husband help

Claudia007

My husband is supportive of me and my weight loss journey. But I find that he does things that I fear are hindering/affecting our children. My daughter, his step-daughter, is VERY athletic. She loves the out doors, loves being active, loves being and playing sports, and is at a heathly weight. His son, my step son, prefers playing video games and watching TV to playing out doors. He is not very athletic, nor very coordinated. He is also over weight. My husband was brought up in a strict home where "you must finish EVERYTHING on your plate" was the rule. There was a tough do not waste ANYTHING mentality in his household, which, ofcourse, has transferred into adulthood. I appreciate how "thrifty" my husband is on most things, somethings I have to say are just rediculous, but I won't get into those. But it bothers me that he makes our childrend eat everything off their plates. I've tried to talk to him about this, but he doesn't get it. All he sees are dollar signs flying out the window should my daughter not finish her dinner. Now, of course, we do not load her plate up. we give her small portions, and should she want 2nds, she can have them. But there are times (like yesterday) when there are only 2 bites left and he tells her she must finish it. Now, what's right in this scenario? I agree that we shouldn't be wasting food. But I also disagree on telling the kids that they must finish everything on their plate. How do we find a happy medium? He thinks that because some days she finishes everyting on her plate AND asks for seconds that should be the norm, but he doesn't understand that some days she's hungrier than others. How do I make him understand that this could affect them later on? I don't understand how he doesn't see how that has affect him and his son as they are both over weight. HELP!

Panda86

Save the food that she doesn't eat, and have her eat it for lunch the next day? Then its not really wasting, and its actually making is stretch further, and that might make your thrifty hubby happy I've been in similar situations with my husband, but they are grown men, and they will make their own decisions. My advice is to respect his views and ideas, and then live a healthy example, and it will probably rub off- albeit slowly

shanolap

That's a tough one! How about letting the kids serve themselves, with the instructions to only take what they know they can finish and if they are still hungry that it's ok to have seconds?

Goood luck!

marisol7649

I hate to waste food. Now we all eat out of the salad plates and I serve smaller portions. When we have company over they look at me weird. But once I tell them the food appears to me more in smaller plates and if they want 2nd it still wont be too much.
Good Luck

sweetheart03622

Buy smaller plates... we did that when my younger brother was getting a little heavy (he was 11 at the time, 13 more) and it worked like a DREAM! First, it's a mental thing, so your step-son will take less and still feel just as satisfied. Second, there won't be as much on the plate, so they're less likely to waste it.

I like the idea of saving it and using it for lunch the next day. What about having dad pick off the leftovers from the kids instead of getting a plate of seconds? Or you can do it, take smaller portions to begin with and then just plan on eating what the kids don't. If they don't finish, then grab yourself a bit more. No wasting, no fighting

As for your step-son, my brother is the same way. We started by sending him on errands on his bike (grocery store is about a 20 minute ride away), and we started taking him to the gym with us. Even if he's not fully into it, he goes and does something. And whenever i join them (I no longer live at home) I make it a point to do something with him and show him some new exercises so he has more options.