Two people with large difference in caloric needs

Why are you even worrying about his calories? He's a big boy. Let him worry about it.

Me and my husband do it really easy. He gets the same meals as me. And next to it he eats what he want or need. Like snacking
I am on 1200 to 1300 So he get all the nutrition's he need from our meals
But to his meal i add the salad dressing or the melted cheese sauce, on his bake potato he takes 2 tsp of sour cream mine is a half. In the morning scrambled egg for both his has cheese mine not etc etc. When i go to the gym he eat his peanut butter crackers and nuts etc

He doesn't have to lose any weight and is a sedentary ( retired) senior so his needs are not that high.
But to make it easy on me and to support me he eats the same and just take some more what he want next to it.

Maybe you can find a way with this info? Dont know.
But i find it mighty handy that he eat the same I only change some little things in his meal to make it more calorie dense

Ideally, he needs to be close to those calories because when you do a large amount of calorie gaps for a long enough period of time, it makes weight loss more challenging on your body (i.e. your weight can stagnate, your muscle might start breaking down, progressively worse temper, etc. Those are just examples, but there are a multitude of unpleasant side effects of eating too little for too long.)

The typically recommended weight loss deficit is 20%, whether or not that is your husband's goal, he should never shoot to lose more than 2 pounds a week over the long term. If you have a minimum goal, you should stick to it. Try getting some granola clusters or nut clusters that aren't super bulky but will add calories (I love adding Kirkland Cashew Clusters from Costco for example, since they are reasonably priced, taste good, and have good nutrient ratios.)

You could try protein bars or shakes too because you can add up calories pretty quickly if you do them right (adding peanut/almond butter, fruits, veggies, and nuts to shakes and making sure they are made with 4%milk or cream if the calorie gap is that hard to bridge.)

He really should try to take more initiative in what he eats if nothing you suggest is working, but that minimum number of calories is there for a very important reason.

jtompsn wrote: »

My husband and I are both doing MFP but meal planning is really difficult. I get about 1450 calories a day but my husband gets 2450 a day. I cook dinner and make lunches while I'm making dinner. While I'm doing that I just track for both of us because it is most convenient. It's not difficult for me to get my calories each day but it is really difficult for my husband. He tells me he doesn't have to eat that much but I guess I'm in the WW mentality of "you have to eat your calories". I don't know which of us is right. At any rate, he tends to always be about 500 calories below his goal before exercising. I use full fat cheeses, mayo, yogurt and anything else I can think of to raise his calories but he is still short. I've thought about putting cookies, candy bar, etc in his lunch bag but he won't eat it because he says he can't. He's driving me nuts. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to sneak extra calories in? Or does he even need to eat those calories?

It is up to him really to decide if he wants to eat or drink more calories.
Is he hungry? Is he getting enough nutrients? Does he have enough energy, etc? Is he working out heavily?
If everything seems okay then he is probably fine not eating all of his calories.

Ps-nothing wrong, in my opinion, with you taking the lead on this. In most relationships each spouse is responsible for different areas. And while you are the lead on meal planning, I imagine he handles other responsibilities. Nothing in what you said indicates he is oblivious - actually it sounds like he is informed because he is choosing not to overeat on candy, etc. (Though candy in general: not a bad thing, just depends on how it fits overall.)

I have the same situation at home. DH and I are both tracking calories and he needs more than I do. I don't worry about his intake though, that's his problem. He's not nearly as accurate as I am and he doesn't get why I want to weigh everything out. But he's also never been obese (slightly overweight at his worst) and isn't losing the weight that he wants to, so whatever, that's on him.

Anyway, the only meal that we share is dinner. We do our own thing for breakfast and lunch (even on the weekends) and dinner we have together. So he has higher calorie meals for those two meals. Sometimes he gets bigger portions of what I'm eating for dinner than I do. Sometimes he'll add a dinner roll or extra cheese to it. But really, the majority of the time we eat exactly the same dinner. Then he fills the rest of his calories with snacking. He's a big snacker. I could probably eat the exact same meals as he does and hit my calorie goal, but I wouldn't be able to snack. He grazes constantly.

Worry about yourself, let your husband do his own thing.

So please explain how he got fat in the first place if he doesn't eat?

MissyMissy18 wrote: »

Why are you even worrying about his calories? He's a big boy. Let him worry about it.

This.

He can have a nice big bowl of ice cream, a beer, and scoop of PB! Voila, over 500 calories.

The things wives do for there husband and then complain about doing it.