So much junk food!

Not just non-raw stuff, but even non-vegan stuff like ice cream and cookies and brownies and lots of white rolls. The problem is I have a nanny job for a family where this junk is everywhere. I cook dinner for the family too (the mother is there, but laid-up with health problems), so then I want to eat roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes and whatever nonmeat items look appetizing to me. They buy huge boxes of bakery cookies and brownies and rolls, and I'm just going crazy. I feel terrible, and I'm going to get fat. I've got to stop eating it. I've never been in a situation of having unlimited junk food, and I can't handle it, I guess. Any advice? I know I just gotta stop, but man my resolutions don't make it past dinnertime. And what's worse, my son wants to eat what everyone else is eating, so I give him the vegan parts of the dinner and he doesn't eat fruit soup and salad like he will when we're home eating with my parents (also mostly raw) and he is a salt addict (like me) so he's always wanting chips, crackers, and (ugh) pretzels, which they have in abundance. Please don't suggest quitting. It's a good job, and I can't be picky with jobs. But I really need a pep talk here to get me back on track. I would love to try for 100% raw during the summer. Help! :)

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Permalink Reply by rebeccaj on June 3, 2009 at 3:05pm

houses like that drive me insane. I know the ones you mean, they have huge pantries and go to Costco and load up on crap for miles.

1. you feel terrible. reason #1 not to eat it.
2. the mother is laid up with health problems. I feel for her suffering, but we all have the opportunity to create our own level of health. you're now filling her shoes and have the chance to eat what she was eating before she became too ill to eat with the family.
3. since you're the nanny, become the SUPER NANNY and replace the junk with fruit. just do it. no harm will befall the children, they'll be better behaved and your job gets easier, your son gets a better role model, etc. etc.
4. read Excitotoxins and Fast Food Nation and then read the ingredients on the foods you're being hired to feed to developing brains and bodies, and then share them with the parents.
5. get mission driven. be the Health Nanny - do it for you and the whole family.

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on June 3, 2009 at 3:24pm

I wish I could do this. I don't have the power to change their eating habits. I would love to convert the mother. She's really in a lot of pain, and it's so hard for her not to be able to do stuff with the kids, but I don't know if she'd ever change her eating habits.

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Permalink Reply by Laurie on June 3, 2009 at 3:18pm

Rebecca has some good ideas. Can you draw some lines or discuss this w/the mom? Like, put the junk food on certain shelves or away in hard to access cupboards, and say they're off limits while you're there? Ask if you can bring or she can buy more healthy foods? Are you eating enough fruit during the day to help with your cravings? I've thought about doing a nanny job and this would be really hard for me, too.

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on June 3, 2009 at 3:52pm

Actually Rebecca, you have inspired me. I'm going to make a huge fruit salad and a strawberry/banana smoothie for dinner on Thursday. I probably can't get away with doing that every night, but what the heck, they barely eat what I cook anyway, and who can say no to fruit salad?? Maybe I can do one or two fruit dinners a week or something. When I was little we would have fruit meals consisting of fruit and homemade whole wheat muffins, and they were always my favorite. Who doesn't like fruit after all?

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on June 5, 2009 at 2:56pm

They don't like fruit. Well, the youngest boy does. He ate oranges for dinner. (in addition to his regular snacking. The oldest said, "I don't eat this." Like it's poison or something. His reason: it's too sweet. And of course after he eats his beefaroni, he goes and gets a butterscotch crimpet. Yuck! And without support from the mother, my hands are tied. I don't care that much what they eat, that's up to them and their mother, but it really depressed me that 2 "healthy" boys refused to eat FRUIT. I'm trying to cheer myself up about the 8 year old eating practically a monomeal of oranges.

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Permalink Reply by rebeccaj on June 5, 2009 at 3:29pm

keep presenting it to them. keep eating it with gusto and pleasure in front of them. of course the kids don't like fruit, no one's ever modeled it for them! even big kids will mimic habits. just keep eating it, and just keep providing it. kids are very routine-bound, so the more it becomes part of their routine, the better. soon, you can start making it a part of each meal, and then snacks, and just keep adding it in. In the meantime, you keep eating it like a crazy 811-er! if they say they don't like it, you say "mmmmm... i love it so much i want to marry it!"

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on June 5, 2009 at 3:43pm

haha, thanks for the encouragement. my son will eat anything, so it's so weird being around kids that are so picky. I never knew there were people that didn't like fruit.

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Permalink Reply by Rawgasm on June 5, 2009 at 3:02pm

ahhhh....time for a new job :)

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Permalink Reply by Karmyn on June 5, 2009 at 3:06pm

Hi Cheryl,

My advice is to eat so much fruit that you won't be tempted to eat the other stuff.

I find that so long as I eat enough calories, nothing else can tempt me!

All the best,

Karmyn