Well, it happened....my 6 year old son called me fat!

Ok, I know that he is only 6 years old and he wasn't trying to be mean, but I have to tell you, it really hurt my feelings.

It's starting to get nice out here and seeing myself in other things than sweats is very upsetting. I can't stand my own reflection.

We are on a tight budget and eating healthy is really expensive! It's cheaper to make pasta or rice dishes (yes, I buy wheat for me) but fresh fruit and vege's is costly! Don't get me wrong, I've clearly eaten too much of the other stuff to get to this weight, but trying to reel it in has been hard and expensive. Sometimes I would love to charge several months worth of Nutri System or Jenny Craig just to try to loose weight, but then I would be upset about the credit card bill. How do I win?

Help I need some encouragement!

I feel your pain. I went for a tetnus shot the other day and the nurse was just ready to give it to me when she stopped and said "how pregnant are you?"  I had to explain that I was not. 

Oh my gosh!!! How horrible for you. Did it bother you all day? It would have me.

fresh produce, (fruits and vegetables), and chicken, is not more expensive than jenny craig or nutri system plans, not where i live (chicago, il)  where do you live?  try the sale papers and produce markets instead of major grocery stores?     

I can understand the cost part!  But you dying early and needing tins of meds isn't cost effective either.  It has been hard, but I have made changes.  I still have to force myself to take fruit and not save it for the kids, but they need a mom.  Look for sales...some of the frozen meals go on sale really cheap...carrots and apples are cheap.  The other produce rotates the sales...Make pasta for them and something else for you.  This CAN be affordable with some planning and work.  You can do this!

It was 6 days ago and I still feel like it happened an hour ago.  Think about it all the time. Funny thing about it was the nurse was severely overweight. I mean by 200+ pounds overweight. You would think she would be more sensitive to things like that.  Oh, and I didn't say but we were in the "shot" room so I had to admit this in front of 4 other people.  I cried most of the way home.

For fresh produce and fruit I would try and go to the local farmers market you can get a lot of bang for your buck there.  Good luck and maybe you can explain to your son how his comments hurt you.  I don't know how to approach it, but my heart goes out to you.  I would have ran to my room in tears!

deamarie, where there's a will, there's a way.  Make the best choices you can within your current situation.

The thing is to get started.  Calculate the calories you need to consume.  Visit whfoods.org for their list of the healthiest foods, and get as many of them on your menu as possible.  If you buy seasonal, it helps with the costs.

Just get started counting calories and exercising.  As you go along, you will undoubtedly find ways to trim your budget in other areas so you can buy more fresh produce.

No one has a perfect situation -- we all have detrimental conditions we have to work around. 

good luck, and keep us posted on your progress . . .

Thanks for the mostly helpful advise. My favorite food is fettucine alfredo. It doesn't mean I want to eat it 5 days a week. You can dress up chicken, but it's still chicken. I love fresh fruit, vege's. I love it all. But eating carrots and celery every day, because there cheap, to fill my vege needs gets old, fast. Am I the only one that feels that way?

Sorry about the comment from your son. :-( Just remember.. he probably sees people on television all day that are too thin, making an average size person even look fat.

As far as cost.. I do understand.. Me and my husband are young, have twin boys, both of us are in college, and I dont work. What I have found is helpful is going to the stores that sell bulk (SAMS, Costco, Bj's). I cant afford the membership, so I go with my sister and its a lot cheaper. We buy pasta in bulk and all our fruits and veggies we buy in bulk as long as its not so much that it will go bad before getting eaten. We also don't eat meat. We didn't go vegitarian to save money, but it really has saved us. We spend about $150-180 a month on groceries for the two of us. (this includes all household items like tp, papertowels, and laundry detergent, but it doesnt include the babies formula and diapers.)

my son has said that, then he was like no im kidding or somtimes i'll say im fat an he's like dont say that. It bothered me at first but then I thought about it, I AM FAT. I may not like to hear it but I am, It not like im 20lbs overweight im like 100lbs overweight. I'm not saying it was ok, or that you shouldnt feel bad i dont even know what you look like but sometimes I think some of us just need a reality check its differant if its coming from some guy outside just being mean but when its our kids there not trying to be mean but most the time there being truthful. Truth hurts sometimes, so now is the time to fix it.

Plus heres some not so expensive items you CAN eat ($$ tight here to)

Canned Tuna in water use it with pasta, crackers etc..

Brown rice (i make everyone eat it i just butter an spice it up more for everyone else)

Canned veggies now green giant makes corn & green beans with 50% less sodium .66 a can

Cucumbers and Lettace make a salad

Bananas

I go to super walmart an usally get the eat well chicken (healthier) its still in the same section each package is like 5.00 and it feeds me an 3 kids plus theres tons of stuff to do with chicken

oh popcorn cheap an not a bad snack

Umm cant think of much else right now.

My middle son who is 4 called me Fat this weekend.  It hurt, but as much as it was a slap in the face despite all the work I've done to lose 21 pounds (I started at 235.. got down to 220 and plateaued and finally found out about counting calories and am losing again and at 214)....

Well...

I gotta say my son was right.  I am fat.   I look at last years beach trip pictures and I am fat.   I am done adding to the fat... I'm getting rid of it... and at some point I'm going to be thinner and ripped and he'll say... "Dad, you are so much stronger and thinner than ______'s dad" :)

I want to be around the long haul of life for my wife and 3 sons.  I don't want to have a heart attack in my 40's or 50's or something because I couldn't control my portions at the dinner table.

So consider you got a good slap in the face... but don't let that rule you.   You are the master of your body, and you are working on it all.


As for the cost of veggies and other stuff?   Yeah it costs more.   But I'm not buying softdrinks for myself and I've given up most of my spending on electronics and i've made up some of what i need in the budget to make the hit not so big.  Also I've found that for lunch I can still eat for $2 (infact it's under $2 now).   I can eat a wendy's crispy chicken sandwich and a breyer's lite probiotic plus yogurt ($0.50 @ walmart) and rake in just 490 calories total yet fills me up.   So I don't have to eat nothing but veggies to get the job done.

Also for salads, lettuce is cheap, celery too, carrots as well, and most everything else is expensive.   You can always add in some spices to change things up... or top it with cottage cheese instead of dressing.  But overall learn to lik e it.   I actually love celery with  a sprinkle of salt (and sometimes witho ut it).

Oh and I'm taking vitamines for whatever I'm missing in my diet :) .  So if you fear you aren't getting enough vitamines... then buy some.   Also change your meals up for the family so you can atleast get something out of them.   It's not bad at all to have a hamburger... just get a scale and weight it and computer (using the nutrition facts here) the calories for it.    And instead of buying regular buns, get the wheat ones.  They are usually only about $0.50 more a pack.

I do love the grapes at Sams. They seem to go pretty fast in our house. But you're right. I'm the only one in the house who eats most of the fruits and veges. The children will only eat, raw carrots, celery and cucumbers and cooked green beans and corn on the cob. Sometimes salad with Ranch dressing ( I have my light dressing) I'm hoping their taste changes. I would love to make stir-fry. Maybe I need to by the "vege of the week" so it doesn't go bad. Good luck with your twins. You have your hands full!

Hiya!

From the mouths of babes, eh? Try not to let it bother you too badly... He just hasn't learned courtesy yet...

As for the cost thing... I know you're pain... It is really hard to eat healthy... But even if you can't afford fresh fruits and veggies... There's an important thing to remember! A calorie is a calorie.... You can lose just as much weight eating rice and pasta as you can eating fruits and veggies... It's all about moderation...

My Mom is the perfect example... Her diet astounds me... Some nights she'll send me to McDonald's to pick up a Big Mac AND a Quarter Pounder with Cheese for her... And despite all the calories in those two sandwiches, she still loses weight... She weighs 30 lbs less than me and I eat salads, whole grains, etc etc... Granted I'm taller than she is, but still!

My point is, regardless of what you eat, if your calorie budget comes up with a defecit... Then you will lose weight... I can't guarentee a beautiful cholestrol level or a healthy blood glucose level... But I see no reason why you can't lose weight eating whatever you want....

thanks! It is a handful but I wouldnt trade it for anything :-) Best of luck on finding some afforable healthy meals that maybe your kids will learn to love too!

To all.....thank you so much. I really do appreciate the helpful words. I really did need it today. This was my very first posting a "new subject". It just upset me so much, I didn't know where to turn. My husband would have just said, he doesn't know any better. Maybe my son does!

once you change your diet, those healthy choices won't seem so boring & unappealling. you can keep it interesting enough through new foods (ever try spaghetti squash instead of noodles? ever try mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes? ever try any of the soy-based meat substitutes?).  maybe a little expensive, and difficult to change habits, but what's more worth your hard-earned dollars than putting good-for-you foods into your body? you shouldn't leave your nourishment to the lowest bidder.

also, it gets easy to treat food as a form of entertainment & indulgence. food is nourisment. food is sustenance. it can be fun & interesting, but it's primary purpose is to keep you going. we shouldn't always expect food to be interesting, fun, indulgent, etc. if you change your perspective on what you expect from food, perhaps you won't be as inclined to get bored with healthy choices. nor will we be as inclined to see food as something we "deserve" or enjoy as a pastime. i'm not being extreme and saying food can never be fun or decadent or indulgent, rather, i'm saying that on an everyday basis, it's better to think of food as fuel, not a source of pleasure.

I?m sorry for what you had to have gone through with that.  Talking with him about how it made you feel will probably help.   My 6 yr old can be unintentionally insensitive at times, but I always have the ?would you like it if someone said xxx to you?? talk afterwards.  He?s getting better at the concept of the golden rule every time.  Maybe you could even explain how you're trying to get healthier, and ask if he could help you (fixing meals, or coming up with ideas) - it might be way of getting him to understand the importance of healthy eating and develop some good habits.

And I would like to point out that, as much as it seems like it?s true (any your experience may vary), healthy food is not necessarily more expensive:

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/guide/12-wa ys-to-eat-better-for-less?ecd=wnl_wct_030507

Another article on healthy eating on a budget:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17113255/

And of course, there are the long term health care costs associated with unhealthy eating.  If you?re buying the junk food in addition to the health food, that?s an additional burden.  But, if you can get your family on board and not even have junk food in the house, a lot more than the pocketbook would benefit.

Here's just one of a lot of websites on tips for getting kids to eat healthier:

http://www.kidseatgreat.com/

Good luck, and don?t let one comment discourage you ? you can do this!   :-)

I've found a few ways to make eating healthier more affordable.

I've been buying produce in smaller portions as I don't have kids so to avoid waisting money, I don't buy in bulk.  I also have been getting the weight watchers yogurts at walmart for $0.50/ea.

I went to the store yesterday with $45.00 and was able to bring home a roast for supper, some carrots, some broccoli, some mushrooms, a head of lettuce, some brown rice, bread, lunch meat and water and pet food and had $1.72 change.

Now, when I got home, I quick chopped up the lettuce and bagged it - seems to last longer that way, and I did the same with the broccoli.  The mushrooms were cheaper already sliced, but I took them out of their container and bagged them as well.

Sometimes, when the Smart Ones microwaveable dinners are on sale, I'll pick up some of those.  I also like the tuna lunch kits - at walmart you can get two lunch kits for $2.00 (they are two kits in one package) and one kit is one days lunch. 

Good luck, hon! :)

oh, this should make you feel better (keep in mind, i'm a 36yo woman) : i had a boy about that age approach me at the grocery store and ask, "Why do you have a watch?" (i was wearing a large Polar heart rate monitor watch at the time). i responded, "so i can tell what time it is." to which he says, "... is it because you're a boy?" Me : "Um, No. I'm not a boy, just want to know what time it is..." 

the child's poor mother was TOTALLY MORTIFIED that he'd said it & she apologized profusely. but it was very funny & i just laughed & laughed. recently my nephew (who is about 6) had also told me that i looked like a boy, and i have very short hair so i kinda do look like a guy, so i wasn't offended.

anyway, just use his comment as inspiration to get healthy; and be happy that he didn't say you look like a man! ;-)

Have a look at one of my favorite websites

Hillbilly Housewife - Dieting on a Budget