Husband: biggest obstacle

I am going through the same with my Fiancee. He is not only picky but also has to have a meat, bread and two sides. Honestly he eats like a sumo wrestler. We have come to some terms.... I refuse to make two different meals, so if he doesn't want what I make, then he can make his own dinner. Most nights he just breaks down and eats what I make, but other times he is SOL and stuck with whatever he throws together. I should also mention that any extra food comes out of his wallet. I don't go for the ultra healthy for dinner around my house, I just make my portions small and do my healthy eating for breakfast and lunch when he is at work.
I loved that movie( Fat sick and nearly dead) as well. A couple of friends of mine saw it, and decided to try it. Only thing is that they both got very ill and ended up having to eat solid foods again before they cold complete the diet. I would like to try it, but having to feed 4 other people "food food" would make it so hard on me and my purse.

My husband is very picky. It has taken us awhile but I've pretty much got it figured out how to cook for the two of us. It helps that I don't have any diet restrictions so generally I cook what he likes plus one non-starchy vegetable for me, and then I just eat a smaller portion than him. I do try to make his favorites healthier wherever I can. He eats peas, corn, green beans, carrots, and potatoes as far as veggies-- anything else even resembling a vegetable is out. But I go ahead and make them for myself. I figure every relationship has challenges and if this is the biggest one for us then we're in great shape.

Don't expect others to change just because we saw the light.
Roll with it.
My wife put up with my horrible eating for years before I finally saw value in healthy living.
Lead by example as opposed to becoming a health nag.
If I can be converted, any man can.
Hallelujah :drinker:

i agree with the compromise, however in the perfect world everyone's spouse would be on board even with the eating habits. That being said it's not always true, and in the beginning what works for you may not work for your spouse. However if you are getting no resistance from him to eat healthy for yourself and he is willing to try something new than thumbs up for that as well. Two years ago when i started my journey my now ex wife was not thrilled at all. Although she was healthy I was not. So when i switched my eating habits and did a 40 day fast, there was foods I could no longer eat and you want to know what she cooked the most..... BINGO everything that I could not eat. So i ended up cooking for myself. Oh how i wish at that time she was on board we would possibly still be married but God knows best, if your hubby supports you and/or at least doesn't discourage you. keep up the good work who knows when your results starts showing you just may win him over....

I completely understand how you feel. I've found that if I don't tell my husband that something is "healthy", he eats it with no problem and even comments on how good it is. But for times when this doesn't work, I have told him that I will make ONE complete, healthy dinner and if he wants to eat it, great. If not, he can fend for himself. Nine times out of ten, he is too lazy to go out of his way to make something else (lol) and generally likes what I make. I didn't really want it to come to that but I know it's the best thing for both of us.

I lucked out and he'll try anything, except food masquerading as bacon. This seems to be some sort of a food worship situation, so I gave up trying to feed him smokey tempeh and eggs.
But I find that it's a lot of give and take. I like making naughty Paula-Deen-style food for him because he loves it and doesn't seem to be able to retain weight, and in return he plays along and eats kale. It keeps us both grounded. If I go on a super healthy kick and ignore his likes for a while, he just brings home fast food regularly. Whereas if I acknowledge what he likes and cook for him sometimes, it keeps the extremes at bay. Plus, if he gets a whole cake, there is no law saying I can't have a bite. It's a win win situation.

When I met my husband he had never had any vegetable other than canned corn, canned peas and canned green beans. His mom cooks very bland and I don't think he'd ever had fish other than fish sticks. My dad was a very adventurous cook so I grew up trying some really crazy things and lots of very good food loaded with vegetables. Since I'm the one who does all the cooking he kind of had to learn to like new things. He couldn't stand peppers and onions back then but now he loves fajitas with lots of peppers and onions. He still doesn't like mushrooms (it's a texture thing) but I leave them big enough that he can easily pick them out (and give them to me!) I LOVE vegetables so we eat a lot of them. I've got the guy drinking green smoothies and loving a big garden salad. It takes time and I have cooked plenty of food he liked but I also cooked a lot of stuff he didn't even want to try. He did eventually because he got hungry. It takes some time to change your palate but it can be done. I didn't nag him about it but I didn't cook only carb loaded meat dishes either. He'd have been happy eating nothing but steak and potatoes for the last 21 years! I love steak and potatoes too but I also love vegetables.

My husband is trying to gain weight (not to mention a picky eater) and I am trying to maintain my new size. My daughters are perfectly fine with eating my healthy dishes, but son wants copy his daddy. So I'm the mean mom who makes him eat what I make. So with kid it's worse!

My husband loves to eat out. I mean, loves it. If he doesn't eat out both weekend days he throws a fit. He'll practically starve himself if I refuse. It's not fast food, either. It is sit down restaurants with bread, etc. When I started this over a year ago he had a hard time. I've not budged on my needs and it has helped him realize his bad habit. We still eat out, but it's about compromise. Your husband needs to understand how serious you are about getting healthy. If he wants that food, he needs to make it himself.

I have a husband like that...he was raised on Southern cooking...meat and potatoes and gravy as a condiment. He would live on fast food when not eating the other stuff and I got roped in a lot. So far my only win is that we only eat out once a month as a date night and I won't calorie count on those nights. Also, I'll let him cook one meal he wants a week and I will eat it, but I will portion and calorie count. He wasn't to happy about that though....

Ahem: Honey, I love you and I know you don't like (________) but these are things I need to feel my best. When I make meals they will be made within (______) constraints most of the time. I'd really like to be able to share the new things I try with you, but if you aren't interested, I understand. But you will have to make your own meals in these cases.

Is letting your man fend for his own food that big a deal? BF and I eat separate dinner all the time. I plan out my food early on in the week and he steals elements (chicken breast, extra pasta) etc. that he wants for his own meals.

I would be questioning my relationship. No matter who cooks in our household the other eats it or fixes themselves something or not. If a partner (husband) is not supportive on a health issue what else is he selfish about. HEALTH is important. It is not like your asking him to help you give up pedicures. This sounds harsh but life is to short to spend it with someone that is so unsupportive in such an important issue.

The word sabotage comes to mind. I am assumiing he has no health issues he is addressing?

Shirley in Oregon

I understand this completely. It's not just my hubby, but my in laws as well. Don't get me wrong, I know that 100% of what goes in my mouth, IS my doing at the end of the day. But it is harder because of hubby's eating habits and the fact we don't have a lot of money to begin with. My hubby would eat out every other day if possible. It runs in his family. I can count on both hands the number of times we've sat down and eaten a homemade meal (not counting holidays) in 5 years of marriage. This attitude falls over into our house because no matter what I'm trying to cook, he feels like grabbing a burger etc is "Fast and done" and honestly, I know he craves that food. And big portions are a big thing in the family too. So it all adds to the struggle.
I just do my best, which isn't the greatest at times. However I'm hoping things are looking up because hubby has recently realized how much weight HE has gained and it's upset him and he'd like to start eating better with me.