The Struggles Of Coming From An Unhealthy Family

[caption id="attachment_831973" align="alignleft" width="1068"] Bigstockphoto.com/Closeup midsection of an overweight couple with junk food holding remote control[/caption] A lot of our habits, lifestyle choices and character traits are a result of how we were raised (whether we like to admit that or not). And a lot of the arguments and tensions that arise in families happen when the kids become adults and want to find themselves, develop their own lifestyles, and diverge from their families’ traditions. You’ve probably experienced these types of growing pains within your family several times in your life, from your teens to college to full-blown adulthood. If you come from a family who doesn’t have the healthiest lifestyle when it comes to diet and exercise, but you’ve learned a lot about those things since moving away from home, visiting your family can be tough. Not choosing to eat like them can feel like you aren’t choosing to be like them. Here are struggles only people who come from unhealthy families understand. [caption id="attachment_716930" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You bring your own food home

When you go home to visit your family, you have to sneak in your own healthy food because you know there won’t be any in the kitchen. You’ve even gone so far as to sneak a mini fridge in your suitcase that you plugged in in the guest room, so your mom didn’t know you snuck fresh fruits and veggies into the house.         [caption id="attachment_717205" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You don’t eat all your mom’s cooking

Your parents make very rich meals. Since you don’t eat like that anymore, eating full portions of them would make you sick. You usually only eat a small amount of what your mother puts on your plate, which leaves her feeling offended. You’ve snuck some down to the dog or into your purse to avoid making your mom sad.       [caption id="attachment_702827" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You’re an unwanted cook in the kitchen

You try to hang out in the kitchen while your family cooks to give them tips like, “Use olive oil instead of lard” or “Add more veggies to the pasta.” This just ends up annoying them, and they usually ask you to leave until dinner is ready.         [caption id="attachment_621478" align="alignleft" width="535"] Shutterstock[/caption]

People have to wait for you to exercise

Nobody in your family makes time to exercise. When you go home, if you want to go to the gym or go out for a run, your family just thinks you’re trying to avoid them, or you’re holding up their plans. They only see exercise as interference for the day.       [caption id="attachment_701453" align="alignleft" width="420"] Shutterstock[/caption]

Your family thinks you’re too skinny

Your family thinks you are alarmingly thin. You get tired of them trying to fatten you up when you know you’re actually just in healthy shape, but their perception is off. Of course, you can’t say that to them.         [caption id="attachment_706179" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You have to bite your tongue a lot

You often have to bite your tongue. You have to do this when you see your mom put out a giant tub of sour cream dip and chips for people to eat when they’re just sitting down to watch a 30 minute TV show. You have to do this when you see your family down three breadbaskets before their salads arrive at the restaurant.       [caption id="attachment_706472" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You worry about your family

Visiting your family is a very stressful time for you. You know of many changes they could make that could help them avoid health complications in the future, and prolong their life. But bringing these up only causes arguments, and you don’t seem to get through to them.           [caption id="attachment_716479" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You feel restless at home

Your family leads a rather sedentary life of watching television, eating and lounging around the home. You feel pretty restless at home—you’re not used to doing nothing for 48 hours. But nobody will so much as go for a walk with you.           [caption id="attachment_704016" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You cannot decide on a restaurant

Your idea of a great restaurant and your family’s idea of one could not be more different from each other. Trying to compromise on a restaurant is very difficult. Most places they want to go consider macaroni salad a real salad.         [caption id="attachment_707608" align="alignleft" width="623"] Shutterstock[/caption]

Hand-me-downs aren’t an option

Your mom, aunt, and cousins want to give you clothing but there’s no way it will fit you. It’s a rather awkward moment when they ask you to try the clothes on. The fact that you don’t fit into the clothes feels like you’re rejecting your family. [caption id="attachment_715029" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

The pantry frightens you

You’ve stopped looking in your family’s pantry because the items in there terrify you. You don’t know how they’ve missed the thousands of articles that explain how the foods in their pantry are bad for them.           [caption id="attachment_701574" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You can feel hopeless

Getting your family to make one little change like switching from thousand island dressing to olive oil and lemon juice can take all weekend. But you leave feeling like, “What’s the point?” because that won’t help them much if they continue all of their other unhealthy habits.           [caption id="attachment_715154" align="alignleft" width="420"] Shutterstock[/caption]

The lack of nutrition knowledge astounds you

Your parents didn’t know there were a ton of calories in half and half, they didn’t know nuts had protein, they didn’t know brown rice had more fiber than white rice…and you don’t know how they don’t know that.         [caption id="attachment_706777" align="alignleft" width="420"] Shutterstock[/caption]

People call you difficult

Your family just sees you as difficult, stubborn and picky because you ask for your salad without cheese on top, or won’t accept the second piece of cake. They can’t see that you’re trying to make good decisions for your health.           [caption id="attachment_695505" align="alignleft" width="500"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You feel ostracized

You generally feel ostracized from your family. Since so much family time revolves around food, it feels like you get into a disagreement with your family three or four times a day. You have a hard time emotionally connecting with your family because they seem to think you think you’re better than them, and you’re too busy worrying about their health to talk about much else.

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