Cooking for yourself and someone who isn't dieting

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SenoraMacias
SenoraMacias Posts: 305 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey ya'll. Just curious if any of you find this challenging. My fiance is not on a diet, nor does he need to be. Do any of you find it difficult to cook a meal that sticks to your weight loss goals but satisfies the other person as well? He is awesome and will eat anything I put in front of him without complaint, but I feel bad if I don't make more than a salad!
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  • nickscutie
    nickscutie Posts: 303 Member
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    make him the same meal but give him more of it than you give yourself, If I am making a salad or something with no meat I will add a chicken sausage or some other meat to his dinner.
  • BeLightYear
    BeLightYear Posts: 1,450 Member
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    make him the same meal but give him more of it than you give yourself, If I am making a salad or something with no meat I will add a chicken sausage or some other meat to his dinner.

    Exactly!
  • osucristina
    osucristina Posts: 197
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    My boyfriend thinks "healthy" is a baked meat, potatoes, a side of mixed veggies or green beans and mac n cheese lol. Or a grilled chicken salad. I don't compromise my food unless we are at a restaurant. I totally got lucky too that he will eat what I put in front if him. I've made all kinds of things "cajun chicken pasta" with ww pasta, tacos with ground turkey, whole wheat waffles with yogurt, shish kabobs, I find it pretty easy to feed us both!
  • babydull
    babydull Posts: 727 Member
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    I'm in the same situation. With my fiance I make sure he's got snacks and decent breakfast and lunch. Then I supplement his dinner, last night he cooked himself some high cal food to go along with what I was making us both.
  • Kimmer2011
    Kimmer2011 Posts: 569 Member
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    When cooking for my whole family, I try to make healthy stuff that they like, and I watch my portions very carefully. Once in a while we'll have a splurge, but on the whole I've found that they enjoy (most of) the same healthy things I like, too. Sometimes I'll cook different things, like pork chops for my husband & chicken or shrimp for the rest of us. It's been working fairly well so far.
  • Chrissy2627
    Chrissy2627 Posts: 70
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    I cook things that are somewhat filling but still healthy (grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, etc). I usually give my husband the larger portions and if he is still hungry afterwards then I encourage him to snack on something healthy. He probably could drop a few pounds, however, hasn't decided to join me with my weight loss goals at this time. That doesn't mean that I can't encourage him to eat healthier foods though! Sometimes I will make him something extra, or slightly different than what I am having, but this was done prior to my eating healthy, mostly because I am a very picky eater and he gets bored with my selections.
  • Drunkadelic
    Drunkadelic Posts: 948 Member
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    Mine normally just eats a bigger portion of what I do. Everything I cook is still really good, I just have to watch my own portions. He'll also eat my "lighter" deserts and lightened up recipes without complaint.
  • Heatherbledsoe
    Heatherbledsoe Posts: 106 Member
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    My husband isnt dieting, I am, have about 45 pouns more i want off. He loves veggies/fruits/ lean stuff already, he eats anything pretty much, i just give him what i make for myself if he is home for it, only i give him like double or triple what I eat..he has a wicked metabolism, freaking stick, its so unfair!
    Plus I dont buy soda, i havent for like 2 years, he is mad about that but drinks it out of the house.
  • flyinmomof3
    flyinmomof3 Posts: 44 Member
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    Yes, this has been an ongoing issue in my house. My husband loves healthy food, so that is good. But for the most part I try to make a meat, starch, veggie for the plate, then put some fruit in the middle of the table for after. I usually take the meat and slice it and throw it on top of a salad with all the other veggies. When we have something like spagetti, I just have a smaller portion of the spagetti and we always have salad with it so that's easy.

    I'm not sure if you have problems with lunches, but I buy Nature's Own whole wheat bread. it's not too healthy tasting so my husband and kids like it. The best part is that it only has 50 calories per slice!

    Besides those tips, I just have a smaller portion than my husband, I'm smaller right, so I don't need as much...seems to work.
  • TNAJackson
    TNAJackson Posts: 686 Member
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    I'm in the same situation, except my husband is incredibly picky. No way for me to diet without making more than one meal, especially since I'm cooking for my kids as well. It sucks, but I guess that's the price I pay for being a wife and mommy.

    The only thing I can suggest is to make a lot of protein (like chicken, steak, etc) on the grill and refrigerate it so you can heat up leftovers the next day. Add that to a salad and you've got dinner. Sorry, I know I'm not much help.
  • Kat0310
    Kat0310 Posts: 341
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    I've found that I have to prepare my husband and son's dinner separate from my own. They certainly don't want to eat baked chicken, tuna, veggies, etc. all the time like I do. It takes some getting used to having to do that but it works for me and my household...
  • abalicious
    abalicious Posts: 361 Member
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    Usually we cook separate things, or else I will eat a smaller portion. My (ex) boyfriend never ate healthy and would refuse to sub his whole milk for my skim, or his white bread for my wheat bread. You're lucky he eats what you make! I agree with everyone else, just cook some extra sides for him
  • GingerDarlene
    GingerDarlene Posts: 164
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    I don't; I guess I am just mean; my husband is slim muscular, he doesnt care what I cook as long as he doesnt have to. He will make a comment here and there, if it's too healthy.
  • briabner
    briabner Posts: 427 Member
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    Wha I do is that I try just to do a side salad or have a salad for dinner only a couple times or less a week. Most of the time I try to eat salads during lunch and then it doesnt matter. But also just stick with lean meats and lots of veggies. For example, I will cook chicken breast with lots of herbs as seasoning and then make brocolli-my husband loves putting cheese all over his brocolli and I choose not to. There are simple things that you can do so that your finance is just eating healthier options and not dieting like you are.
  • FabOma08
    FabOma08 Posts: 500
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    Since I don't consider myself "dieting" this really isn't an issue. I still make the foods we both love, I've just found healthier ways to make them! And if it's just not realistic to make it healthier....I cut my portions. This is my way of making lifestyle changes I can live with for life instead of "being on a diet"!
  • SenoraMacias
    SenoraMacias Posts: 305 Member
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    I try to make healthy versions of typically unhealthy food. Vegetarian lasagna is one of his favorites. I make turkey or vegetarian chili, and sub heathlier ingredients everywhere I can. Thanks for the tips!
  • KanCrav
    KanCrav Posts: 439 Member
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    I have custody of my 17 year old brother and I have to cook for him and my husband. So that is NOT an easy task when I want to eat "diet" food and I have two guys looking at me like they havent eaten in years!~!~!

    So what I do is give them more meat than I will be eating and I usually make them a carb. I try not to eat carbs at dinner because I usually have them with breakfast and lunch. So I make rice or mashed potatos, stuff like that and they are usually satisfied with that and whatever veggies we are having. If I ever feel like I might run short on food for the night I make it a point to "make" them eat a salad before dinner. These guys will eat til their eyes pop out so I gotta make sure they are eating healthy as well.
  • Serenitytoo
    Serenitytoo Posts: 449 Member
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    I let my ex cook his own food... he was way to picky and wouldn't eat most of what I would cook (He actually liked perogies nuked in the microwave, prefered them all chewy and dried out :noway: ) If I made macaroni from scratch (a recipe of my moms that would feed a family of 4) I would eat a quarter of it and he would eat the rest... so much for lunch the next day :laugh: :laugh:

    On the whole though I agree with everyone else, just give him bigger portions.
  • SashaSpells
    SashaSpells Posts: 86
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    I'll make half of a dish adjusted "healthy" and half "normal"

    If I'm making something like sheppherds pie I'll fill half of the cassarole dish with plain (no butter or cheese or sour cream) potatoes and fill the other half with potatoes stuffed with butter and cheese and sour cream (like he likes it) that way we both can be happy =) I made him a boxed pasta dinner thing the other day and stole some of the chicken, cooked myself a side of whole wheat pasta (I had plain) and some steamed veggies. It's a little more work to do it this way, but it's not two complete seperate meals, and for us it's worked out great =)
  • lindainlv
    lindainlv Posts: 11 Member
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    My husband does not need to loose weight. Sometimes I make something higher in calories, divide it in individual portions & put it in the freezer. He will eat anything. However, if I feel that what I am fixing for myself is not enough for him, I will pull out a portion of the entree that I froze and supplement or substitute his meal. Since it is already in individual portions, I am not tempted to eat any.

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