Monday, January 17, 2011

A man and his messed up relationship with food. Oliver Twist gets a paycheck and look what happens!

So from where did my sometimes uncontrollable food lust originate?  Call me strange (you wouldn't be the first), but I find self-examination fascinating.  I consider myself kind of a freak at heart, so I find the process of understanding the origins of my freakishness to be an incredibly interesting exercise.  This is the case for numerous aspects of my life, but it is very much true for my relationship with food.

Time to break out my armchair Dr. Freud and get into some deep exploration.  Why do I have strong impulses to overeat when I'm around food?

Well, it couldn't possibly be me.  There must be someone I can blame.  There must be some despotic figure who waged a campaign early in my life to create my unnatural tendencies to binge on food.  I know!  It's my mom!

Just like Coke!!!!
Lest you think I'm an awful person, I think the world of my mother.  She didn't have much to work with when it came to me, and I think I turned out pretty OK.  She did a great job raising me, and she has been an excellent role model for parenting.  Yet, it is impossible to parent without inflicting at least two or three unforeseen consequences on your offspring.  As a parent myself, I often wonder about the myriad of ways I am unknowingly messing up my kids.  So I feel a little bad for publicly teasing my loving mom, but I really can't help it.  Some stories just need to be told.

The most important bit of context about my mom is that she is incredibly frugal.  She had to be.  My dad spent his entire career as a basic research chemist working for the US government (NBS/NIST and DOE for those curious), so we lived on a middle class government salary (contrary to anything you might have heard on Fox News, this is not the way to become a millionaire).  She was taking care of two kids while my dad was getting his PhD, with literally less than two cents to scrape together.  Ultimately, she was taking care of four kids.  My parents put all four kids through college, including their ungrateful third child (me) into an over-priced institution in Durham, NC.  She worked full time as a typist, earning practically no money so they could cover tuition.  It is also worth noting that my mother's mother was a product of the Great Depression.  She was even tighter.  Given all of the above, my mother's frugality would give the most hardened Scot a run for his precious money.

When it came to frugality, there was no better evidence than the food in my house.  A few notable examples come to mind:

  1. Lunch bags.  Other kids got those cool, pre-cut lunch bags made explicitly for carrying their lunch to school.  I got whatever large brown shopping bag happened to be around.  I kind of looked like a homeless person carrying his belongings in a tattered brown bag.  
  2. Bread.  We never got fresh bread from the store.  Instead, we stocked up on day-old bread that was on sale, and then stored it in the downstairs industrial strength freezer.  I didn't complain  as much as my siblings (my recollection, anyway), so I tended to get the heals, not the normal slices from the middle.  That's right.  My sandwiches were made out of day-old, frozen-then-thawed heal slices.  Wonder Bread you ask?  Heck no!  Always generic.  
  3. Cheese.  Did I get those awesome tasting processed cheese slices that the cool kids got?  Please.  Bologna?  Never!  I got Safeway brand longhorn cheddar cheese.  Therefore, my prehistoric crust sandwiches were served with basic cheddar cheese.  And mustard.  That's it.  Some days I did get PB&J.  
  4. What else came in my cavernous lunch sack?  Usually a brown banana.  
  5. What about a treat with my lunch?  No.  I was the kid that literally had nothing good to trade at lunch in the cafeteria.  Oh, the shame of it all!!!!
  6. What about buying my meal from the cafeteria?  Maybe 3-4 times per year.  
  7. OK, lunch was sad, what about breakfast?  Anything tasty and sweet on the menu?  No.  My family was early adopters into the cult of private label.  In those days, Safeway sold a private label which was literally a white box with black letters with catchy derivative names like "Oats of Cheery".  No Lucky Charms for this young man.  
  8. A personal favorite example was milk.  We got the huge box of powdered skim milk.  Just like the astronauts!!!  I don't think I tasted full-test whole milk until I was 16 years old.  
  9. Dinner was usually a reasonable portioned, healthy dinner.  Fortunately, my mom was a good cook, so this was the eating highlight.  
  10. What about fast food?  I probably ate out 5 to 10 times per year.  McDonalds was reserved to the trips to and from vacation. 
  11. What about the drawer in the kitchen full of tasty treats and cookies?  Didn't exist.
  12. Did I have desert ever?  Yes.  One night each week, I got the "Treat of the Week".  It was usually a Black Cow, constituted of private label (Cragmont) root beer and private label ice milk (not to be confused with ice cream).  
So how did this affect me as a young guy growing up?  First off, I was REALLY skinny.  By senior year in high school, I was 6'3" and about 170 lbs.  You could count ribs on me up to the age of 17.  [In my next post, I will tell you how I miraculously gained 40 lbs in about eight months in college.]  

How did this affect my attitudes toward food?  Frankly, I used to always think about those kids that had full and unfettered access to branded, processed foods, not to mention frequent access to fast food.  I looked at their kitchens, and all I could think was that they had the good life.  They had luxury.  They had dining extravagance.  I felt like the poor kid wearing my Sears Toughskin jeans (which I did until my old brother pleaded for fashion clemency on my behalf), carrying my big brown shopping bag with a crusty cheese sandwich and a brown banana.  

To this day, my palms get sweaty when I see branded food.  I still cannot stand the idea of buying generic food.  Why?  The most expensive food must certainly be of higher quality.  Right?  

I think some people grow up with frugality, and they carry it with them.  Others rebel with all their might.  I clearly fell into the latter camp.  For me, there is something comforting about being able to have and buy any food I want, whenever I want it.  This was particularly the case for many years when it came to eating out.  I used to rock a mean Big Mac back in the days after I left home.  

Just like the Armani kind!!!!
In retrospect, my mother created a pretty healthy environment for her kids.  It's not like I was hungry growing up, and I was clearly not obese, nor malnourished.  Most of the indulgences I dreamed of are exactly the types of foods that are now being vilified in the war on obesity, particularly childhood obesity.  Maybe my mom was just ahead of her time.  However, I think that I somehow formed a link between the Oliver Twist food I had and the social status and wealth indicators that I so badly wanted.  Acceptance came from wanting to fit in with the mainstream of my school, no matter how unhealthy that mainstream might have been.  

What about the Toughskins jeans effect?  Same bloody thing.  I love pretty clothes now, and I spend too much money on them.  Frankly, I went through a period of time when I didn't even like buying clothes on sale.  Somehow, it made me feel less worthy.  I'm over that, though I still like a nice set of threads (channeling my Greg Brady here).  

So that's the story of how one man developed an unhealthy relationship with food.  It had nothing to do with food itself, but rather my own perception of social acceptance and worth.  Strange, isn't it?!

Cheers,

dk

45 comments:

  1. Thanks for your very honest post. I actually find that the foods I crave uncontrollably have a childhood memory behind them.

    ROFL - Oats of Cheery!

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  2. Love your post and honesty. I have been pondering the same thing. I went to a Mom's Nite In on Friday and all of the food was what I would consider WW friendly (3 of the dishes were from recipes with Points Plus values calculated) but I still couldn't restrain myself and overate and over indulged in Prosecco. I'm still working off the excess salt from that night.

    I think you were referring to the heels of the loaf of bread. The heels are the two book-ends of a loaf of bread, while the crust is the entire exterior of a loaf (each piece has some crust, but only two pieces have one side that is entirely crust).

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  3. I can totally relate to this post - down to being the third of four kids! I would say my Mom's one trait that stuck with all four us would be the 'clean and finish your whole plate' syndrome..as there were hungry kids in Africa who didn't have food!! To this day, it's a hard habit to break, and have to remind myself, it's ok to leave a little on the palte if you're full!

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  4. Did we have the same Mom? My childhood (including the giant lunch bags and the basement freezer) was exactly like yours. Oh. Except my Dad worked for Oscar Mayer as a truck driver. His job was to pick up pull-dated cold cuts from grocery stores. Mom wouldn't let him just throw them out; he had to bring them home and we had to eat them. You know what gets pull-dated? Head cheese, liverwurst, olive loaf, stuff they stopped making 40 years ago. We weren't just skinny. We were so full of nitrites that while we WILL die, we WON'T decompose.

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  5. I grew up with a constantly-dieting mom who was terrified that I would get fat and be ostracized from friends like she had. When I left home at 19, I weighed 125 lbs (I'm a 5'4" female). Within 6 months, I was at 150 lbs and at my first WW meeting. Unfortunately I just couldn't stand the idea of anyone else telling me what I could eat and I obviously haven't gotten over it -- I'm now 52 years old and 260 lbs. Sigh. I guess it's time to stop proving to mom that I can eat whatever I want to, huh?

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  6. It's somehow reassuring to know (just like at a WW meeting) that you're not the only one. My mom made most of my clothes and I remember leftover meatloaf sandwiches (cold) and sliced hot dogs on stale rolls.

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  7. My mom was a mixed bad: there were some things she absolutely wouldn't get generic no matter what .... and other things, the store brand was the only one she'd buy. The store we frequented didn't have the black-and-white labels, but other stores that we'd use occasionally did. My friends and I laugh about kids today -- no "POTATO CHIPS" or "ASSORTED COOKIES" .... they get cool private-label stuff!

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  8. Yep--I also had a mother who bought day-old bread and generic brands, packed our lunches in any bag handy, and bought our clothes from a thrift store. I remember she watered our powdered skim milk down so much that it was like blue water and we never ate out or had desserts (except occasional ice milk or generic cookies). Most of our vegetables came from our garden. To this day I refuse to have any generic labels in our house, and you bet--I gravitate toward high-end labels in anything (saying to myself it is all about quality). I look at photos of from back then, and I was a skinny (but healthy) kid. We weren't allowed candy except at holidays, and I remember stealing quarters from my brother's coin collection and going to the penny-candy store to buy and sneak penny candy to eat. Nowadays it is all about fighting the sugar addiction. Glad to see I'm not alone in my "deprived" past!

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  9. Guilty as charged. We, of course, realize that our attempts to instill Calvinist virtues in our children, might not have been perceived as such by those upon whom the virtues were being instilled. But lest anyone think that David is unduly harsh, let me assure you that when he gets together with his siblings and his parents we get it in spades. And we always warned them that if they're going to get lippy, it better be clever and witty.

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  10. you are hysterical!! and pretty cute too : )
    love your blog

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  11. A fascinating account of a boy, his Mom, the human phyche (spell?) and food. Love this post, and this blog. thanks for sharing. Keri

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  12. This is my first time reading this blog, and I have to say that you are very funny! I saw my own childhood reflected in your writing. Like your parents, my own were also depression babies. Mine still live frugally even though they are living off a very comfortable retirement income. I do thank my parents for passing on the wisdom to never pay full price and always look for the best deal. It helps me to make ends meet even today! I only hope my children will say the same for me! Look forward to reading more on your blog in the future...

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  13. haha my mum was a single mum and i grew up with my sis, i didnt have quite the upbringing you did.... my mum gave me chocolate spread etc. but all hell broke lose if you touched her bottle of (real) coke! (it was for her brandy after a hard nights work) we were told we could drink.....corporation pop (for people outside of uk thats tapwater!) on real special occasions we were treated to the cheap cola that was usually foul but we drank cus we were that happy to have cola! as for clothes....mum said you want to wear levis??? get a job and pay for them which subsequently brought me to my job as babysitter and then i didnt waste my money on levis but....real coke!!! i even marked the level with a black marker (which my mum then tried the guilt trip thing with...and i fed and clothed you all these years and you wont even give me a glass of coke..) was i wrong??? i still dont think so!

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  14. As a child I grew up on welfare and the big white boxes/bags with black bold lettering became something I loathed. I never craved or over induldged in THOSE foods. It was the fancy brand name items that we didn't get on welfare. Tang. Once I grew up and got out of the house I would eat Tang by the dry powder spoonfuls. I hated that it would pucker the insides of my mouth and lips and I didn't particularly like it, but I wanted it. I was deprived it for 18 years and all of my "cool" friends had it. So I ate it not because I loved it but because I could. I'm a weight watcher today, and proud to say I'll never touch Tang again. LOL (Of course we did get government cheese and for some crazy reason I love that stuff! lol And to this day I can't drink whole milk... powdered milk ruined me. LoL And we didn't get fancy Wonder bread either... generic. But we'd use the bread bags to line our snow boots. LOL

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  15. Oh my gosh. We grew up in the same household! My mother was--necessarily--incredibly frugal. We even reused the wax paper to wrap our sandwiches! I was healthy, though I had a great-grandmother who was busy telling my five-year-old self that I was fat (lovely, huh?). But I craved what others had, and I rebelled from my great-grandmother's obsession with skinniness. Over the years, my craving & rebellion created an extra 110-lb load...which WW helped me eliminate! Here's to healthy(-ier) relationships with our food & our families! :-)
    Blessings,
    J-Dub

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  16. Like so many others, I totally relate. And, admittedly, I wore Toughskins and I'm a girl. The powdered milk rings a bell and my breakfast every morning was a fried egg. I think my thoughts have always been...I didn't grow up with it, so now I get to treat myself. But, like you, I appreciate that my Mom is an amazing cook which I was lucky she taught me some of her skills, and looking back, I never went without, just maybe without what "I would have chosen"!

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  17. Dave, I think I am in love. You have made a huge impact on the company and you are witty to boot.

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  18. I love this story especially the Brown Grocery Bag. I had the same experience except my sandwich was usually a broiled hamburger on Italian bread with ketchup all wrapped in saran wrap, not a baggie like all the other kids. My mother fed all five of her kids well she was the best cook. I am with you, I just loved dinner! Weight watchers has been a part of my live for over thirty years. I wouldn't do it any other way!

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  19. Cragmont - too funny. Haven't thought about that in years - loved the cream soda!

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  20. I remember going to other peoples houses and they could just go to the fridge with out asking? they could have a glass of milk and put chocolate in it! we had oatmeal everymorning, they had pancakes, toast with jelly etc. oh yeah I know why i love food so much cuz we were poor compared to most people. This story is a great observation of reasons for over eating. Thanks

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  21. My mom counted everything. Bacon sausage tater tots you name it. So when i moved out instead of eating the healthy 2 pieces of bacon i would cook a whole pound! We lived off powdered milk garden veges and government cheese...i still wont consider wild game or brown egg. I wont go into all of the gory details but rebeling got me up to 405 pnds 10 years ago. I now use a lot of my moms tricks and me and my hubby get closer to goal every week.

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  22. You hit it spot on. For me, it was a lot about social acceptance and not doing without what everyone else said was the norm. To not have it was that we weren't normal or as good as anyone else. In fact, now I'm a lot more frugal and I have to have this battle with my boyfriend who is very brand name conscious when it comes to food and in some aspects his clothes.

    I'm so glad I saw this article today, Dave. I'm printing it out for my highlight reminder when I go to weigh in this Friday. Thank you.

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  23. Lining boots with the bread bag, that brought a smile to my face as my Mom lined my boots the same way. My Dad owned a butcher shop so we always had the best meat and my Mom loved to bake, so there were always goodies around. That's where my sweet tooth came from. Snowy days were spent baking (and eating..)cookies. And I wonder why I have a weight problem?

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  24. I can totally relate!! Great post!!

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  25. While reading this, I kept hearing my dad in the background saying "Children are starving in Ethiopia! Finish your plate!"

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  26. Great stories. I think we did grow up in similar households. We had chipped beef on toast, pancakes for dinner, fish sticks..she had 6 mouths to feed and little money. Sunday dinner was a roast or fried chicken and always a cake. I do remember feeling really liberated when I could take myself to McDonalds and order whatever I wanted. Not hard to see how I got where I am weight wise. So grateful for WW to help me put food in its proper place and still enjoy it! Thanks Dave and keep writing.

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  27. My mother as a housewife and my father "the only "working parent" would be given the priveledge of making sure he ate as much as he wanted at dinnertime, and the four of us children, were required to wait until he was finished. Many nights I left the table still hungry. As an adult, I overeat "just because I can"

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  28. Wow. You summed that up very well and there I saw my own childhood flashing before my eyes and I recognised it. It also has occurred to me that the relative austerity of food growing up may have played its part in my ever-expanding waistline when I left my Scottish homeland. It really got bad when I got to the US with its obscene portion sizes.

    I look forward to keeping up with your blog and catching up on past posts!

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  29. Wow - this really resonates with me. It's exactly why I eat, when I fall off the wagon....because I can afford it. My mom used to mix reconstituted powdered milk with a half gallon of whole milk and freeze the other half of the gallon to stretch it. When I could, I would sneak graham crackers and powdered sugar she kept around for baking. I would make icing, add some artificial almond flavoring and binge on graham cracker/icing sandwiches! It was the only treat I'd get. Like you, I rebelled against frugality as soon as I left home - still hate generics. Unlike you, I managed to be chunky all during my childhood, despite all the wheat germ and other healthy, frugal foods Mom kept in the house.

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  30. I didn't have a problem with overly frugal or wanting household. Packaged candies were not abundant at our house because I had a mom who baked. And man did she have the talent for it! Amazingly wonderful treats she'd make. Then around gr. 7, I began to be restricted. Wasn't allowed to eat treats whenever I wanted, because I was a girl who developed early and my mom worried about me getting fat. My older brother (we're both adopted, so we dont share genetics here) was a bean pole and continues to be one. He wasn't restricted despite how hyper he'd get from sweets. Highschool I started at 5'5" and 130lbs. Hardly ideal weight, but I rowed and did dry training so a lot was muscle, with a layer of puppy fat on it as well. Were it not for my moms constant teasing, deprivation, guilting, screaming, hiding ways I doubt I would've found an emotional attachment to food. It was my comforter and my "Doesn't matter what you say, I'll eat the cookies anyways!" kind of reaction. Hell, my parents even locked the cold cellar. By gr. 11 I weighed 160 lbs, no longer happy with myself or as active (oh yeah acne wreaked havoc over my face, though you thankfully can't really tell now!) I began Weight Watchers with my mom and got down to 130lbs again. Of course, University kinda destroyed that and also a 3 yr sojourn in the lonely lonely country of Korea where healthy living isn't exactly a priority despite the uberthin natives. So now I'm back, more hoping to get to a healthier BMI so I don't have to worry about diabetes etc. Not knowing my biological family puts certain things in harsh perspective. I've no desire to tempt fate. I really enjoyed this blog post and I plan to continue reading it in the future :)

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  31. Funny post,David. How about lunch in an empty plastic bread bag, that was my favorite. Everyone seeing your lunch through the plastic. I have been thinking on this topic this week, so thanks. My 5yo daughter has a sweet tooth like her daddy (who eats like a 12 yo boy). I have given up on him, but I can't on her. We didn't have dessert in the house unless we had a babysitter, then it was a square container of vanilla ice cream we'd literally cut with a butcher knife to make sure it was equally divided so we could treasure our piece. I am tinkering with the notion of letting my daughter go sweet stuff crazy and eat until her hearts content. I read somewhere that if you have a "treats drawer" and let them eat whatever they want (but have to eat their meals first) that they learn that treats aren't so special because they are plentiful. Then it because commonplace so it's no big deal. I think my food issues with chips and sweets were because we didn't have them, so when I could lay my hands on them or buy them as an adult, I went nutso. But I'm not sure I'm brave enough to test this theory yet. Anyone try such a thing with their kids?

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  32. Funny, I can relate to alot of it. Growing up, 5 siblings and mom being a single parent on a fixed income.Had to eat fast or sometimes didnt get any!!! To this day I still have to remind myself to slow down!! We didnt have sweets or treats really of any kind except once in while. I used to wish I could go into a grocery store and buy whatever I wanted to eat.So as an adult I have battled my over indulging especially with sweets. Im afraid my kids are going to battle the same issues. As for a treats drawer, I couldnt have one, I'd probably eat it all myself! Thank God for Weight watchers where Im learning to eat right and and stop this constant rollercoaster of "dieting"

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  33. That nonfat instant dry milk that your mom reconstitured for milk...my husband and I have used it for coffee creamer for years and it works fine for us. I discovered it when WW used to market their own "creamer" packets. The contents looked familiar and the ingredient list confirmed my suspicions. I've been leading WW meetings for 14 years and reading weight loss blogs nearly as long. Your blog is as candid and genuine as any I've read. No wonder I'm seeing so many positive things happening with the company. Loving PointsPlus (lost 8 pounds and I've been at goal for 12 years), loving the new ad campaign, LOVE LOVE LOVE the Weeklies (members do too), Liz Joeefberg is a great find, glad you're putting her out front so much. I was kind of a "granola mom" when I was raising my kids. For example, no cereal could have more than 3 gms of sugar per serving and when I talked about choices I would always focus on the fact that sugar was bad for their teeth...nothing about weight. My kids did kind of rebel when they got on their own but it only takes a few added pounds for them to be uncomfortable and they know how to make adjustments.

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  34. At least your mom had the decency to tell you you were eating generic. My mom put got an empty Mrs. Butterworth's bottle FROM A FRIEND and poured our watered down generic syrup into that bad boy. The first time I tasted the real stuff, I thought the company had gone mad and changed their recipe! My Mom also collected pockets from old Wrangler jeans and sewed them onto our no-name clearance rack denims. The only time I made out ahead was when she took on a job making a cake for someone. The left over icing was my reward. (And probably having power in the house from the payment, but I cared about the icing.) Cake and icing STILL get me to this day. Maybe that's why! lol

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  35. My mom put got? Sigh...
    Note to self- drink coffee before commenting on blogs in the morning.

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  36. Oh my goodness, Dave, seeing the picture of the plaid Toughskins was like a kick to the chest. I had to wear those things all through fifth and sixth grades. (And this was during a time when designer jeans - Jordache! - were big among my classmates.) I hid those plaid Toughskins in the back of my closet and pretended they were lost, but no dice. My mom dug them out and made me wear them. Yes, I was made fun of, a lot. I'm probably scarred for life.

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  37. powdered milk YUCK! I don't even drink milk anymore. I kept most of the frugal lessons, but have a mother still obssessed with thin. I was sent to WW at 12 cause I was getting a little pudgy. WW then included forced liver once a week, my mother practically shoved it down my throat. Wonder why I ended up with food issues. My mother still says are you going to eat THAT? WW plan over the last year and a half has helped me so much beyond making goal.
    Dave love your blog really makes me examine my own issues.

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  38. Dave your blog is such a resource for leaders who may have the "lone guy" in the meeting room. I give your blog address right away so that the guys will have your thoughts and views as well. Thanks for being so honest,open and humorous about such a serious subject as weight loss and obesity.

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  39. wow- the light bulb went off when I read this- so like my life growing up!!

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  40. Dave, as always "Well Done" !!

    My signature line on a WW group I belong to reads "working on a healthy relationship with food".

    My mom was similar to yours. She did the best she could with little money we had. We had Micky D's a few times a year. She always cooked good food for us (we argued the "good"ness, my brother and I). We always took bagged lunch to school (maybe purchased lunch on Friday for a treat (pizza day)) and had a small snack after dinner (2 or 3 cookies, depending on the size). That's about it with the snacks.....no chips, no junk food. When I got my 1st job, I played "catch up", keeping snacks in the drawers of my captains bed (circa 1980's), and I had my own mini fridge in my room. That's when my issues began.

    I learned that I cannot deny myself things I like....cookies being my downfall. As long as I figure them into my day I can have them. I love that WW allows for the flexibility to eat anything I wish. As long as I track, the program works. I will stay this....I often choose the Zero PP Banana, over the 4PP Cookies since the new program launch in December. That was a brilliant addition..."free" fruit !! It's a bargain any way you look at it !!

    Thanks for your thoughts !!

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  41. Honest and funny and moving - thank you for this blog! I had a similar childhood with frugal intellectuals - except they added a twist that made the poverty more palatable - they made things into a fun, fantastic hunt. Going to the grocery store or buying clothes, they celebrated with glee when we found bargains, or cheaper substitutions for things. We really all got a kick out of it, and were made to feel brilliant. There was a camaraderie of "we're smarter than those poor brand-name suckers, aren't we?" I still get a thrill when I find good bargains. My daughter has more material comforts than I did growing up, but I've taught her the fun of stretching a dollar, too. Thanks again!

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  42. I relate. I was frugal raising my kids, having been raised that way, even though I don't think it was financially necessary when I was a child. (But who knows for sure! I was just a child.)

    But I do think that probably everyone, when they get out of their growing-up home,feels a great sense of freedom/power/joy in making all their own choices. I think that's probably true regardless of how much control the parents exerted in the home.

    I know adults who blame their parents for their weight problems because NO controls were placed on them with their food choices. So I agree with you about 'unintended consequences' in parenting, although every now and then I might edit it to say PERCEIVED consequences.

    Sometimes it's just too easy and probably not accurate, to attribute some behavior to how you were parented. But I do realize you're writing this in a light-hearted way!

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  43. Do you eat low fat ice cream?

    From Wiki: "A 1994 change in United States Food and Drug Administration rules allowed ice milk to be labeled as low-fat ice cream in the United States."

    If you buy/eat low fat ice cream... you are STILL eating "ice milk". :)

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  44. Ha ha -- I think we had the same mother. Day old bread...check! Powdered milk...check! Generic brand corn flakes...check! McDonald's -- I can remember one time we had food from McD's. They had 10 cent hamburgers as part of some promotion. My mom drove over and bought about 30 of them. No fries or anything -- just burgers. We thought we'd died and gone to heaven!

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