Preparing meals for non-dieting significant other

I make my husband and kiddies the same as me, only larger portion for the hubstar. When I go food shopping I buy the normal full fat versions usually mixed with some lower fat (Refuse to buy low fat cheese, mayo). With the full fat items I just weigh them and have a smaller portion :0)

We eat the same foods. He benefits from the healthier recipes and has lost a few pounds, but he generally eats what I eat, just more servings. He is not a picky eater and has benefited from my new way of eating as have I. Win/win situation for us.

I have a really hard time with this! I cook foods for my husband and two kids that I choose not to eat. Not always the case, but about half the time. I try to prepare something different for myself, but sometimes there's not time or energy left over for cooking one more thing. Knowing this, I try to keep raw veggies ready to go in a salad, or with a low cal hummus for myself. There have even been times when I just grab an apple and some almond butter at the last minute for myself!

I'm sort of an improvisational cook, and so sometimes I don't have a clue what the calorie content in the food I make really is. Who has time for all that calculating and measuring out servings and doing the long division? People who like to eat cold food I guess.

My SO is a picky eater so it can be a little difficult. The only meat he really likes is chicken or ground beef and I like a lot of variety. So If I'm making a chicken or ground beef dish, we'll have the same thing. If not I'll either make him something else or if I'm too tired will ask if he minds cooking for himself.

The worst is when he's in the mood for pizza, which is far too often for my liking and it can be a real struggle because the place we get it from, we have to order 2 pizzas or they wont deliver and I very very rarely want to fit pizza into my day. It's very hard to stop at just a few slices and you still have it left over the next day (I don't want pizza twice in a row! hard enough the first time)

As for groceries, I don't mind buying him the stuff he wants. He has white bread and chocolates and crisps for lunch and I buy them. I don't buy particular brands of crisps because I'm not sure if I can be trusted with them (I've been known to eat packet after packet of certain types). I work from home so they would always be there tempting me so I figure its easier to buy the stuff I don't have an issue with. The chocolate I'm not really fussed about. If I really want some chocolate I will usually chop off 1/3 of a bar and have that, quite easy to fit into my day and I enjoy it.

Overall it isn't too hard. I'm sure some people will say I should just let him cook for himself if he wont eat what I eat, but if I did that all he would ever eat is pasta and cheese and I don't want that for him.

Both of us tend to worry that our own picky eating habits are bothering the other. I worry that he is annoyed that I cook myself all the nice food and just let him eat pasta or oven food, he's worried that I'm annoyed at having to cook 2 meals. Neither is the case and we both understand we have different needs

As long as it's simple healthy eating, I don't see why you wouldn't just eat the same thing. People who aren't trying to lose weight still benefit from eating healthily. Hubby and I eat the same meals but he has some extra (healthy) snacks because his requirements are higher. If I were doing something extreme like cutting whole food groups out (not that I ever would), then perhaps I would feel it wasn't appropriate for my family.

My other half eats what I eat. I think the common misconception is that healthy meals have to taste healthy - but they don't. I make chillis, spag bols, burgers, curries, shepherds pie, chicken nuggets, sausage and mash, home made chips, the lot. He loves it all - I just give him a bigger portion.

My girl was gaining a few pounds

So last time we went out for dinner I said to the waiter

" No chips for the UNIT beside me, fish and steamed veg is all she is getting"

She'll thank me in the long run

:drinker: What a true gentleman you are *tear* :flowerforyou:


I did a little snort at "unit"

Lol, I'd love to do it some day, just to see the look on her face(shes the one beside me and is one of those people that WE all hate, eats, never puts on weight)

I had this problem when my brother-in-law and sister-in-law lived with us. He was a chef in the Army, and cooked some rich foods for all of us. All I did was eat a little of it, and filled up on fruits and veggies the rest of the day. Personally, I have always cooked the same thing for everybody, as a general rule. There may be once in a while when I make seperate things, but it's not a big issue. What gets me baffled is when people make different things for their kids and then different things for adults. I don't think that's right. But, you do what fits your family.

My husband eats what I eat just slightly more of it. Because I weigh everything, I have quite a small portion and I also buy my own low fat cheese. So say we have pasta bolognese, we each have the same amount of bolognese cause its healthy and full of veg but he will have more pasta and his own cheese on top. It works just fine. He even lost weight doing that with me and feels happy.

I am part of a family of 4, and I do the shopping. At the start of each week I ask each family member to choose a meal they would like me to cook that week (my 2 yo ALWAYS wants sausages lol!) And I cook those 3 meals, and eat them, just smaller portions than we would have had once upon a time. The rest of the week we eat meals that I have chosen, and no one complains. My daughter can't have dairy, so every meal I cook is always suitable for her, so we don't have pizza unless I make it, lasagne unless I make it with sustitutes for dairy.
So I guess what I am saying is, we eat together the same meal as each other. No seperate meals for us, and we are all happy.