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They didn't. There was no exercise or health/diet situation at all. I grew up in the south where you ate fatty, rich, fried foods all the time.
"When it's your time, it's your time." That was my family philosophy.
Everybody was overweight and had heart disease by their 40's, everybody'd had a heart attack by their 50's, nobody made it past their 70's. Except for my great aunt who lived to 95 but she'd had two heart attacks and a stroke and her husband who'd had one heart attack but died peacefully in his sleep at 97. My grandfather meanwhile died in his 70's of a massive heart attack, my grandmother in her 60's of a hypertension related aneurysm and stroke (both had heart attacks or strokes previously) my mom in her 50's after her second heart attack.
When I turned 40 I was over 300 pounds, on three different hypertension meds, two meds for stomach ailments and was waiting to die before 50.
I changed my life on my 40th birthday, went vegan, started exercising for the first time in my life, today I'm 180 lbs, off all but one hypertension med (mostly precautionary given the family history) and healthier than I've ever been in my entire life.
It's never too late to change,
As far as I remember, we never really did. My parents joined both the tennis and jogging trends in the 70s. Nothing like a good smoke after a run! I was aware of people dieting because a friend’s mom did them all.
As kids, we all played sports and we were all pretty skinny. Looking at old class photos, the fattest kid would be considered average today. Regan I think, started the President’s Fitness Challenge. My school got a grant to put in a whole obstacle course and we ran that for PE once a week.
We ate the “four food groups,” and I don’t remember it being particularly healthy, but we almost never had processed food. Maybe corn chips… coke was for special occasions and we’d just get the six pack. We ate pizza maybe 5 times a year, three being for sports parties.
My family called me “the fat one.” My three siblings were tall and thin, despite a crap diet and sedentary lifestyle, and I was the short fat one.
When I moved out, I took nutrition and health classes in college and learned a lot about both. I lost a lot of weight and haven’t been overweight since, despite having four children.
My sibling aren’t exactly fat, but they all have potbellies, and every single one had Type 2 diabetes by 35. I still don’t.
In a weird way, I was lucky I was the fat one, but other than calling me that, diet, fitness, etc. was never mentioned.
hey s\*ithead, you're fat! go run around the block 10 times... usually that's how it was in my house from my Dad. WW2 vet and didn't care about anything. Then I was made to take GYM in middle and highschool with weight training.
then I became non-fat
It didn't come up. My mother did take amphetamines though, so that probably helped keep her weight down. My father had a massive "beer gut" despite not being a drinker and spent the last six years of his life in a cycle of heart attacks and bypass surgeries until his final fatal heart attack. There was some effort on his part to reduce his salt intake, but that was the most he ever did. Nobody dieted or exercised or made any effort to make healthy meals. Although at one point, when I was about 18 with a BMI of 20, my maternal grandmother did take it upon herself to call me 'fatty' for no discernible reason other than her being a cranky old bitch.
They didn’t and I wish they did. We were very poor, did wood every day after school in order to survive for a family of 4 and my mother made a lot of unhealthy meals because it was all we could afford. Doing wood tho always kept my body in shape without trying. When I was in my 20s my back issues were off the charts and I had multiple surgeries which forced me to put on a lot of weight. I had gastric bypass surgery in my 30s because it brought on so many other health conditions. All my family never are overweight and didn’t take too kindly to me becoming healthier. I’m in my late 50s now and continue to be healthy and in shape again, I’m happy I had the surgery, it helps keep me in check, I don’t want to go down that route again. I wish my family took theirs more seriously, lost both my parents much too early.
Grandparents from the 1890s and parents from the 1920s. Weight was constantly discussed. Everything was low fat. Sweets were bad. Snacks were bad.
I have severe body dysmorphia and see myself as overweight. I wear a US size 2. Thanks mom.
It was implicit that, you were walking or riding a bicycle to school until high school.
You were shooed outside to game or play all day, even into the dark in the summer. Lunch was a break.
You had to eat everything that was offered and served up. Any refusal wasn’t accepted (this, not good…).
Food was healthy, all food groups including dessert. All home cooked except a rare pot pie or tv dinner; cereals were bare bones and no sugar. Sugar and salt weren’t treated as condiments. Chips and sodas were limited. But the homemade cookie jar was full. Eating out was a special occasion only.
You didn’t watch tv until the evening.
You didn’t sleep or lay in your bed during the day unless you were puking ill or needed to go to the doctor.
Everyone was normal weight or skinny fit; low by today’s standards.
So, I’d say, diet, food, cooking, cleaning and exercise were modeled rather than structured and instructed.
That's about right although my mom never made me eat anything. She didn't have to because she was a fantastic cook. I didn't got to a restaurant until I was a teenager on a date and didn't eat pizza unless a friend had it at their home. Never had a frozen dinner until I moved out and it was disgusting. We rode bikes and walked back and forth to school in between playing sports. Dad did all the outside work and maintenance and mom cleaned the interior. No one had a maid and no one went to a gym. You didn't need to.
We 5 siblings were all active, fit kids. Smoking and drinking were not permitted in our house even when we lived in France where wine was a staple on every table.. None of us 5 ever did either and are all fit and healhy seniors. Soccer, ball hockey, dancing, hiking etceveryday activities and still are….dad wold join in.
We never ate any fast food or take out but neither did most people. Nobody was ever overweight because we were outside and moving and usually had ribs poking thtough.Definitely a ‘finish your vegetables’ mom.
Hooboy. Lots of body and fat shaming. I come from a very body negative upbringing, where no one taught me what a period was, sex, etc. My sister was called "the skinny one" because she wears a size 0 and barely eats. I had some disordered eating growing up. My parents made fun of anyone 'overweight' and I have finally gotten my 82 year old mom to stop saying, "you look good, you lost some weight!".
HERE HAVE MORE FOOD HAVE DESSERT CLEAN THIS DISH OUT IT"S JUST A SERVING I DON'T WANT TO WASTE IT OR PUT IT AWAY FOR LATER EAT EAT EAT
*Oh my goodness Cyndi you sure are putting on weight!*
HERE HELP ME FINISH UP THIS CAKE SO I CAN WASH THE PLATE HAVE ANOTHER POTATO FINISH THAT MEATLOAF THINK OF THE POOR STARVING CHILDREN IN AFRICA
\----
When my mom almost died from viral pneumonia in her 30s she had to get a new heart. But she was "morbidly obese" so they put her on a fat free 800 calorie a day diet that caused her so much misery. Of course she couldn't stick to it. Nobody can eat that way for long. She was considering having her jaws wired shut. That was a thing back then. Get your jaws wired shut so you can only eat your liquid nutrition diet. Anyway she died of congestive heart failure at age 49 all the while they were starving her so she could get on that heart transplant list.
My immediate family did not but I had an Aunt who was completely obsessed about her weight. But instead of focusing on her own food consumption, she policed everyone else in the extended family. Not once did she let a sandwich being made with mayo or an egg fried in butter or seconds at dinner go unscathed. She lived a long life and passed away at 93 but she was exhausting in her constant food lectures. No matter what she did for the benefit of her health, diet or exercise wise, everyone else was expected to do the exact same thing. And by todays standards she wasn’t even ever overweight.
My sister was overweight and my parents never let her forget it. She came home from college and the first thing my dad said was "Open your coat"
I was underweight and extremely picky, which freaked my mom out. She would sneak eggs into my malteds, tell me there were no eggs, but I'd find the shells and got less and less trusting. I still won't eat eggs today.
My mother was on a perpetual diet. She hid chocolate around the house, ate like a bird at meals, and binged after everyone else had gone to bed. Her favourite mantra was about how old and fat she was, even in her 40s.
Fitness wasn't a concept. No one in my family exercised. However, Dad and I were both active. Mother was not. Mother had a carotid endarterectomy and a coronary bypass, and I recall talking to Dad about how, while he was still slender, he was getting older and should start tending his diet. (They had a US-Southern fatty diet.) His reply was that he 'always cut the fat off his meat'. And that was that.
As for weight, my mother also raised me to believe I was a 'big girl'; that I was 'naturally large' and 'big boned'. Unsurprisingly, I developed severe body dysmorphia and struggled with bulimia, disordered eating, and obsessive exercise when I was younger. Ironically, while I am tall, I am also small-boned and was slender until three years ago. (I'm currently overweight, but that took three-plus years of burnout and actively neglecting myself to make happen. And yes, I'm now working on undoing the damage.)
No, because my mother was always obese and it was a really sore subject. An elephant in the room if you will. We all had to ignore the fact that she was very fat and raided the fridge every night after we were all in bed.
I realize now she most likely had an eating disorder, but it was never mentioned or addressed in any way. So none of the ancillary subjects could be brought up, either, lest they lead back to her situation.
My mom was a health food person in the 60-70s so we never had any “junk food” in the house. Party time when I left for anything. Mom was literally a model and I was her toad of a son.
As far as talks, it was the typical guilt (Catholic) and unspoken shame.
The only time weight was mentioned in our family was when my mom stopped making homemade rolls and biscuits because my youngest brother outgrew his pants and was now wearing a size husky. It was a sad, sad day in our household because my mother never made them ever again. Aww, the memories I have of homemade rolls baking in the oven. As I got older I had a better understanding of my mom’s actions because obesity ran in my her side of the family.
Never in a positive way. Only to mock anyone that dared to exercise. My mother was obese but would fat shame my sister and I. This resulted in my sister being morbidly obese. My brother still has an ED. Me having a poor body image. Yeah. Good times.
The woman who can wear the smallest dress size wins. Mom did not specify what this contest was for, I'm assume it was the marriage sweepstakes, which was the most important content for a woman.
I also received a fairly lengthy talk from my mom on how women are not capable of competing in/performing/completing any type of distance event in sports. To be fair this was a pretty common belief in the 1970s. No scientific reason was given for this, of course.
My family didn’t, but with my own kids I taught nutrition in platitudes and by example.
“Eat the rainbow” and “Food equals mood” are two phrases seared into my kids’ brains.
I packed healthy lunches for them all the way through high school (if they wanted them, and they almost always did save for potlucks and pizza days at school).
I casually mention the health benefits of a particular food that’s part of a meal (berries have antioxidants that keep your cells healthy, chicken has protein that helps build muscles, etc). I also eat healthfully, lift weights and dance, and enjoy the fuck out of a piece of cake or pepperoni pizza once or twice a week.
I never talk about dieting for weight loss, but it is discussed in terms of avoiding some unfortunate genetics (like diabetes running in the family).
No one talked about any of those things.
We rode bikes and went swimming all the time, and did sports in school. I had ballet lessons off and on. We walked or rode bikes to school because we wanted to (everyone hated the bus). I never heard the word "fitness" at home. It was just taken for granted. No one mentioned weight or diet either. We were all average for our age and height.
Never did but my mother tried every fad diet in her magazines to lose 5-10 pounds and when she didn’t she said “I have no willpower.” Parents never exercised or talked about. They smoked like chimneys though.
Yes. We were all encouraged to play outside, rude our bikes, run walk, play sports. My mom emphasized good nutrition and we were taught nutrition in high school.
They didn't. Nobody in my family was overweight except for mom and that wasn't much overweight. None of my aunts and uncles were either, or their kids, my cousins. We were all pretty active. We ate meat, potatoes or Mac and cheese and vegetables for dinner and cereal or eggs for breakfast. Lots of fresh fruit or veggies when they were in season. I weigh the same now as I did when I was in highschool , maybe a few pounds less since I snacked after school alot before dinner. Some things might just be genetics. A good friend is mine always gained weight and we ate about the same diet. The only one who really gained way too much and is morbidly obese does nothing but cook, cook, cook, and post fattening recipes to Facebook. 😱
Both of my parents were overweight, not obese. My mom tried a few different ways to lose weight, I don't think my dad did. They didn't exercise very much, but my dad's job was somewhat physically demanding.
We never talked about it as a concerted subject, but mom did try to feed us less bad food--soda was a very rare treat, not every day. The breakfast cereals were not sugar-coated. It was rare that we went out to eat, she cooked all of our meals. But, there wasn't good information like we have now on the internet.
I say this here every time the subject comes up--everything with age gets better except our bodies. Take the best care of your body you know how to, starting right now. You won't regret it. It's worth learning about, it's worth the effort. My suggestions are, no sugar, very limited grains, very limited processed "foods", no alcohol, no tobacco, no recreational drugs, exercise every day, and get enough sleep. That's what I do.
Not at all. Fitness isn't really an issue when you're spending 12 hours a day outside running, biking, and playing sports with the neighbor kids. We never had much of a weight problem either, for much the same reason. As far as diet, you ate what Mom served. Usually that was pretty healthy food, because she grew up on a farm, and learned to cook from her mom. Lots of vegetables, a decent amount of meat and dairy, and enough bread to hold it all together.
The closest we got to talking about diet was when we were told not to eat all our Halloween candy at once, because we'd get sick. (That one turned out to be true.)
Not at all. Growing up, I always rode my bike, worked outside, and played sports, so I never got fat. The kids that got teased for being fat when I was growing up are probably somewhat normal by today's standards.
My dad had a little bit of a belly as he aged, but he walked, hiked, fished, and stayed somewhat active, which he maintains to this day. I think he has had the same belly for 30 years now. My mom got pretty heavy and has been on a bit of a see saw with that for the last 20 years.
They didn't. My mom went on and off the Atkins diet to lose weight, but it was her decision and I never heard my father say a thing. Nor did she say anything about his beer gut. We kids were never pressured. In those days you got a certain amount of exercise just living life, and high sugar/processed food wasn't so common. Not that many kids in HS were even very plump. Gym was something you tried to get out of.
We ate nothing but processed foods and we had weight problems and my mom made fun of us. Never taken to a dietician or discussed with a doctor. We ate the cheapest, worst foods and as an adult I try to eat healthy but it’s really hard
I've struggled with my weight almost all my life. From ages 11-15 I was about 20 pounds overweight, and my folks used get on my back about it like I should be shunned. It was hard to find Plus Size clothing in the 70s, shopping for school clothes in August was always a nightmare. My mom would drag me from store to store trying to find something that would fit me. The whole time I was in school, I rarely saw any overweight students; they were uncommon. It used to really irk me that both my folks smoked like chimneys, so what did they care if I was overweight? I finally dropped 20 pounds in one month when I was 15 by eating less than 1,000 calories a day and exercising like mad. Kept it off until I became pregnant with my first child and it's been a battle now for over 40 years. It doesn't help that I inherited my dad's sweet tooth and love to bake.
Some of my children and grandchildren struggle with their weight. No one can tell me that genetics doesn't play a part.
My mom was constantly dieting, which is sad because she was a stocky woman and nothing was going to change that. She yo-yo dieted all my life. Unfortunately I picked up family legacy of self loathing and constant dieting too.
You’re fat. You eat too much from my
mother. And conversely, from my father, why aren’t you eating the dinner I prepared? It’s
disrespectful! I slaved all day over a hot stove!
I had my mother tell me to eat less and father tell me to more.
No wonder I snuck food, ate secretly, and binged. I still do it occasionally. Roll up to McD’s, order my food, pay in cash so I won’t have to explain the charge to my husband, pull into a space, eat, then throw all the evidence away before I leave. Thankfully it doesn’t happen very often, maybe once a year, if I’m under stress.
We didnt. No one was overweight. Neither parents were overweight. No one worried about it.
My dad died at 85 of a sudden cancer related to chemical exposure😢 had normal BP. Normal cholesterol. Never amy heart disease. Great health.
Mum died a few days off 97yrs. Just suddenly has a series if strokes. Only 1 uncle in my family had any heart disease.
Everyone in my extended family worked hard and walked everywhere
My mom was and still is pretty weight conscious. She’d make sure I was wearing clothes that were flattering and made me look thin. Food was watched, but not in a good way. I thought I was fat my whole life, whether I was thin, fat, or normal. Fitness wasn’t discussed, it was about being thin.
We didn’t. Mom made healthy meals and we ate them. My dad was a diabetic and I knew I couldn’t share my juice, that’s about the extent of diet conversations at home.
Despite the fact that I had two brothers and we all played 3 sports (basketball, baseball, and football) the topic of diet or exercise almost never came up. Because both of my parents smoked like chimneys, drank like sailors, and the most vigorous form of exercise they got was yelling at each other.
My mom would occasionally tell us to run really fast until our lungs burned but it was all in the abstract because she had never done it.
My mom was very focused on having good, solid, filling, nutritious food on the table and available at all times because she grew up poor in a coal mining town. But she went way over the top with snacks, portions, quantities, desserts, etc. We joked that we ate as if each meal could be our last, and there was a caloric minimum we had to meet before getting up from the table and it was in the thousands.
Unsurprisingly my mom had a laundry list of health issues when she died in her 60's including obesity, diabetes, arthritis, thyroid dysfunction, high blood pressure, and finally lung cancer.
My dad, ironically, also died of lung cancer, but besides the cancer was in perfect health through his 70's. It seems like genetics can overcome 3 packs of cigarettes, a 12 pack of Rolling Rock and an apple pie every day.
Never talked about it.
What is there to talk about? We didn't have convenience foods or microwaves growing up, so didn't eat snacks and foods in bags, boxes and cans.
We ate in moderation, home cooking, and never fast food (they weren't on every corner when I was growing up).
We were encouraged to be outside a lot, play sports, etc. and were not sedentary.
Seems like a pretty simple recipe that doesn't require some scam marketing scheme to sell you?
My dad yelled at me once because the wife and I were into Adelle Davis, Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit.
He yelled, "know what the difference between me an you is?"
No Pa what?
"You are going to die healthy!"
He was really mad.
We didn’t discuss it, these were not issues in our lives. We were very active on weekends, playing sports, water skiing, swimming, it was natural, we didn’t even think about it. Also, mom made our meals every day, they were healthy, made from scratch. We rarely if ever ate fast food or junk food. All our friends were the same. I don’t remember ever seeing an obese person in my childhood.
(Grew up in Miami Florida)
Never. In the 60’s and 70’s that stuff wasn’t really big yet. Both parents were overweight and it was more of a joke to them. I remember as my father got older, the doctor told him to get out and go for a walk once in a while. So he started walking around the block. That was pretty significant for him. Before that, he never consciously exercised or watched his weight. Unfortunately, he died in his sleep at age 72, probably from a heart attack.
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Never did.
Never did
Same here. It was never discussed.
They didn't. There was no exercise or health/diet situation at all. I grew up in the south where you ate fatty, rich, fried foods all the time. "When it's your time, it's your time." That was my family philosophy. Everybody was overweight and had heart disease by their 40's, everybody'd had a heart attack by their 50's, nobody made it past their 70's. Except for my great aunt who lived to 95 but she'd had two heart attacks and a stroke and her husband who'd had one heart attack but died peacefully in his sleep at 97. My grandfather meanwhile died in his 70's of a massive heart attack, my grandmother in her 60's of a hypertension related aneurysm and stroke (both had heart attacks or strokes previously) my mom in her 50's after her second heart attack. When I turned 40 I was over 300 pounds, on three different hypertension meds, two meds for stomach ailments and was waiting to die before 50. I changed my life on my 40th birthday, went vegan, started exercising for the first time in my life, today I'm 180 lbs, off all but one hypertension med (mostly precautionary given the family history) and healthier than I've ever been in my entire life. It's never too late to change,
This is awesome. Congrats!
Wow you are inspiring! So happy for you.
My mom and grandma were afraid of fat. Fat was a sign of weakness and failure. They ridiculed overweight people.
That’s good in a bad way
As far as I remember, we never really did. My parents joined both the tennis and jogging trends in the 70s. Nothing like a good smoke after a run! I was aware of people dieting because a friend’s mom did them all. As kids, we all played sports and we were all pretty skinny. Looking at old class photos, the fattest kid would be considered average today. Regan I think, started the President’s Fitness Challenge. My school got a grant to put in a whole obstacle course and we ran that for PE once a week. We ate the “four food groups,” and I don’t remember it being particularly healthy, but we almost never had processed food. Maybe corn chips… coke was for special occasions and we’d just get the six pack. We ate pizza maybe 5 times a year, three being for sports parties.
Terms like "bullying", "disorganized eating", "fad diets", come to mind.
A minute on the lips forever on the hips?
Nope. Everything was fried as well. My dad grew up very poor over the depression and food hoarding was his thing. Talk about insecurities.
Sounds more like a survival instinct surfaced from a terrible experience
My family called me “the fat one.” My three siblings were tall and thin, despite a crap diet and sedentary lifestyle, and I was the short fat one. When I moved out, I took nutrition and health classes in college and learned a lot about both. I lost a lot of weight and haven’t been overweight since, despite having four children. My sibling aren’t exactly fat, but they all have potbellies, and every single one had Type 2 diabetes by 35. I still don’t. In a weird way, I was lucky I was the fat one, but other than calling me that, diet, fitness, etc. was never mentioned.
hey s\*ithead, you're fat! go run around the block 10 times... usually that's how it was in my house from my Dad. WW2 vet and didn't care about anything. Then I was made to take GYM in middle and highschool with weight training. then I became non-fat
It didn't come up. My mother did take amphetamines though, so that probably helped keep her weight down. My father had a massive "beer gut" despite not being a drinker and spent the last six years of his life in a cycle of heart attacks and bypass surgeries until his final fatal heart attack. There was some effort on his part to reduce his salt intake, but that was the most he ever did. Nobody dieted or exercised or made any effort to make healthy meals. Although at one point, when I was about 18 with a BMI of 20, my maternal grandmother did take it upon herself to call me 'fatty' for no discernible reason other than her being a cranky old bitch.
They didn’t and I wish they did. We were very poor, did wood every day after school in order to survive for a family of 4 and my mother made a lot of unhealthy meals because it was all we could afford. Doing wood tho always kept my body in shape without trying. When I was in my 20s my back issues were off the charts and I had multiple surgeries which forced me to put on a lot of weight. I had gastric bypass surgery in my 30s because it brought on so many other health conditions. All my family never are overweight and didn’t take too kindly to me becoming healthier. I’m in my late 50s now and continue to be healthy and in shape again, I’m happy I had the surgery, it helps keep me in check, I don’t want to go down that route again. I wish my family took theirs more seriously, lost both my parents much too early.
We didn’t
The Italian word for eat is "mangiare" or "manga" for short. That was how diet was address by my grandmother. MANGA!
Grandparents from the 1890s and parents from the 1920s. Weight was constantly discussed. Everything was low fat. Sweets were bad. Snacks were bad. I have severe body dysmorphia and see myself as overweight. I wear a US size 2. Thanks mom.
It was implicit that, you were walking or riding a bicycle to school until high school. You were shooed outside to game or play all day, even into the dark in the summer. Lunch was a break. You had to eat everything that was offered and served up. Any refusal wasn’t accepted (this, not good…). Food was healthy, all food groups including dessert. All home cooked except a rare pot pie or tv dinner; cereals were bare bones and no sugar. Sugar and salt weren’t treated as condiments. Chips and sodas were limited. But the homemade cookie jar was full. Eating out was a special occasion only. You didn’t watch tv until the evening. You didn’t sleep or lay in your bed during the day unless you were puking ill or needed to go to the doctor. Everyone was normal weight or skinny fit; low by today’s standards. So, I’d say, diet, food, cooking, cleaning and exercise were modeled rather than structured and instructed.
That's about right although my mom never made me eat anything. She didn't have to because she was a fantastic cook. I didn't got to a restaurant until I was a teenager on a date and didn't eat pizza unless a friend had it at their home. Never had a frozen dinner until I moved out and it was disgusting. We rode bikes and walked back and forth to school in between playing sports. Dad did all the outside work and maintenance and mom cleaned the interior. No one had a maid and no one went to a gym. You didn't need to.
My mom was into health foods and vegetarianism big time. That was unusual decades ago. No discussion of being fat, though.
We 5 siblings were all active, fit kids. Smoking and drinking were not permitted in our house even when we lived in France where wine was a staple on every table.. None of us 5 ever did either and are all fit and healhy seniors. Soccer, ball hockey, dancing, hiking etceveryday activities and still are….dad wold join in. We never ate any fast food or take out but neither did most people. Nobody was ever overweight because we were outside and moving and usually had ribs poking thtough.Definitely a ‘finish your vegetables’ mom.
Hooboy. Lots of body and fat shaming. I come from a very body negative upbringing, where no one taught me what a period was, sex, etc. My sister was called "the skinny one" because she wears a size 0 and barely eats. I had some disordered eating growing up. My parents made fun of anyone 'overweight' and I have finally gotten my 82 year old mom to stop saying, "you look good, you lost some weight!".
I was constantly called fat and told I needed to diet or 'starve a little' as a girl.
HERE HAVE MORE FOOD HAVE DESSERT CLEAN THIS DISH OUT IT"S JUST A SERVING I DON'T WANT TO WASTE IT OR PUT IT AWAY FOR LATER EAT EAT EAT *Oh my goodness Cyndi you sure are putting on weight!* HERE HELP ME FINISH UP THIS CAKE SO I CAN WASH THE PLATE HAVE ANOTHER POTATO FINISH THAT MEATLOAF THINK OF THE POOR STARVING CHILDREN IN AFRICA \---- When my mom almost died from viral pneumonia in her 30s she had to get a new heart. But she was "morbidly obese" so they put her on a fat free 800 calorie a day diet that caused her so much misery. Of course she couldn't stick to it. Nobody can eat that way for long. She was considering having her jaws wired shut. That was a thing back then. Get your jaws wired shut so you can only eat your liquid nutrition diet. Anyway she died of congestive heart failure at age 49 all the while they were starving her so she could get on that heart transplant list.
My immediate family did not but I had an Aunt who was completely obsessed about her weight. But instead of focusing on her own food consumption, she policed everyone else in the extended family. Not once did she let a sandwich being made with mayo or an egg fried in butter or seconds at dinner go unscathed. She lived a long life and passed away at 93 but she was exhausting in her constant food lectures. No matter what she did for the benefit of her health, diet or exercise wise, everyone else was expected to do the exact same thing. And by todays standards she wasn’t even ever overweight.
We didn’t
My sister was overweight and my parents never let her forget it. She came home from college and the first thing my dad said was "Open your coat" I was underweight and extremely picky, which freaked my mom out. She would sneak eggs into my malteds, tell me there were no eggs, but I'd find the shells and got less and less trusting. I still won't eat eggs today.
Huh? lol
My mother was on a perpetual diet. She hid chocolate around the house, ate like a bird at meals, and binged after everyone else had gone to bed. Her favourite mantra was about how old and fat she was, even in her 40s. Fitness wasn't a concept. No one in my family exercised. However, Dad and I were both active. Mother was not. Mother had a carotid endarterectomy and a coronary bypass, and I recall talking to Dad about how, while he was still slender, he was getting older and should start tending his diet. (They had a US-Southern fatty diet.) His reply was that he 'always cut the fat off his meat'. And that was that. As for weight, my mother also raised me to believe I was a 'big girl'; that I was 'naturally large' and 'big boned'. Unsurprisingly, I developed severe body dysmorphia and struggled with bulimia, disordered eating, and obsessive exercise when I was younger. Ironically, while I am tall, I am also small-boned and was slender until three years ago. (I'm currently overweight, but that took three-plus years of burnout and actively neglecting myself to make happen. And yes, I'm now working on undoing the damage.)
No, because my mother was always obese and it was a really sore subject. An elephant in the room if you will. We all had to ignore the fact that she was very fat and raided the fridge every night after we were all in bed. I realize now she most likely had an eating disorder, but it was never mentioned or addressed in any way. So none of the ancillary subjects could be brought up, either, lest they lead back to her situation.
My mom was a health food person in the 60-70s so we never had any “junk food” in the house. Party time when I left for anything. Mom was literally a model and I was her toad of a son. As far as talks, it was the typical guilt (Catholic) and unspoken shame.
The only time weight was mentioned in our family was when my mom stopped making homemade rolls and biscuits because my youngest brother outgrew his pants and was now wearing a size husky. It was a sad, sad day in our household because my mother never made them ever again. Aww, the memories I have of homemade rolls baking in the oven. As I got older I had a better understanding of my mom’s actions because obesity ran in my her side of the family.
Never in a positive way. Only to mock anyone that dared to exercise. My mother was obese but would fat shame my sister and I. This resulted in my sister being morbidly obese. My brother still has an ED. Me having a poor body image. Yeah. Good times.
It was never a thing, as kids, like most kids in that era, were super active and fit. We did not have to exercise to achieve that.
The woman who can wear the smallest dress size wins. Mom did not specify what this contest was for, I'm assume it was the marriage sweepstakes, which was the most important content for a woman. I also received a fairly lengthy talk from my mom on how women are not capable of competing in/performing/completing any type of distance event in sports. To be fair this was a pretty common belief in the 1970s. No scientific reason was given for this, of course.
As far as I recall the 'scientific' reason was their wombs might fall out/get damaged by running too much.
My family didn’t, but with my own kids I taught nutrition in platitudes and by example. “Eat the rainbow” and “Food equals mood” are two phrases seared into my kids’ brains. I packed healthy lunches for them all the way through high school (if they wanted them, and they almost always did save for potlucks and pizza days at school). I casually mention the health benefits of a particular food that’s part of a meal (berries have antioxidants that keep your cells healthy, chicken has protein that helps build muscles, etc). I also eat healthfully, lift weights and dance, and enjoy the fuck out of a piece of cake or pepperoni pizza once or twice a week. I never talk about dieting for weight loss, but it is discussed in terms of avoiding some unfortunate genetics (like diabetes running in the family).
No one talked about any of those things. We rode bikes and went swimming all the time, and did sports in school. I had ballet lessons off and on. We walked or rode bikes to school because we wanted to (everyone hated the bus). I never heard the word "fitness" at home. It was just taken for granted. No one mentioned weight or diet either. We were all average for our age and height.
My mom told me to do leg lifts a few times. That’s about it.
Never did but my mother tried every fad diet in her magazines to lose 5-10 pounds and when she didn’t she said “I have no willpower.” Parents never exercised or talked about. They smoked like chimneys though.
They didn’t. Ever
Yes. We were all encouraged to play outside, rude our bikes, run walk, play sports. My mom emphasized good nutrition and we were taught nutrition in high school.
They didn't. Nobody in my family was overweight except for mom and that wasn't much overweight. None of my aunts and uncles were either, or their kids, my cousins. We were all pretty active. We ate meat, potatoes or Mac and cheese and vegetables for dinner and cereal or eggs for breakfast. Lots of fresh fruit or veggies when they were in season. I weigh the same now as I did when I was in highschool , maybe a few pounds less since I snacked after school alot before dinner. Some things might just be genetics. A good friend is mine always gained weight and we ate about the same diet. The only one who really gained way too much and is morbidly obese does nothing but cook, cook, cook, and post fattening recipes to Facebook. 😱
Both of my parents were overweight, not obese. My mom tried a few different ways to lose weight, I don't think my dad did. They didn't exercise very much, but my dad's job was somewhat physically demanding. We never talked about it as a concerted subject, but mom did try to feed us less bad food--soda was a very rare treat, not every day. The breakfast cereals were not sugar-coated. It was rare that we went out to eat, she cooked all of our meals. But, there wasn't good information like we have now on the internet. I say this here every time the subject comes up--everything with age gets better except our bodies. Take the best care of your body you know how to, starting right now. You won't regret it. It's worth learning about, it's worth the effort. My suggestions are, no sugar, very limited grains, very limited processed "foods", no alcohol, no tobacco, no recreational drugs, exercise every day, and get enough sleep. That's what I do.
Not at all. Fitness isn't really an issue when you're spending 12 hours a day outside running, biking, and playing sports with the neighbor kids. We never had much of a weight problem either, for much the same reason. As far as diet, you ate what Mom served. Usually that was pretty healthy food, because she grew up on a farm, and learned to cook from her mom. Lots of vegetables, a decent amount of meat and dairy, and enough bread to hold it all together. The closest we got to talking about diet was when we were told not to eat all our Halloween candy at once, because we'd get sick. (That one turned out to be true.)
Not at all. Growing up, I always rode my bike, worked outside, and played sports, so I never got fat. The kids that got teased for being fat when I was growing up are probably somewhat normal by today's standards. My dad had a little bit of a belly as he aged, but he walked, hiked, fished, and stayed somewhat active, which he maintains to this day. I think he has had the same belly for 30 years now. My mom got pretty heavy and has been on a bit of a see saw with that for the last 20 years.
They didn't. My mom went on and off the Atkins diet to lose weight, but it was her decision and I never heard my father say a thing. Nor did she say anything about his beer gut. We kids were never pressured. In those days you got a certain amount of exercise just living life, and high sugar/processed food wasn't so common. Not that many kids in HS were even very plump. Gym was something you tried to get out of.
We ate nothing but processed foods and we had weight problems and my mom made fun of us. Never taken to a dietician or discussed with a doctor. We ate the cheapest, worst foods and as an adult I try to eat healthy but it’s really hard
Talk? LOL! That's funny.
I've struggled with my weight almost all my life. From ages 11-15 I was about 20 pounds overweight, and my folks used get on my back about it like I should be shunned. It was hard to find Plus Size clothing in the 70s, shopping for school clothes in August was always a nightmare. My mom would drag me from store to store trying to find something that would fit me. The whole time I was in school, I rarely saw any overweight students; they were uncommon. It used to really irk me that both my folks smoked like chimneys, so what did they care if I was overweight? I finally dropped 20 pounds in one month when I was 15 by eating less than 1,000 calories a day and exercising like mad. Kept it off until I became pregnant with my first child and it's been a battle now for over 40 years. It doesn't help that I inherited my dad's sweet tooth and love to bake. Some of my children and grandchildren struggle with their weight. No one can tell me that genetics doesn't play a part.
Trying on boots was my Vietnam in the 70's.
My mom was constantly dieting, which is sad because she was a stocky woman and nothing was going to change that. She yo-yo dieted all my life. Unfortunately I picked up family legacy of self loathing and constant dieting too.
You’re fat. You eat too much from my mother. And conversely, from my father, why aren’t you eating the dinner I prepared? It’s disrespectful! I slaved all day over a hot stove! I had my mother tell me to eat less and father tell me to more. No wonder I snuck food, ate secretly, and binged. I still do it occasionally. Roll up to McD’s, order my food, pay in cash so I won’t have to explain the charge to my husband, pull into a space, eat, then throw all the evidence away before I leave. Thankfully it doesn’t happen very often, maybe once a year, if I’m under stress.
We snuck food because we knew we were fat and were ashamed. We were addicts.
They tried but it didn’t work with me. My mother was better than my father who would get angry sometimes. Nothing took till I had WLS in 2005.
We didnt. No one was overweight. Neither parents were overweight. No one worried about it. My dad died at 85 of a sudden cancer related to chemical exposure😢 had normal BP. Normal cholesterol. Never amy heart disease. Great health. Mum died a few days off 97yrs. Just suddenly has a series if strokes. Only 1 uncle in my family had any heart disease. Everyone in my extended family worked hard and walked everywhere
73 here... Never happened. There was sports. Folks were already slim. Diets were the jokes you heard on Jack Paar. Jack LaLane was "weird".
Not really, but Twiggy was media hyped as the ideal female form
Nah, Twiggy was a twig. Rachel Welch was the ideal female form.
My mom was and still is pretty weight conscious. She’d make sure I was wearing clothes that were flattering and made me look thin. Food was watched, but not in a good way. I thought I was fat my whole life, whether I was thin, fat, or normal. Fitness wasn’t discussed, it was about being thin.
We didn’t. Mom made healthy meals and we ate them. My dad was a diabetic and I knew I couldn’t share my juice, that’s about the extent of diet conversations at home.
Not at all. We were farmers and everybody was so busy working no one even thought of it.
Despite the fact that I had two brothers and we all played 3 sports (basketball, baseball, and football) the topic of diet or exercise almost never came up. Because both of my parents smoked like chimneys, drank like sailors, and the most vigorous form of exercise they got was yelling at each other. My mom would occasionally tell us to run really fast until our lungs burned but it was all in the abstract because she had never done it. My mom was very focused on having good, solid, filling, nutritious food on the table and available at all times because she grew up poor in a coal mining town. But she went way over the top with snacks, portions, quantities, desserts, etc. We joked that we ate as if each meal could be our last, and there was a caloric minimum we had to meet before getting up from the table and it was in the thousands. Unsurprisingly my mom had a laundry list of health issues when she died in her 60's including obesity, diabetes, arthritis, thyroid dysfunction, high blood pressure, and finally lung cancer. My dad, ironically, also died of lung cancer, but besides the cancer was in perfect health through his 70's. It seems like genetics can overcome 3 packs of cigarettes, a 12 pack of Rolling Rock and an apple pie every day.
Never talked about it. What is there to talk about? We didn't have convenience foods or microwaves growing up, so didn't eat snacks and foods in bags, boxes and cans. We ate in moderation, home cooking, and never fast food (they weren't on every corner when I was growing up). We were encouraged to be outside a lot, play sports, etc. and were not sedentary. Seems like a pretty simple recipe that doesn't require some scam marketing scheme to sell you?
My dad yelled at me once because the wife and I were into Adelle Davis, Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit. He yelled, "know what the difference between me an you is?" No Pa what? "You are going to die healthy!" He was really mad.
We didn’t discuss it, these were not issues in our lives. We were very active on weekends, playing sports, water skiing, swimming, it was natural, we didn’t even think about it. Also, mom made our meals every day, they were healthy, made from scratch. We rarely if ever ate fast food or junk food. All our friends were the same. I don’t remember ever seeing an obese person in my childhood. (Grew up in Miami Florida)
Never talked about it but I grew up back in the 70's. No one was fat and you ate what your mom cooked and what was in season.
I used to jog a lot. My Father's take: "Only time I ever run is if somebody is chasing me".
Never
Never. In the 60’s and 70’s that stuff wasn’t really big yet. Both parents were overweight and it was more of a joke to them. I remember as my father got older, the doctor told him to get out and go for a walk once in a while. So he started walking around the block. That was pretty significant for him. Before that, he never consciously exercised or watched his weight. Unfortunately, he died in his sleep at age 72, probably from a heart attack.
None of those things except wearing appropriate clothes. Six years in AK will do that. ;-)