How can I convince my girlfriend to eat healthier foods?

My husband is the very same way! I am trying to lose weight after having 2 kids, and he is not a big supporter:( He is very tall and so he will gain a few pounds here or there but then he just quits drinking pop for a week and then it is all gone.

I am more worried about his health though. He is not 30 years old and has already had choloesterol (SP?) proplems. If it goes up any more the doctor will put him on meds. He still eats bacon on everything and does not excersice. He believes that he is thin so he is just fine.

It's a battle, but I am willing to make it a battle because I love him and want him to be around for our kids. I have found "healthier" options of things he likes and I try to make them more often. I still know that if I make a healthy meal that he doesn't like he still will run out to get some fast food without my knowing.

Sorry to vent, but I completly know what you are going through.

The best way to get her to eat healthy is to eat healthy yourself. She complains about it b/c when she sees you doing it deep down it makes her a bit insecure b/c she knows what she eats probably isn't healthy. Just keep eating consistently healthy and eventually she'll want to join you.

my only thought is to try making homemade versions of what she normally eats i.e homemade burgers with sweet potato wedges
and hope she finds them tastier!
good luck

this and cook for her once a week for a start healthy of course! :bigsmile:

I would agree with this, ask her to try, once a week, something you cook at home. Start small...I am sure she will see how much better it tastes and eventually you can cook more and maybe even involve her in the cooking process for something that she is excited to try....

I doubt you'll be able t convince her, not in a major way anyway. Show her what a huge deal eating healthy is to you, keep doing what you are doing and you'll find that every now n again you two will have one of your meals together. And slowly she will probably eat more healthy stuff. That way it won't seem like a big change to her, slow lifestyle adjustment that comes with living with a healthy partner. Although be careful it doesn't go the other way, and that it is you who adjusts back to unhealthy eating.

Otherwise my other options were oral or dump her.

Naturally skinny people can often be very uneducated about food and nutrition in general, because they've never NEEDED to worry about it.

:raises hand sheepishly: Guilty.

When I was younger (in my teens and 20s), my metabolism was so high that I tried for a loooong time to put on weight, but couldn't. Then, in right around 30, my metabolism started slowing down. I put on a little weight here, a little weight there, until next thing I knew - I was 5'8" tall and 196 lb with high cholesterol and borderline high blood pressure. Unfortunately, the weigh wasn't muscle - rather, it was almost all like a tire around my gut. Long story short, my lack of exercise and not paying attention to what I was eating ended up biting me in my proverbial butt. Now - after making some necessary changes (especially knowing the history of high blood pressure in my family) - I'm down to 156lb, which is a pretty good weight for me. And my numbers (BP, cholesterol, and the others that were OK to begin with) are all within "normal" ranges. I still have a little lower belly fat that I'm working on - or is that off? - but I can live with it, knowing that I'm healthy otherwise.

Ultimately, for me, it came down to "wanting it." I followed pro-wrestler (I know, I know...) Lance Storm's advice on dieting. 6 days out of the week, I was strict. The seventh day, I ate almost whatever I wanted - within reason. The point? I wasn't cutting out any of my favorite foods, so I wasn't craving them - at least, not as much as I would had I told myself that I "couldn't" eat those things. No - it gave me something to look forward to, during times of weakness throughout the week. I could tell myself, "I won't have ice cream now - I'll have a small bowl Saturday." And it wasn't a problem. Sometimes, on Saturday, when I could eat "whatever," I wasn't really in the mood for whatever it was I was craving. So I ate - not "strictly" - but better. It wasn't easy, as my wife doesn't eat like I do, similar to the OP it seems. Fortunately, she's respectful of my choices and sometimes eats the healthier foods I/we buy. The hard part comes when she doesn't think about what she's making (when she's making dinner) and puts the extra stuff (tons of butter and salt and other saucy type stuff, etc.) on the food before separating her food from mine. Sometimes, I suck it up and just know I have to be good later, sometimes I end up making dinner myself.

I'm sure there's other people here that have cases similar to mine. Some have probably reached their goals, some are probably close, and some are probably just starting out their journeys. The point I'm trying to make is simply this: like others have mentioned - it's ultimately your girlfriend's choice. But, maybe you could use my story (and any others) to - GENTLY - help her understand that there will likely come a time where her choice in diet will likely catch up to her, in one way or another. Again - as others have mentioned - you'll probably have to do most of your own shopping/cooking, but maybe start out slowly and get her to eat healthier once or twice a week - kinda the reverse of what Lance and I did above. Homemade versions of her favorites (and yours!) are great starting points. Also, find which frozen/quick meals she eats and make up a large batch on the weekend - portion and freeze them - so she (and you, if time is an issue, since they will be healthy foods) can simply reheat them during the week, so it's not a big change. Then, maybe she'll see some positive changes and be more open to future changes. No guarantees, but it shouldn't hurt to try!

Yes, this will take quite a bit of work on your part. But, if you truly care about her - and it sounds like you do - it's worth it, no?

Sorry for the FRAT, but I thought my story was relevant to this issue. In any case, good luck on *your* journey to healthier living, and I hope you're able to work something out with your girlfriend, even if it's a slow process.

You can't. Make it clear you want to eat healthier and that you'll do your own shopping and she can do her own shopping.

The best way to get her to eat healthy is to eat healthy yourself. She complains about it b/c when she sees you doing it deep down it makes her a bit insecure b/c she knows what she eats probably isn't healthy. Just keep eating consistently healthy and eventually she'll want to join you.

You may have to be careful what you say. She may just think you're calling her fat. LOL. Use a lot of the word "we". If I don't get a "we" or "us", I get mad and feel like it's a blame game. But it defenitely comes from insecurity.

How can I convince my girlfriend to eat healthier foods?

You can't. Buy and cook your own food.