Greedy or hungry? Teens eating SO much food... what to do?

[Pebbles574]

Two DSs - 19 & 17. Both tall and muscular (gym goers).

They typically eat a lot, but I'm beginning to think they're now just being greedy pigs.

I had this week's food delivery this morning at about 10 am. As it's hot/summer I'd ordered extra cold meats/ bread/ ice creams/ etc expecting people to want more cold meals.

I've been out and in the last 5-6 hours they have already eaten:

Half a loaf of bread
4 bagels
one pack of ham
half a pack of cheese
2 pints of milk
6 eggs
2 Soleros
2 Ice Lollies
2 mini cheesecakes (which were meant for later)
4 bananas
6 mini yoghurt drinks (Actimels)
lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes etc

I'm particularly annoyed about all the ice-creams/cheesecakes - they're meant as a treat, not 3 a day!
It seems the more I buy, the more they eat .

DS2 says "but I was hungry..." but I think he's just bored (has a project he has to finish by the end of July, so is stuck at home at the moment).

What can I do? I can't NOT feed them, but nor can I afford to keep this up!
Separate shelf/ fridge compartment? 'Rules' about daily limits of certain things?

Oh sorry, I also missed:

• pack of scotch eggs
• 6 chicken satay sticks
• carton of orange juice

Sounds normal I'm afraid. I had 4 teens at one time and didn't dare leave any food at home that I thought I might be wanting to eat later. Best to only have things in the house that don't cost much; see they didn't eat any fruit.

Are they working? You could ask them to replace the ice creams and cheesecakes.

That sounds normal to me, however I would look at portion size and food groups are in the main meals of the day.

Weasel - they ate bananas and there may have been other fruit as the bowl is usually well-stocked and I wouldn't know what had been eaten.

What can I buy which is cheaper and which will fill them up? Any ideas from your own experience.

They will eat a full, normal, balanced meal this evening, then probably cereal or toast later too.

I try and keep my almost teenager DD to stick to one rule, that fruit, veg, small amount of cheese or nuts etc, are ok for snacks but as for treats it's one sweet and one savoury a day, like one packet of crisps and one mini cheesecake. Eating all the treats meant for the whole family is greedy, selfish and mean. If my DD oversteps as often happens, I don't buy that stuff any more.

Buy noodles, 20p a pack in Asda.

Sounds excessive, I have a sporty 18 year old but he would never eat that much. I would stick to much plainer, cheaper, more ‘basic’ stuff. Hide your treats for yourself .

Jesus

That's so much food! It must cost a fortune.

(can you tell i don't have teens?)

Lizzy yes, that sounds sensible. It was the ice-creams & cheesecake gluttony which tipped me over the edge today. They were just holed up in the coolest room in the house this afternoon pigging their way through all the treats .

My ds(17) is also sporty, very lean and muscular and can also eat for Scotland. Other than the sweet things, he could definitely put away that amount of food in a sitting. He’ll actually stand with the fridge open eating a pack of ham whilst he’s sussing out his next “course”.
A portion of scrambled eggs is 6 eggs
A portion of cereal is 6 weetabix, or if it’s something like Cheerios, it’s in a Pyrex bowl....
I thank my lucky stars I only have 1 boy!

I’ve has teenagers and I would not expect them to eat that much in five hours even when very active.

Fucking hell I'm dreading this. There is no way on earth I will be able afford children who eat like that!

If my gym going son (he’s at rugby practise now) ate that he wouldn’t fit through the door! He has to be careful as he just has to look at food and puts on weight. Your lads are lucky but they don’t need all that food.
Pasta is very filling and you could (or they could) make up a sauce to last a couple meals. Tell them the next time they feel hungry to have a pint of water as they actually might be thirsty.

Yes you need rules especially about the treat items.

Bored eating is a thing. Teenagers eating like a plague of locusts is a thing. Sounds like you have a dose of both!

Remind them they can only have a share of the treats as they're meant for everyone so when the shop arrives they are only entitled to x number until the next shop.

I've got 2 teens and that sounds really greedy to me .

In all honesty I think most teens probably would eat the treats and not think of the consequences, definitely have a stern chat about that.
From my friends with teen boys though, they say the same, there's just no filling them, the cheapest thing is noodles, bread, beans, eggs, cereal.

They are both at ages they can work. Are they giving you any money for the grocery bill?

Can you suggest they buy their own snacks if they want to 'pig out'.

When me and my siblings lived at my parents, we usually brought our own snacks as we thought the food my parents brought were boring!

Maybe hide the chocolate etc and provide rice cakes, crackers and see how quick they go to the shop to buy their own food.

I’m trying to section this into meals so I can get my head round it. So say they each had 3 fried eggs on 3 pieces of toast, 2 ham and cheese bagels, 2 ice lollies, 2 mini cheesecakes, 2 bananas, 3 yoghurts, 3 chicken satay sticks and half a pack of scotch eggs .... In five hours? OP that’s crazy and I’d be really fed up. Maybe I could understand the eggs and bread and bagels but they don’t need the snacks on top of it. You must have to spend a fortune!

If they can afford their gym memberships they can afford their own snacks

Teen ds is 17 and 6 foot 2 and definitely doesnt eat that much. I would be very angry if he did. He eats a lot of pasta to fill up and after many battles, now drinks a lot of water which stops him feeling hungry. He can eat an entire big tub of Ben and Jerry's at one go...but he's not allowed to.

Sounds like boredom eating to me. I'm home on mat leave at the moment and cant have snacky foods in the house because I just eat it. I've actually caught myself going in the kitchen, opening the fridge looking at what I can eat and having to tell myself I'm not hungry, baby is napping so I should nap too.
I think you may need to bring in a food rule or not have snacky stuffs in the house.

How did they physically eat all that?! I know teen boys need loads but that's just greedy. Gym goers? Tell them they won't look, like, swole if they keep eating cheesecake
Have a shelf in the fridge and cupboard they can have at, but when it's gone until you do the next shop it's gone, nothing fancy but basic meats, fruit, veg, bread, nuts, cheese...anything else they need to ask. If they want anything extra they buy it.

Ds2 is 17 and very active, he is still at home but Ds1 was very similar and prone to eat but still be skinny. Their 'fill up' foods are toast and peanut butter, cereal, pasta and noodles. Ds and Dd have a snack cupboard -brioche, flapjacks etc. but when that is gone it is gone for the week. The fruit bowl is free to all, but anything a bit special is off limits.

tell them you cant afford it, if they want snacks they can buy them! I need to budget so I'll be locking the cupboards id mine start this. I already have a lock box as ds who has aspergers takes rather than asks so all the cereal bars and sugary treats go in there so he cant gorge himself. He's welcome to fruit, toast and sandwiches etc though within reason.

Maybe hide the chocolate etc and provide rice cakes, crackers and see how quick they go to the shop to buy their own food.

Whilst I think they need to understand the cost of groceries I think it's a bit dysfunctional to hide food from your own children. They just need to appreciate that the weekly shop caters for everyone and they are entitled to the same share as everyone else. Hiding food won't teach them to be thoughtful.