Living with an unhealthy eater

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So, I have been trying to change my lifestyle for the past 4 months now and it seems nearly impossible. I work in an office for 8 hours a day (which the only physical activity I get at work is walking to and from the printer... pathetic, I know) I bring healthy lunches, and eat a healthy breakfast every morning, but when I get home there's a box of Krispy Kreme donuts sitting on the counter that my boyfriend decided to pick up. Every weekend he's wanting to order pizza or stop by the burger joint that's next to our house, so we don't have to cook. It is the MOST difficult thing ever to try and resist the pizza and the treats when its in the house! I've been trying to motivate him so that we can do this together, (he could stand to lose a few pounds too) but it always seems to back fire! Are there any suggestions on what I should do, or what I can change?! I know the obvious choice is to resist the goodies, but it drives me insane trying to do this on my own without any support!

P.S.- Ive gained 25 pounds in the past 6 months- at this rate, I'm rapidly moving towards obesity! HELP!

Also, my profile picture is definitely not recent. Its my motivation picture. That was me at 120lbs
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Replies

  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
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    You've got three options.

    1. Break up
    2. Portion control and make these things fit
    3. Don't eat it
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I have seen this topic posted dozens of times, and honestly the best advice I've seen is

    1. Do NOT expect your partner to change their habits just because you're changing yours. Sure it is possible. But it is not likely to work unless it is their idea and they really want to change, too.

    2. Get used to the idea of buying and eating separate foods much of the time.

    You will probably get a lot of responses saying "It's up to YOU to resist the junk!" That's true. But I think it can get much easier when you get away from the thinking that your partner is somehow sabotaging you or that it's not FAIR for them to eat junk while you "have to" eat healthy. Look at it as your nutritional habits differing from theirs.

    Also, you can still enjoy the occasional treat or even fast food together. Just change the way you view it and the way you behave. You're in control of you, and your partner is in control of himself. The two do not have to be connected.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    What's stopping you from eating smaller portions of these foods and/or enjoying them occasionally?

    Just because it's in the house doesn't mean you have to eat it or that you have to eat all of it.
  • liittlesparrow
    liittlesparrow Posts: 209 Member
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    Refuse to go out with him to get crap food.
    Sit him down and explain to him why this is so important to you.
    Cook yourself some healthy food while he eats his pizza, or hell, go for a run WHILE he eats his pizza.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Well, you can either control what you put in your body, or you can keep blaming other people.

    The choice is yours.

    Note: even if you break up with the guy, you will simply put weight back on at some later point unless you change your locus of control to yourself and stop thinking what you eat is caused by your environment.

    Your own decisions are the cause of your weight gain. No one else is the cause. The donuts are not the cause. Your boyfriend is not the cause. You are the cause.
  • mrsvalealvarado
    mrsvalealvarado Posts: 8 Member
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    I totally understand my husband eats like a child sometimes...Lol he likes to munch on things and to make it worse he likes the foods that I try to stay away from like chips,donuts,pizza,soda.....I admit it is hard and sometimes I want to smack him for bringing it into the house...but I use that as a test for my self control and i try avoid those foods as much as possible
  • moeisreal
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    The easiest option is to break up. I had a similar situation living with my family. But of course if you love him, you cant do that. Think of it as practicing self-control, it'll help you with a lot more than weight loss. Self-control is a great virtue in life. Change your mindset :)
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
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    I have a husband and 4 kids. All of them love pizza, burgers and icecream. As do I. You can have those things in moderation or everyday if it fits into your calories. My husband and kids are at healthy weights, so I don't expect them to live like me. It's called will power. Many times I loved to blame others, "you shouldn't have bought that, now I have to eat it." Wrong! No one force fed me. You'll just have to keep other healthy substitutes of food in the house. He has a donut, you have strawberries and whipped cream. He gets a burger, you get a turkey burger wrapped in lettuce. Good Luck!
  • KateK8LoseW8
    KateK8LoseW8 Posts: 824 Member
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    My boyfriend is not a healthy eater. His food is separate from my food. I eat my food, and he eats his food. You can't force him to change, but you can change yourself. There's always going to be temptation around every corner, you just have to learn to flex that little muscle called willpower.
  • clambert1273
    clambert1273 Posts: 840 Member
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    My husband eats like pure crap... I draw the line to the point if he wants it then HE has to go to the store and get it. I refuse.

    He can eat what he wants and I don't care - I eat mine and he eats his. He DOES support me and is proud. The most I can hope is he will want to change himself but if not then that is his problem lol I am doing this for ME! :)
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    Sit him down and explain to him why this is so important to you.

    This, and plan meals ahead so you have something healthy and tasty in that you can get on the table quickly. The urge passes as soon as you are eating and it's the health benefits of lower fat and salt that he needs to take on board with you too. Challenge him to a week without junk and see how it goes.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    I live with a 17 year old teenager! I HAVE to expect there to be high calorie foods galore available. I choose not to eat them. If I do have something, I log it.

    Bottom line: The only person you can control is you. Choose not to eat the food he brings home, if it doesn't fit your macros. Make sure you are getting plenty of protein (I have found this is critical to avoid binges) and I've also cut way back on the alcohol. Because it increased the likelihood of my binging.

    You got this!! (>‿◠)✌
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
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    Well, you can either control what you put in your body, or you can keep blaming other people.

    The choice is yours.

    Note: even if you break up with the guy, you will simply put weight back on at some later point unless you change your locus of control to yourself and stop thinking what you eat is caused by your environment.

    Your own decisions are the cause of your weight gain. No one else is the cause. The donuts are not the cause. Your boyfriend is not the cause. You are the cause.

    ^this!!
  • teamnevergoingback
    teamnevergoingback Posts: 368 Member
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    Oh I've been there. I decided to learn how to cook and we RARELY eat out because I'm constantly providing and preparing us with healthy and good food. It DOES take time and prep though! I know our lives get super busy with work and school, etc, so it took me a while to get the hang of it. I started with simple recipes and meal planning. I would plan our meals our for 5-6 days in advanced and then prep the food as much as I can, such as precutting the veggies, cooking the meat beforehand, and the most helpful of all was crock pot recipes. Skinnytaste.com has a bunch of EASY, HEALTHY and TASTY meals he won't even know that you're slowing turning him into a healthy eater as well! Also, for my boyfriends unhealthy snacks ( I did not make him give anything up, he has to make his own choice) I try to buy things he loves, but that I do not like very much that way I'm less likely to want it... and we put it on the top shelf, out of my view. I'll always make some room for pizza and burgers though because I am a real person! So if you know you normally go crazy on the weekends, make Monday-Friday hardcore dedication days and plan to eat a cheeseburger ahead of time. You can make it fit.

    You can do it! :flowerforyou:
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Oh boy, here we go, another post filled with the ambiguous, meaningless "healthy food" stuff.

    Overall diets are healthy. Individual foods are not. A perfectly healthy diet can easily include pizza, burgers, and donuts. You're just making excuses.
  • redladywitch
    redladywitch Posts: 799 Member
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    My husband freaking loves Costco Cheesecake. Seriously, we buy it every month. He can eat the whole thing in about a week. He cracks me up! He also eats ice cream every day. That's what he does along with chips, etc.

    I am responsible for what I eat. Sometimes, I will have cheesecake if it works into my calories that day.

    You're going to have to accept him for who he is. You need to take responsibility for yourself. You really need to get a grip on this. Your weight has nothing to do with him....
  • Poofy_Goodness
    Poofy_Goodness Posts: 229 Member
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    Stop making excuses. Increase self control. You can only change your own actions, no one else's.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Have you tried talking to him about not bringing certain things home that you can't resist (donuts)?

    As for the eating out thing - I have a good solution to that. Plan every single meal for the entire week. That way if you're out and about and that close to home anyway and he suggests getting burgers and fries, jyou can say something like "well, I have some chicken thawed that I was planning to make a yummy stirfry so let's just go home and have that. It only takes 15 minutes to make and will be cheaper and healther than fast food". I do this all the time at home. Hubs may want take-out but if I've got meat thawed that needs to be cooked or it might spoil, he's totally fine with waiting another day or two for pizza/chinese/thai. That way too, I've got a day or two to plan out my days well so I can make sure I have the calories for that kind of dinner.

    My Hubs has no interest in eating healthier either but I'm the cook and he's not that fussy so he eats whatever I cook. For the most part it's not that much different than what I've always cooked but I make some healthy swaps and keep portions reasonable for me. For instance, I may only be able to have calories for 1 serving of a casserole but he can have 2 or 3 servings if he's hungry enough.
  • JessAilene86
    JessAilene86 Posts: 54 Member
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    My boyfriend was the same way and I refused to give in and let him know every single time he brought something home, I wouldn't be eating it. 75 pounds down later, he see's my results and now he wants to hop on board because he realized that looking and feeling healthy are more important.

    That being said, I will eat pizza if I can fit it into my deficit. lol You don't have to omit eating the foods you like, it's all about portion control. If you know one doughnut is 300 calories and it's not going to fill you up and you will end up eating 3 or 4, don't eat them. That's the way I see it.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
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    Excuses, indeed.

    Does you boyfriend shove the food down your throat? I wouldn't think so. When I was fatter and depressed, I would tell myself I was the way I was because people eat that crap in front of me. Stop that! You are in control of YOU! And until you learn that, you can't go to parties, family dinners, vacations because you will be surrounded by food that is forced on you, right? No. It isn't your boyfriends fault or anyone elses', it's your fault and your relationship with food.