To the people in relationships

My family eats what I cook. It's either that or they can eat cereal for dinner. LOL Seriously, when making my meal plan for each week, I keep their likes and dislikes in mind and try to cook healthy meals the entire family will enjoy. I search the internet and buy cookbooks with family-minded recipes.

I only buy one bag of chips and one other snack per week for my family to munch on. When it's gone, it's gone and they have to resort to healthy snacks. For me, knowing that I am feeding my body healthy and nutritious snacks and meals is priceless. It's all about your mindset and attitude. I can't force my husband to eat healthy, but I always encourage him to eat better. Good luck with your endeavors and I wish you the best!

My solution to picky eaters and different dietary restrictions is for everyone to cook for themselves.

I or my husband make a bit extra of our own meal for our 4 yr old, otherwise everyone makes whatever they want for meals.

I cooked a big dinner almost every single night for many years, and as they got older, I heard more and more..."ewww" and "I don't like X" and "I dont' want that, I'll have a mac & cheese instead", so I quit. Literally, told them all that I QUIT being chief cook and bottle washer. Ya'll just help yourselves!

Hubby and S21 are fine with it. S21 is actually learning to cook interesting dishes (I am more than willing to teach any of them) like Chicken Piccata and Shrimp Scampi. Hubby is on a low sugar, low carb, extremely limited cholesterol diet, so he can't have certain foods the rest of us can. And he hates most veggies...so he's on his own. He also has portion control issues, so I have to be very careful of the snacks I bring into the house.

My D14 is the only one who dislikes this meal plan. She doesn't like anything I cook, but she doesn't want to make her own and she refuses to eat anything that looks even remotely "healthy". No whole grain, low sugar, veggies, or anything else that the rest of us eat. She's been existing on boxed mac & cheese and frozen waffles (full sugar fake syrup required!) and frozen burritos. I'm refusing to buy more than 1 meal (each) per week of that junk, insisting she eat healthier stuff the rest of the time. Talking to her about preservatives, fat, diabetes, heart issues, chemicals, pesticides, etc...falls on deaf ears. She says she doesn't care about all that, as long as it tastes good. You'd think she would be overweight, but she's not. She's actually rather small for her age, probably due to her picky, finicky eating habits.

If you looked in our freezer you'd find lean beef, fish, chicken, shrimp, morningside products, Kashi meals, and a variety of single serving veggies (peas, corn, brussel sprouts, broccoli+chz, green beans). Our fridge has Milk, juice, water, eggs, nitrite free luncheon meats, cheeses, grapes, strawberries, pears, cheese sticks, cottage cheese, sauces and condiments. Pantry has an assortment of pastas, canned soups (MSG free), brown rice, baby potatoes, red onions, cereals (kashi, oatmeal), canned beans and veggies, applesauce, raisins, bananas, apples, oranges, and about a hundred different kinds of spices and seasonings (plus baking goods ie: sugar, whole wheat flour, etc.)

Boy....I babbled on, didn't I? Cooking is fun though, when you only have yourself to please

I grew up in a family with 7 children, and even though I am second oldest, you had to learn to fend for yourself. Since we almost always had 2 younger kids in diapers (no disposables, no diaper service, 1 bathroom), my mother was never much in the mood for special requests. Asking her to make something for you to eat usually resulted in a 20 min tirade about how you were lazy and demanding. So I learned to make simple meals for myself--by the time I was 7, I could at least make fried eggs, pancakes and oatmeal (along with the obvious toast and cereal).

I moved out when I was 18 and have always followed more "alternative" eating habits, which require that you do a lot of your own cooking and food prep.

So I don't have a whole lot of patience or sympathy for men who are unwilling or unable to cook for themselves, and I *especially* don't have patience for men who not only won't cook for themselves, but then place demands on those who cook for them.

My SO is so greedy, the man will eat all day long if he could! He pretty much eats whatever I cook. I usually just have the meat and veggies, skip the carb and drink water. He'll eat a piece of cake or burger right in my face and so "Oh my Bad" lol. But, it's all good.

Exactley, if you are hungry enough, you will eat it!
I'm not a short order cook!

My boyfriend is pretty much not supportive even though he is full of compliments - he's the one who says "you look great to me, why do you care so much? you are getting obsessed. Here have a bite of this, we won't tell anyone". He also discourages me working out because in the limited free time I do have, he'd rather me hang out with him and he will not go to the gym no matter how often I ask.

He has plenty of weight to lose but doesn't really care. I work longer hours than him so by the time I get home, he usually has already eaten (and often it was Domino's or McDonald's). On the weekends, I work out a lot more to get exercise calories for the meals we eat out or any desserts that end up in the house. I used to just give up and have "cheat weekends" which explains why it is taking me so long to lose weight and stay on track.

I think I am better off when I just don't talk about it to him, which is hard because I do think about it constantly. It's just another challenge to overcome and I am doing well so far.

My husband is semi-on board. Most days I cook for everyone but just measure out my portions. If I make something like mashed potatoes or rice I will make enough only for my daughters and scoop it all on their plates so there is no leftovers. My husband is like many others.....you can have just a little bit, you don't have to go to the gym you went yesterday, blah blah which will just cause a relapse on my part.

Tuesday he called and said I got Popeyes Chicken so you don't have to worry about cooking...I already knew that I only had about 400 calories left for the day and I didn't want to spend it on fried chicken. So I complained over and over about how I didn't need it and the first thing he said was you went to the gym this morning so you can have a little more....So I ate a chicken wing and rice....I poured salt all over the biscuit and other chicken and he looked at me like what the hell are you doing....I told him don't bring anymore fried chicken home or I am going to pour milk over everything. It was a bit extreme but he henders me sometimes lol

My husband does not work out with me. But he makes it so I can work out early in the morning without having to take the baby into the gym with me.

When it comes to eating. I cook and he eats it. If I cook something he just doesn't want to eat then he will fend for himself. But he usually eats it.

My hubby is very supportive of the changes I have made with meals and what not... He also has no problem with me going to the gym when he gets home from work... that means he is by himself with our two little rugrats He even stopped buying coke for him to take in his lunch to work because I have struggled with giving them up... He didn't want a 12 pack of temptation sitting in our fridge... That was a HUGE help to me...
He does however snack.... A LOT!! I make us smaller portions and "lighter" meals... He will eat what I fix, but in an hour or so, he is rummaging in the cupboards to find something to snack on... He eats a lot of cereal :laugh:
Anyway, thankfully, he has been supportive of me... He just likes to EAT :happy:

My boyfriend doesn't keep any food in his house. He eats out on a regular basis and stays slim. We have a long distance relationship, so when I go for the weekend... it's constant restaurants and temptation!!!!! Not to mention, I am away from the gym when I go to his place. THIS IS A TERRIBLE COMBINATION! Maybe that is part of the reason I make him come to visit me more than I go there!!!

Luckily for me, my very supportive husband never notices that I sneak tofu, extra veggies, etc into his meals.

He loves the fact that I'm trying to lose some weight, because I've taken to having sex with him whenever I get the urge to eat when I'm not truly hungry.
Not only does it keep me from eating out of boredom, but it does wonders for my self-esteem...and I've never heard him complain! It's been great for our marriage!

OK, now I'm REALLY jealous.

I tried the same strategy with my wife (but, honey it helps resist the urge to eat..) but I didn't get anywhere. ....

My hubby is a very picky eater, but he is very supportive of me and my lifestyle change. He has never had a weight problem and has no health problems so he can eat whatever. The only meal I fix by myself is dinner for the both of us. He is very open to trying to healthier foods so I slowly introduced them into the menus. I recently found out that I can't eat red meat because of my digestion issues, he loves steak but he compromised so that I would not have to fix two separate meals each night. We used turkey meat instead of beef and if we go out then he can have beef and I can eat healthier. When it comes to sides I decided to compromise, since he was so supportive, so I fix a side for me(usually veggies) and a separate one for him(usually some kind of potato with butter and cheese). Communication is key and if he is willing to compromise you should be ready to compromise too. You may have to have a healthy main dish and make sure he has his favorite types of food to.

As for being tempted, that just comes down to will power. Just because I can't eat certain foods does not mean he can't and he is alot happier if he gets potatoes!