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?

I have a 15 yr old DS whom would quite happily help himself to more than he needs, I've stopped buying food he can snack on heavily. if he is hungry he can have fruit in between meals. So when it comes to breakfast, lunch or Dinner he is always given food made from scratch, I try to avoid heavily processed food and there is always ample amounts of food he enjoys on his plate at meal times.

Peanut butter on toast - can add banana
Boiled eggs
Cold pasta salad in fridge - tuna mayo pasta sweetcorn etc
Home made soup (maybe when temp drops!)
Bagels - you've got - are good
Cereal
Milk
Cream crackers and cheese
Hummus and oatcakes/pitta is very cheap
Beans on toast/bagel very cheap and filling
Toasted muffins with peanut butter
Home made flap jacks are filling
Toasted sandwich
Potato waffles cooked in toaster with beans and cheese
Nuts
Could you leave baked potatoes ready for lunch - with beans or cheese or tuna etc / cheap but filling

Sounds selfish. eating all of the treats in the house with no consideration for anyone else.

But those 5kg bags of pasta and tell them to cook for themselves!
And then have rules like. Only 1 chicken breast/tin tuna for a meal

If they're health condition, they shouldn't be eating so many crappy fats.

Also, get then to have protein shakes...!

Sounds like my 16 year old his younger brother has picked up the same appetite.
I tend to nip get a couple of reduced loaves every evening.
I also buy the cheap instant noodles great for snacks for them.
I also tell them no sweet stuff before lunch if they still hungry between breakfast or lunch then it's fruit.
Ds1 ate 3/4 of a water melon this morning.

Rules!

Buy basic cereals, they can eat as much of this as they like.
Basic bread, ditto.
Raw veg ditto
Live yogurt type things, fruit juice etc- one of each a day.

Meal foods- only at a meal time.

Don't buy treat items- at least, buy them and make it clear- 4 pack of soleros = one each per person. If they eat two, then that's mum or dad's they've eaten.

Honestly, you have to have some boundaries or you end up with oven on for pizza in the middle of the night!

Would they eat pasta salad? If so I'd make heaps of pasta with pesto and leave that in the fridge to be eaten cold, or put some tuna mayo on it, chicken and sweet corn with mayo and so on. You can buy the packs of ham hock pieces or shredded chicken which is usually cheaper than sliced meat for stuff like this.

Otherwise I would buy wraps and dips like hummus that they can eat till they're full.

If they want iced stuff then you could buy some of the cheap ice pops or make your own.

Forgot to add I make them pizzas too.

Sounds about right to me, I've 3 teens, the older they get the more I'm finding they are eating. I use to harp on about eating more fruit, until I tried it and it doesn't fill you.. the 2 boys are like savages , I do question if the food has even touched the sides of their mouths, they are like vacuum cleaners !!! My shopping bill has increased by a min of 50 quid a week !

The 2 boys do weights so burn it off fast enough, dd only needs to look at the fridge and gains weight. So we're battling with her eating at the moment.

When I was a teen there was 5 teens at once and my mother use to hide the goodies in her wardrobe and only bring one thing out at a time. She tried labeling food but we all ended up eating out more, and eating crap food more in fast food places.

I do my shopping and in 3 days the fridge is empty....

That’s a disgusting amount of food. I’d be really pissed off.

I make a big pasta bake with loads of roasted veg in it - peppers, courgette and onion usually. They have some hot and then cold from the fridge ( with loads of salad cream 🤮) or reheat it over the next 2 days for lunch or a snack. I feel your pain. My food bill is huge.

I am familiar with the bottomless teenage boy! I think the food you are buying is too tempting though. I'd leave them with one of bread/pasta/ noodles, a cheap filling protein like eggs or tuna, some apples and a bargain bumper pack of custard creams for 35p. Anything else they need to buy themselves.

That said, a PP mentioning her DS in front of the fridge eating a pack of ham whilst deciding what he was going to eat definitely rings bells. One of my DS used to do the same, but in place of the ham was, quite literally, half a loaf of bread. I just could not fill him up. It usually preceded another growth spurt though - he is well over 6 foot now :)

Buy treats less,anything that can be grazed will go,will cost a lot and is not fill them.I used a marker pen on things not to be touched(got pissed off having not enough for a packed lunch or key meal ingredients gone.).
Anything eaten from those was deducted from pocket money,their choice if they still eat it.
Make sure there's entry of bread,my mum used to leave us money for a large loaf which 3of us would devour with butter as soon as we got home,though strictly speaking Mt sister only ever got 1-2slices as she was younger.

In 5-6 hours that seems excessive. I have teens but they couldn't manage this. Don't know what to suggest though. Other than have a word.

My kids would eat like that if I let them, it sounds like pure greed to me and that's what would make me mad.

I was a teenager, as were my 4 siblings and we only really ate at meal times. Snacks would be 1 pack of crisps or a couple of biscuits/penguin bar. If we wanted supper it'd be cereal or toast. None of us were skinny, just normal. It was the same for DH growing up. They had 3 meals a day and very few snacks in between. Our parents couldn't have afforded to feed us the ridiculous amounts it seems some teens are consuming these days. My kids won't be allowed to either.

But more ingredients and less ready to eat foods. If they have to make it first they are actually hungry not just eating it as it's there

Yes, to the posters who said their teens stand by the fridge eating a pack of ham while 'assessing' the fridge contents - I've seen this too!

They're usually quite good with eating bagels/ pasta/ noodles and eggs etc but since DS1 came back from Uni the balance has been disrupted and my food bill has rocketed again.

They are 6ft3 / 6ft 4 and about 70/75 kg each. They just seem to burn calories like crazy.
They do drink loads of water, but I agree about not buying too many 'easy grazing' calories.

I guess I'm feeling a bit hacked off about it all at the moment as DH is now working from home too and eating lunch here, so I feel like I'm running a bloody 24hr cafe!

Sounds like competitive eating by both of them! Were they trying to out do each other or wanted to make sure their sibling didn't get more than them?

I would divide up all treats into individual bags for everyone in household to last the week and when they've finished their share then that's it for treats.

Would also have a shelf with food off limits, like things assigned for dinners etc.

My kids are only young though so can't tell from experience. But definitely an interesting read to get ideas for when when are of age!

yy to ingredients not convenience!

i would stop buying cold meats/pizzas/sausage rolls/scotch eggs etc.

cheese is expensive, so buy the cheap stuff!

Tins of sardines etc - my DS15 loves the tomato ones ..he's grim, will get a tin of sardines, some tinned potatoes or leftover cold boiled - and maybe things like chopped pepper, stir it all together and eat it all bloody cold 🤢 but - it's not expensive and fills him up

we also have Tuck Boxes - so you only eat treats from your own!

Oh yes! My problem too. Food evaporates. If ds ever stops eating humongous bowls of cereal with gallons of milk shares will plummet. And eggs..! I feel sorry for chickens.

He’s 17 and a 6’4” cyclist and rower I simply cannot keep up.

Yes also to running a 24hr cafe. My kitchen never looks tidy in the holidays especially. There is always at least one person making something (a mess 🙄) to eat.

Ds (18) is skinny as a rake and would do the same. We have rules about what he can and cannot eat. He needs to check if something is for a meal that I've planned and sweet stuff is off limits (after dinner dessert) and he needs to buy it if he really wants it. I've made him go out and buy replacement sweet stuff when he's nicked it and his siblings have missed out on it.

I think that is excessive. What is the calorie content of all that for 6 hours worth of food? My DSSs never ate that much, and still dont as active working twenty somethings.

It's also selfish. I'd be putting some rules in place and anything extra they really should be buying. They need to understand the value of food, meal planning etc and that it's ok to be a bit hungry.

People saying that is normal? How much food must you have in your house to support a family for a week? No wonder the nation gets fatter and fatter.

@MedalMedalMedal " If ds ever stops eating humongous bowls of cereal with gallons of milk shares will plummet."

stop buying cereal, its thin air and nonsense. DH is a cyclist too- he gets porridge oats... cheaper and more filling!

Teen boys don't need to be fat to eat all of that!

Sounds like my house! I have two DS 18 & 16, they can eat! Food bill is off the scale.