Does anyone lock up their food?!

[popofyellow]

I'm half joking!
I've got a 12 and 14yo. Both are sporty, neither overweight. 14yo waiting for an ADHD ax.

I went shopping yesterday. I bought a pack of brioche swirls (6) - all gone this morning.
A bag of honey peanuts - all gone.
Multi pack of Twix - half gone.

Last week sent shopping on Monday and bought two packs of croissants - all gone by Wednesday.

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes on Thursday (not our usual choice of cereal but bought in an emergency) - it's all gone.

I don't want to think about how much yoghurt they've had this week.

There is of course lots of "proper" food available. Pasta, sandwich ingredients, lots of fruit and salad veg. They do eat fruit but veg would only at meal times. They eat proper sized dinners.

The older one will often have a bagel with honey or peanut butter just before bed.

I know people will tell me off for buying the treats / carbs but I keep telling myself that as long as they're eaten as part of a proper diet it's fine, but they just inhale them.

Is this normal and basically I just need to stop buying the "nice" stuff?
Is a tin of biscuits / pack of Penguins or pack of nicer breakfast things just something I have to accept we can't have right now?

Argh!

[DustyLee123]

Just stop buying that stuff. If they’re genuinely hungry they’ll eat the healthier stuff.

[RainBow725]

I have a friend with 3x teen boys. She has to hide half the shopping in the car for a few days!

[daffodilandtulip]

Mine has a list of what he can have one of a day without asking. We wrote and agreed on it together, and "his" stuff is in a drawer in the fridge. Anything else he knows are for family times or he has to ask if he fancies it.

[MumChp]

If all snacks are gone first days teens will have to eat decent food rest of the week. I don't provide more.

[ItsNotAPoolBasedHoliday]

My teenagers are supposed to have an egg or a banana if they are hungry.

They do have biscuits and other stuff but in a 'cup of tea and a biscuit' sort of way rather than an I'm starving way.

[Peekaboobo]

It sounds normal to me. Easiest thing is to just not buy it or as another pp said, keep what you can in the boot of your car and bring out in controlled quantities 😃

[DewinDwl]

More filling snacks? Things like cheese and nuts (whole nuts not nut butter). Would they have tinned fish as a sandwich filling? Things like tuna and sardines, perhaps smoked salmon. Would they like high-fibre, needs-to-be-eaten-slowly foods like rye bread for things like scandinavian-style open top sandwiches? The ready-to-eat grilled chicken breasts pieces you can buy in small packets are pricey but satisfying. Fruit with a high water content can be very satiating (think watermelon, ripe melon etc)

TBF things like brioche, cereal and chocolate bars are weird in that they don't fill you up and make you want to eat more. Or maybe it's just me lol

[Fireyflies]

We used to hide any special items that we wanted for a specific meal or not to be a free for all. They mostly filled up with bread and peanut butter, or went out and spent their own money on junk.

[Scarletttulips]

I just buy things they don’t like!

[chattyness]

Don't buy it then they can't inhale it, stock up on more fruit and salad type stuff, plainer biscuits etc & if they're really hungry they can make a peanut butter, marmite, honey or jam sandwich or some toast. It doesn't have to be the best of the best all the time.
We were never allowed to just take anything without asking when we were kids & because that was the rule we never did it. My first boyfriends mum used to bake a lot so they always had puddings after tea and she had a stack of five cake tins that she kept full every week with sponge cakes & fruit cake, I was in awe of her as she was a fab home baker & just brilliant at everything else, she was so lovely too.
I would hide most of the expensive treaty stuff and just have it at weekends, then they'll appreciate it more and everyone else in the house will get some too.

[LarchFairy]

Mine are adults now but their teenage appetites were legendary.
I encouraged filling carby snacks. Lots of toast, tortillas, breakfast cereals such as weetabix etc. I used to bake a lot!
As long as they ate healthy meals and fruit as well as the rubbish I let them get on with it.
Both very tall slim adults. They still have big appetites but not in the same league as 15 year old boys.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I know people will tell me off for buying the treats / carbs but I keep telling myself that as long as they're eaten as part of a proper diet it's fine, but they just inhale them.

It isn't being eaten as part of a healthy diet though. It's being eaten as a binge.

Buy singles or don't buy it.

[popofyellow]

So yes I agree I need to stop buying this stuff.

What about yoghurt? I buy fruit yoghurt and big tubs of Greek /plain yoghurt. The fruit ones go in an instance. They then move onto the plain one with honey / fruit on top and can easily get through a huge tub very quickly. I can't keep that in the car or hidden in a cupboard!

Gosh teens are a challenge in so many ways!!

[gamerchick]

I've been known to keep treat stuff in the boot and just bring it in but by bit.

My youngest who's 17 isn't interested in sweet stuff so it lasts a while now. But can eat dry crackers by the packet, like crisps.

[ItsNotAPoolBasedHoliday]

My sister swears by Aldi Greek yogurt for her ravenous teenage boys. With Aldi seeds.

[WaltzingWaters]

I’m dreading this once mine grows up! I think I’d either sit and chat about what they can have unlimited amounts of and what is for the whole family to share, and needs to be restricted so there’s enough for everyone.
If that fails, I’d keep the nice treats in a hidden spot in my room!

[FrancisSeaton]

Omg yes!
Cereal and crisps just disappear in minutes

[KittensSchmittens]

Yeah, but Greek yoghurt, honey and fruit is good for them. This is what you want them eating. I wouldn't mind buying that. Ditch the kitkats and stuff and buy 3 or 4 1kg pots of Greek yoghurt. They last about a month or so in the fridge, so if they don't inhale them you can eat them at a normal speed.

I feel the same about peanut butter, bagels and apples. Always have this in.

Also the massive boxes of shreddies, which they eat with grapes on top.

Massive packs of sliced cheese, hummus, carrots and part-baked baguettes also essential.

I've given up on processed snacks, can be £3 for something that's eaten in one sitting. Pointless.

[SeaToSki]

4 teens here

our guidelines are that if its ‘nice’ they can eat one per day per person without checking (yogurt would be 1 bowl etc). If they want another one, they need to double check with me.

exceptions are if they bake them themselves…in which case they can eat as many as they want or if we are having a party/entertaining in which case they have to check about anything and everything (but I have to give them a heads up that there is a temporary embargo)
toast, pasta, eggs, quesadillas, milk, ham and cheese and cereals are available as much as they want, but they also have to tell me when they get within striking distance of the end of a packet/container so that I can buy more in time for us tonot run out

those that break the rules have to replace the item with their own money and effort (going to the shops).

we sat down as a family and agreed the ‘rules’ all together and since they had a part in setting them, they are good about sticking to them. DS 2 had friends over the other day and they ate the whole packet of biscuits between them, but then he went right back out and replaced them that evening. I reimbursed him on that occasion as I felt that he was feeding friends not just scoffing them himself but I was pleased he went and bought more that day so his siblings didnt miss out

[MyLadyTheKingsMother]

They're growing op. It's normal. Not good for the bank balance though.

Healthier and a bit cheaper snack foods that mine still eat but are more satisfying:

Yoghurt
Wholemeal everything
Low fat soft cheese
Pumpkin seeds
Watermelon
Boiled eggs
Veg sticks and hummus
Wholemeal Pitta and hummus
Falafel and mint yoghurt
Cooked chicken drumsticks
Raw honey as a toast topping or on cereal
Weetabix and milk
Cheese cubes

[WildRosesForCathy]

My DC are pretty good at only eating their fair share but since the older two have become young adults with different schedules and the younger two have become teens in and out at various activities etc we have introduced two fridges. We always had an overflow fridge but now we have an ingredients fridge and a help yourself fridge. We have similar with cupboards. It makes it much easier for us all.
As an aside as someone with ADHD it works much better for me to have things ready prepared when I want to eat or I will reach for the easy carbs. Maybe together you could prepare something appealing, there's loads of idea online. I make lots of salad bowls with plenty of protein and texture for the dopamine hit without the junk food.

[EarringsandLipstick]

I have exactly the same issue, but mainly with my middle DS (who is in the middle of a growth spurt & also is very sporty & active, as they all are)

I'd heard about teen appetites but couldn't have imagined what it was like

Broadly food choices are healthy in our house, in terms of breakfast, lunches & dinner. But teens love exactly the stuff you describe.

So I buy a limited amount of 'treat' items - sweets / bars, nice yogurt, 'nicer' bread, crackers, and so on, and those that can be, are kept in the car.

I bake a lot too.

He's provided with ideas / options for after school - eg bagel with decent fillings like tuna & sweetcorn or ham / cheese / lettuce. He'll often have these - then still want the 'nice' stuff.

A particular bone of contention is his love of hot chocolate - which are huge vats of milk & drinking chocolate & the milk vanishes. I get really cross as it's so annoying when the milk is gone so quickly.

It's a balance. I don't believe in not having any treat-type foods at all, I also hate being a gate keeper. We make agreements but he isn't great at sticking to it. So I muddle along with a bit of restriction, limits & observation.

[EarringsandLipstick]

DS 2 had friends over the other day and they ate the whole packet of biscuits between them, but then he went right back out and replaced them that evening.

Fair play to him. That's both respectful & mature!

[maddiemookins16mum]

Teens eat a lot - but the issue here is a lack of control (to an extent) or, at worse, greed. I’ve had a teen, I’ve been a teen, no way would we have just scoffed what we wanted without Mum or Dad having a stern word about it if it meant the shopping had been decimated within days.

It’s not about starving them, although it does no harm for them not to have to eat every time they feel a bit ‘peckish’ but instead wait for their meal.

But there is a feeling on here especially, that teens (boys especially) should just be able to eat whatever they want, whenever they want.

[Elephantswillnever]

Mines are younger 13,11 and 9 but I’ve stopped buying snack stuff. There is fruit , bread and butter/ cheese for toast. Oatcakes and cream cheese. That’s it no more cereal bars/ biscuit bars/ snack stuff/ crisps as they would just scoff the lot as soon as it came in,