son eating me out of house and home

PlymouthMaid

Maybe teach him to make beans on toast and jacket spuds as they can be cheap and cheerful as well as filling. Stop buying pies and pizzas then he can't nick them. I agree that if he often eats carby foods without protein he will get hungry very quickly so teach him how to balance his diet better by adding protein to the carbs in the form of cheese, tuna, beans etc. The flapjack idea was good too as they are cheap and easy and not entirely unnutritious despite feeling very naughty indeed.I am glad I dont have teen boys too - my girls were great I suppose as they never had huge appetites at all.

Horace

Rather than give him the family allowance, keep it yourself. If he wants pocket money for things or even for lunches at college (you could send him with sandwiches) then he gets himself a Saturday job or a paper round.

Get a padlock fitted to the fridge if he raids it in the night. If he wants to snack then have a fruit bowl that he can help himself from (fruit is cheap in Aldi and Lidl).

If he is constantly eating then he may have a thyroid problem either that or he is just greedy by refusing to eat what is on his plate and then bingeing on food.

Have you thought of taking him shopping for food so that he knows how expensive it can be and showing him what the family allowance provides for him eg. you do all the cleaning, buying his clothes, pay the utility bills and mortgage etc.

Savingdad

This month keep back £20 of the family allowance and explain you will spend it on more stuff for his snack cupboard and microwave meals he can eat when he likes, if they run out to soon next month keep £40, do a separate shop for him and give him the receipt so he can see how much his snacking is costing.

Vikipollard

I'm with many others here - yes, he's at that age where there seems to be no filling them, but as he leaves half the tea you cook him and eats rubbish later, he's making a choice.


He is selfish and needs a lesson in real life. Padlock on fridge, and he makes his OWN sandwiches to take to college. Use the child benefit to buy more food and if he wants spending money, make him damn well earn it!

AngelOfTheNorth

esalad wrote: »

He was home alone last summer while I was away for a few days and despite stocking the fridge from Iceland on all his favourites found out he had been using just-eat to order expensive takeaways.

And who paid for that? I do hope it wasn't you! That should've been taken out of his spends. But again, when you mention Iceland stuff it sounds like frozen food, pizzas and stuff? Correct me if I'm wrong. If so, it's just not going to fill him. I know I'm harping on about protein, but it's a necessity at that age.

esalad wrote: »

Most annoying is when he sees there is only a pint of milk left in the evening and ignores making tea or squash and makes a pint of milkshake leaving no milk for tea in the morning.
I have tried talking to him and he just says the reason he lies is because I,'ll say no.

Hmm, I can sort of understand this here because a pint of milk would be a lot more filling and nourishing than squash or water. I get that it's annoying, but equally, he's hungry. His bad attitude and the need for you to provide him with enough food to fill up and nourish him are two separate issues. Teenagers are clinically deranged at the best of times. They're even less able to think straight when they're hungry. For that reason, I really don't think locks on cupboards is the answer. At the same time, this isn't just about him being hungry, because he's throwing your cooking away. I don't think you said what you're making him?

I think you could usefully buy full fat, if you're not already, and also get yourself a bit of powdered milk in for tea in the mornings just in case.

Lieja

Sounds more like greed than hunger to me. If he's not eating the meals you cook then he can't be ravenous; he'll be craving the simple carbs rather than actually feeling hunger so you try cutting these out altogether and just buying the fresh ingredients for 'proper' meals, and making big portions that can be reheated later on, when he realises there's nothing else and he's feeling real hunger.

Although the real problems are his attitude and behaviour. He should not think it's acceptable to steal food from his mother, and should be mature enough to understand the consequences of his actions. He should also be looking for a job!

esalad

Powdered milk I always have as its a lifesaver in the mornings. Usual meals I cook are all day breakfast, Sunday roast with veg always on his plate which he never eats, homemade chips and sausage or pie, shepherd's pie and Bolognese or a curry. I am self employed so am out of the house some meal times. He's not keen on any other meat apart from chicken or processed meat, though he wasn't so fussy when younger. He does cook himself pasta in the evenings as I often come down to a sinkful of washing up to greet me first thing.

wiogs

esalad wrote: »

Powdered milk I always have as its a lifesaver in the mornings. Usual meals I cook are all day breakfast, Sunday roast with veg always on his plate which he never eats, homemade chips and sausage or pie, shepherd's pie and Bolognese or a curry. I am self employed so am out of the house some meal times. He's not keen on any other meat apart from chicken or processed meat, though he wasn't so fussy when younger. He does cook himself pasta in the evenings as I often come down to a sinkful of washing up to greet me first thing.

You need to start getting a grip and having some control over the situation.

Why cook him stuff he won't eat? Simpler just to throw your money away.

RAS

I suggest starting with a check up with the medics?

There are at least a couple of health issues which allow people to eat enormous amounts and end up skinny - one being coeliac disease. Despite what you might expect undiagnosed coeliacs sometime major in eating carbs.

Start by keeping a food diary and working out the calorie intake over a couple of weeks.


if he is tucking away 3000 a day and does not do masses of exercise, you are asking a different set of questions to 2000 attached to a computer.

leeroy2009

deffo a case of the munchies. often hit the fridge and chocolate cupboard myself late at night.