Needing lots of support!

River314

Please, no judgement for what I'm about to say, it's a sensitive topic for me. My weight has remained steady in the last few years, losing and regaining the same 5-10 pounds. Right now I'm 243 and at 5 feet tall, that's pretty heavy.

Here's the thing. My husband is in prison, and he's not physically here to keep me motivated. Yes, we talk on the phone every day, but not having him here makes it a little more difficult for me.

He's got his health issues as well, and when he first went in, he went from 425 to 285 in 2 years. Now he's at 320 (at 5 feet 8 inches) and wanting to get serious again about losing weight. I'm doing my best to keep him motivated. Started tracking his food intake as well as mine. He's also getting more active, as much as his body will allow. The food in the prison system isn't exactly geared towards losing weight, and some creative ideas would be great. I'm excited to be able to encourage my husband. He's told me he realized he wants us to have a long life together, and getting healthy is the first step.

My end is a little different. I work in a Mexican restaurant and am on my feet all day. The last thing I want to do is exercise or cook. I'd like some ideas for myself that are budget friendly and fast.

Having people to help keep me accountable would be awesome. Bonus if there's people out there who know what I'm going through. Feel free to add me! I'm feeling nervous and excited all at once!!

Bex953172

This is a bit of a tricky one.

To me it sounds like youre doing too much!
Its hard enough tracking 1 persons diet (youre own!) Let alone 2! And when the other person isnt physically with you thats much harder because you cant see whats going in his mouth, is there anyway he could monitor his own intake?
Because although its lovely what youre doing i just feel what youre logging for him would be incredibly inaccurate (and therefore pointless) and difficult to sustain for a long period of time because its not something you can measure for yourself, your husband would be able to have a much more accurate food diary, but again i dont know what resour es are available to him to do this.

If the food in prison isnt geared towards weight loss goals and that cant be changed (i have no idea what they serve or how it works) then my only advice would be for him to eat slightly smaller portions and for him to move more, j know you say hes doing as much as his body will allow and thats fine, but as long as he continues that then it will get easier over time and bell be able to do more.

I think youre main goal should be yourself! Youre putting more effort into your husband than yourself! But youre important too! And you have access to all the resources to help you!

Youre on your feet all day, thats great, could you exercise on your days off? Or first thing in the morning before work? Then that way its out of the way. I xan understand not feeling like exercising after work because youre exhausted, but if you work out first thing, its not like youre going to then slack at work because you HAVE to work.

What do you tend to eat? Do you eat food from ghe restaurant whilst on lunch break? You could choose healthier options, or bring youre own lunch in.
If you dont feel like cooking then i can only assume youre a snacker. -correct me if im wrong lol- (I did the same when i worked in a restaurant)
Swap them for healthy snacks like errmmm, low fat yoghurts, carrots, celery, just anything low calorie.
It will take a bit of research into different foods and what they have

But you do have to give something to get something.

Would you rather be extra tired from working out after work or be overweight still?
Would you rather have lower calorie snacks or be overweight still?
Would you rather put more effort into your husband out of love, or find yourself trailing behind whilst he gets results?

I hope ive jot said anything to upset you, i appreciate its a sensitive topic.
And by no means am i saying " sod your husband"
You can still offer support and encouragement, without having to log everything for him!

88olds

You don’t have to exercise to lose weight. Sounds like you get enough activity at work. Look at your intake. Start a food diary. Do some research. You practically work in a test lab.

Look at a plate of enchiladas. Ground beef. Crunch the numbers. Swap the ground beef for chicken. Crunch the numbers. Steak. Now crunch the numbers for a plate of chicken fajitas. That should be pretty instructive.

Try to plan to do your cooking on your days off. Try to get things that are unhelpful to your plan out of the house. Try to plan your menu around food you actually like.

When you’re ready, calculate a modest calorie deficit and try to hit your number. Give yourself plenty of time to learn the program. There’s a significant calorie counting learning curve. Keep your food diary no matter what. Over your number? Even wildly over? Log everything all the time. Never quit. Losing a significant amount of weight takes time and a lot of persistence. Good luck.

melaniedscott

You're active, that means you need to focus on what you eat and how much. Mexican restaurant food is calorie bomb material. If you eat at work, be really cautious. Adding exercise would be good, but, well, sometimes it isn't practical--do you stay active on your days off?

As for your husband-that's rough. I used to work for a state prison system--generally, the philosophy (and I'm told this is consistent for most Correctional agencies, whether county, state or Federal in the States) is that they feed male inmates about a 2800-3000 daily calorie diet. Which is really high. And frequently processed, refined, etc. They figure well fed inmates are less likely to become restive--most of the prison riots of the past 40-50 years in the US were at least partly related to food, changes in meals, schedules etc. Sad but true. And the 'canteen' foods available for purchase add to the calories and are never particularly healthy (chips, ramen, candy, etc)

At 5'8", he needs to be selective in what he eats and take the opportunity to use the exercise facilities available.

Good luck!!

csplatt

Wow! Very tough, so sorry. If I were you, I would make my day off a day for cooking and food prep. I would bake sweet potatoes, boil green beans, make a few 4 oz burger patties, slice fruit, buy yogurts and avocados, sautée chicken breasts, etc. Then I would section it out into tupperwares so for the next several days I have food ready and calories already counted. Hugs!