Bottomless pit children rant

[Joeydoesntsharefood25]

This is lighthearted before anyone thinks I am really moaning.

My boys are 7 and nearly 5. They never stop being hungry. Both are tall for their age but skinny and very robust. Today they both had a huge bowl of porridge with fruit, nut butter and flaxseed in it, a mid-morning snack cheese, nuts and an apple, then a substantial lunch of homemade lentil and bean soup and 2 slices of toast, fruit. Then we went to soft play where they had a small chocolate bar and a drink. Then at home they had some oatcakes and another apple, then they've just had dinner of 3 fish fingers, a huge pile of new potatoes, peas and green beans and then a bowl of grewk yoghurt and banana. And my nearly 5 year old is still hungry!!!! He eats more than me, God help me when they are teenagers!!

My teenage boys get through enormous amounts of fresh berries, Greek yoghurt, chicken breast (always making protein lunches) and eggs, OMG the eggs, they can get through 12 in two days!

I know many will disagree but I have never found porridge fills me up for long. I get hungry quite shortly after I have eaten a bowl (even with extras added like nuts) doesnt happen if I have toast w cheese or eggs.

Could you try protein at breakfast?

Having said that if they are active I do not think they are having a huge amount of food for their ages. (not saying they are underfed) when ds was a teenager we used to joke he was always in a state of sandwich.
Making a sandwich
Eating a sandwich
Just eaten a sandwich
About to make a sandwich.

He went through an insane amount of bread ham and cheese and nut butters. He however was doing sports 4-5 times a week and twice a week at school.

One thing he always liked was raw carrots as he felt the crunch was good and they filled him. Would that be something to consider?

That's interesting, given their ages.
Obviously everyone is different, but these boys seem to eat more than myself at 46.
I'm not familiar with pescatarian diet, but could they be low on iron or some vitamins?
Sometimes this stuff presents itself as being hungry.
Flat egg sandwich sounds great! 😁

Are you serious??? You need to be giving lots more protein and not just beans. Thats just very lightweight. Feed them better and they won’t need that many snacks in between.

I forgot to say making homemade bread helped us a lot on the hunger front. As you have a coeliac it may already be something you do.

I come from a family of lean massive eaters.
I eat a lot less as an adult but still shock my friends with my intake.
What I would say I have learnt as an adult is that porridge is no good for me and even after a massive bowl with all the seeds and nuts etc I am starving a couple of hours later. Fat and protein is what keeps me full for longer. Fruit won't even touch the sides as there are hardly any calories in them and usually a lot of water. I think my blood sugar goes up and down very quickly making me eat more when I have more carbs.

They sound like my Gds 9, also a skinny human hurricane. He’ll eat 2 Weetabix and 2 fried eggs on toast for breakfast, and then say he’s still hungry on the way to school (a 15 minute walk away) and scoff 2 bananas.

We do other things for breakfast at weekends but I could try offering them scrambled eggs for breakfast. I was trying to avoid too much toast as we only eat gluten free bread at home and its heavily processed.

We spent a fortune on a breadmaker that was good for gluten free bread and my son doesnt like the bread! I'll try it again though

They get a very good variety of protein not just beans.

They are both healthy as horses honestly, I'm very lucky that they eat a lot of fruit and veggies.

Try gluten-free cornbread. I think he'll enjoy this more.

"Veggy Duck - Yellow Corn Meal (1Kg) Fine | Gluten Free | Ideal for Making Corn Bread & Muffins : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Veggy-Duck-Yellow-Gluten-Muffins/dp/B09TPMSW2S/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=VLAGL5GSCPUM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.N5LTzN-EBz3CdN9Wz-IDBV2UgXZwIQv2B5G3ILEnyVRKCrDThVrQZAwAgI-VdgOnv0fbA_yncVCRaBENvr87ZqgCymKzZlr2i3uYt2QhEPoUj3A6lZcuQJwtSZ_ySuIqcHVw3zQgSRVRI5cgf3kOn7ui1Wb_kdewDK6f07FH8c7j6Jdx2wIenjPecrgvZgr6c5JfpiXxQfmiBkKbtk26OA.UR0MBQIpVmQPK9mfoL2YcS77yC65poNpeKyc0uLl1jw&dib_tag=se&keywords=cup4cup+gluten+free+cornbread+mix&qid=1767656111&sprefix=cup4cup+gluten+free+cornbread+mix%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1

My teen DS1 eats massive portions. Im constantly food shopping. DS2 on the other hand snacks all day and is gaining weight so we have introduced soup and a small roll after school to avoid picking. Fruit if he wants it after dinner. All fine but I've just introduced another meal time into my house so more loading of dishwasher and food prep. It's never ending

Mine are a bit less ravenous when given stodge… tea bread, apple cake, scones or, like a PP said, old fashioned puddings.
The myth of the MN chicken doing several hundred meals always amuses me as, at the weekend, DD asked if I could do two spare chickens this week. We refer to them as “spare” chickens as i’ll roast them, strip the meat off and then put that in the fridge for them to have for/with snacks. I also cooked up a bag of pasta, mixed it with a tomato based sauce and that is also in the fridge for snacking on this week.

Thinking about I think the dinner is far too low in calories, the green beans, new potatoes and peas only contain a tiny amount. I’d eat that to lose weight. I’d start with making each of the three meals bigger and go from there.
Plus as others have said there may be some school holiday boredom snacking going on too.

I have two teen boys but also a teen girl, and whilst she doesnt eat the same amount of volume she makes up for it in exotic ingredients for making sushi or poke bowls or salmon pasta etc!! Then there is the bubble tea and iced frappes!

Don’t know what the fascination with bubble tea is. Disgusting frogspawn

You need to give them full fat yogurt, milk etc.

Reduced fat yogurt is token food tbh, it won't fill anyone up. I don't know why anyone buys it.

@musicalfrog

ermm because they want to reduce their calorie intake presumably

Yes but why bother if it's not going to give you very much nutritionally or satisfy your appetite.

The Fast800 plan (and others probably) advocates full fat products BECAUSE they make you feel fuller for longer and less likely to want to snack between meals.

Also less likely to be UPF.

My boys are the same. I have started buying more chicken breasts and eggs. Omelettes in the morning seems to fill them up better. X

My teenage DSS would regularly have a six egg omelette as a snack….tall, sporty, not fat. Maybe you need to keep hens?

@bumphousebump

im sure OP has enough on and jobs to do without having to look after hens, muck them out, feed them, etc! Not to mention the risk of rats associated.

I’m constantly catching myself about to say to my (tall and thin but insatiable) 13 yo DS “you can’t possible be hungry” because I think a lot of the time he genuinely is although it defies belief for me. And I am not a person with a dainty appetite!

Not enough protein. 3 fish fingers for dinner is not enough.