all unlimited quantities. Ahh...the good ole' days!

But one thing that really strikes me as funny is in the early 80s the big push was to eat pasta! I can remember spending hours and hours every week at the "health club" where we did lots of high impact aerobics, and the instructor would talk about how it was good for you, lol. After all, carbohydrates helped you lose weight. Oh, how I wish that were true. That was right about the time eggs were bad for you because they made your cholesterol high. Oh, and cereal was "good for you" too.

And lets not forget the low fat craze of the 90s. If it said low fat on the box, we all just went ahead and had it. Low fat things that had more sugar and calories in them, and no telling what other chemicals. But that's about the same time you were supposed to be eating "whole wheat" bread, that really was never whole wheat at all!

I could go on and on. Crazy to think about all that!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

@@ShrinkingPeach did we grow up in the same house?? I grew up with everything on your list! My grandparents were southern so we had all the same stuff.

[BrownEyedTxGirl 139]

Ranch dressing! As a teenager I remember me and my friends eating tons of ranch. On salads, dip raw veggies in and on French fries (I mean come on...potatoes are a veggie!) I would eat two huge salads a day thinking I was eating healthy. Not so much when you use a whole bottle of ranch a day!

[nursey 46 38]

chocolate gravy over biscuits. Yummy

[Snowbutterfly 14]

Oh the craziness I grew up with! My mom did not cook for me. She would ask me Do you want McDonalds, Dairy Queen or KFC to eat? Everyday. Yes. Everyday. lunch was out of a can or a box.

Maybe I should be angry with her - filling me with fake food and chemicals.

I was seeing a therapist and he said that he was surprised that I was not angry at her. Sadly, it is because she treated me the best out of everyone in my family.

I now have children of my own. I cook real food for them. They are beautiful with no weight issues, like I had at their age.

I wonder why I was given the burden of being obese since the age of 3. I deserve better.

[HappyChic 32]

We had potatoes with every meal. Mashed or just boiled for dinner (with real butter) - fried for lunch and Breakfast. We ate toast and jam for Snacks - sometimes twice a day and almost always before bed. Pop & chips every Friday night. Pie was common dessert or some type of homemade pudding made with whole milk. Sugary cereals were popular for weekday breakfasts in our house. I've had to relearn everything.

[pink dahlia 2,513]

My mom was a great cook, we ate well but also grew up with sugary cereals, potato chips with our PB sandwiches, soda or milkshakes when we went out for a hamburger w/fries occasionally. And the amount of candy I bought at the store was ridiculous !! And I loved salty stuff ! But I was a skinny kid, a slim adult, and then my metabolism slowed waaayyy down as I approachd 30. Even eating healthy I couldnt lose weight ! Now, I love fresh fruit, salad and can't stand salty stuff. Go figure.

[choosehope 233]

So interesting to hear your perspectives. My home was just the opposite. My mom was obsessed with healthy food. Vegetables with every meal and always steamed. Oil and vinegar on salad. Never any fried food or take outs. Never knew sugary cereal existed until I spent the night out. Special treats for us were a dill pickle, a naval orange or an occasional piece of health food store fruit leather. Once I could drive and go to the convenience store on my own, I went crazy! I've always wondered what my eating would have been like if things were more moderate in my home.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

What a fascinating thread.

@@ShrinkingPeach ... when they invent time travel I want to go visit your house.

[NaomiAus 104]

Anything with the words "fat free" I thought was ok, later to realize that fat free didn't make it healthy. More often than not fat free food is loaded with sugar or sodium to give it flavor.