Wives of the meat & potato lover! Help!

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MrsLeonard2016
MrsLeonard2016 Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My future hubby decided be wants to try and be healthier. While I am very excited to bring him to the dark side of healthy eating I know it will be a challenge. I am looking for advice from any seasoned wives on this topic and husbands that went healthy with their wives! What hearty recipes does a picky guy like most? How do I convince him to do a few pushups/situps with me before dinner? Any tips on helping the man be healthier without being condescending would rock!
Thanks in advance, and feel free to add me :)
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Replies

  • dancindoc508
    dancindoc508 Posts: 41 Member
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    Oh I am interested in this thread too! My fiancée is so great but he doesn't eat ANY vegetables yet he wants to get healthier! He's very good about working out with me if I ask him too. He goes with me to Body Pump and he'll run with me... But his main problem is nutrition. He is such a picky eater and doesn't eat any vegetables at all. I can't cook the same meals I make for myself so he eats take out or fast food. I try to cook for him but I can't live off of plain grilled chicken, chicken strips, potatoes and Mac and cheese, or cheese burgers with bacon. This is all he eats.. Oh and sandwiches. What do other women do?
  • MrsLeonard2016
    MrsLeonard2016 Posts: 50 Member
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    @dancindoc508
    I feel your pain! Mine won't run with me but he will hike with me a lot. But he doesn't want to eat anything but pizza and junk! I have a few healthy recipes he will eat but feel like I need more help on what to do and how to do it lol
  • crys_todd
    crys_todd Posts: 41 Member
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    I struggle with this all the time. My husband says he wants eat healthier but is really a meat and potato lover. He only has a handful of veggies he will eat by themselves but I've found he will eat almost anything if I can incorporate it in a recipe.
    I often lighten up familiar to him recipes.
    Lasagna is a favorite. I use turkey Italian sausage and a homemade low sodium marina. Add spinach, zucchini, shredded carrots for sweetness.
    Steak quesadillas were another favorite so I cut the amount of steak by 2/3 and add peppers, onions, mushrooms inside. Cut out the sour cream and use Greek yogurt and homemade salsa.
    That's generally what I do to lighten most recipes. Use lean meats and cut the amount in half and then bulk up the dish with extra beans and veggies. Same with cheese.

    Skinnytaste.com has lots of tasty light recipes.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited March 2016
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    The only veggies my husband eats are iceberg lettuce, mashed potatoes, french fries, and once in a great while he'll eat a baked potato or carrot stick. His fruits are spaghetti and pizza sauce and ketchup.

    We don't eat casseroles. Our food is extremely simple. Dinner is usually meat, a "starchy" side like mashed potatoes or rice, raw veggies and/or fruit, and sometimes a cooked veggie. He eats the meat, starch, and sometimes a bowl of lettuce with croutons on it. We have spaghetti and pizza once a week each. That's pretty much it.

    As for exercising, can't help you there. My husband exercises when he wants to and doesn't when he doesn't want to. I don't really try to convince him either way.
  • haviegirl
    haviegirl Posts: 230 Member
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    I agree with Kriss_tastic. When I started exercising and logging all my food, my husband got interested and started asking questions. Then he started exercising and logging his food, too.

    Since December 21st, he's lost about 18 pounds (not exactly sure what his starting weight was) and I've lost over 20. We're taking loads of too large clothing to Goodwill these days...

    I am focused on my program, and he is doing his. Same for you--focus on you, the only person you can change.
  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
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    I prefer sweet potatoes to regular, and they're healthier. There's nothing wrong with meat in moderation. If he's not a veggie eater I'd start the same way you would with a kid: "popular" ones like corn, potatoes, and beans (in chili!) first, then move in to more challenging things like sprouts, broccoli, and (if you can stand it) kale. I don't eat all the vegetables I should but after a few tries you'll both learn what you like.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day

    Teach him how to use the Internet and point him in the direction of healthy recipes and he will do his share of cooking and be an equal partner rather than a pet

    Happily married for 16 years ...be equal partners in your lives not kitchen aids
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Also, if your partner is the type who uses every pot and pan in the house...if he cooks, he cleans up too
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    He eats whatever I make. If he doesn't like that, he's on his own. :)
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    Try just changing one thing on the table at a time, and always present a well-balanced menu, even if he doesn't eat it.
    Add a cooked vegetable and a green salad, every meal. He may not eat them at first, but if it's there, he'll probably start. Use logistics: Men like logistics. "Fresh green beans were on sale this week. See what you think? If you don't like them, I won't buy them again."
    I also started switching out one thing with a healthier option at a time. Sweet potatoes or brown rice or quinoa for potatoes and pasta. Baked chicken breaded with whole-wheat bread crumbs instead of fried chicken, etc. Once my partner saw that 'healthy eating' didn't have to mean bland boring eating, he was onboard. :)
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    Oh, my other trick- cook smaller portions of the meat or pasta, so that if he's still hungry he has to fill up on the veg and salad. (I do that to myself, actually....)
  • HStheBusyBee
    HStheBusyBee Posts: 1,366 Member
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    My fiancé is exactly the same! Some of the meals I make are:

    Cauliflower pizza with bbq chicken topping
    Low carb burrito bowls
    Baked turkey meatballs with linguine
    Chicken teriyaki with brown rice noodles
    Baked chicken breast with roasted sweet potato and broccoli
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Meat and potatoes with a side salad. Hubby is actively picking the Wendy's salad instead of the fries now. I typically have a salad prepared and ready to go in the fridge.

    Our Saturday morning breakfast (my favourite meal of the week) used to be pancakes with bacon. Now it's pancakes (sometimes whole wheat, sometimes protein, sometimes crepes), with Greek yogurt/cottage cheese and fruit.

    We slowly morphed our eating habits and now he's starting to cut back on portions.

    BTW, I ended up with the cooking and dinner dishes in our year-long negotiation of household chores. He ended up with nearly everything else.

    We like different sorts of exercise. Hubby noticed I like to do things where I end up filthy dirty. He prefers the clean sleek lines of the gym with a hot soapy shower afterwards. So sometimes we do things together, and if it's muddy, I'm doing it myself.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
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    haviegirl wrote: »
    I agree with Kriss_tastic. When I started exercising and logging all my food, my husband got interested and started asking questions. Then he started exercising and logging his food, too.

    Since December 21st, he's lost about 18 pounds (not exactly sure what his starting weight was) and I've lost over 20. We're taking loads of too large clothing to Goodwill these days...

    I am focused on my program, and he is doing his. Same for you--focus on you, the only person you can change.

    Same thing happened to me too. It helps that I do most of the cooking. If he didn't like the food I prepped, he is more than welcome to do his own, but he has to do the shopping, cooking and clearing up too.
  • BZAH10
    BZAH10 Posts: 5,709 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day

    Teach him how to use the Internet and point him in the direction of healthy recipes and he will do his share of cooking and be an equal partner rather than a pet

    Happily married for 16 years ...be equal partners in your lives not kitchen aids

    Also, if your partner is the type who uses every pot and pan in the house...if he cooks, he cleans up too

    YES, to both of these posts. My husband and I do the same: we each cook for ourselves. I do enjoy cooking, so if he's craving something that he likes the way I cook it better then he buys the ingredients and I'll make it. But, he always cleans up. It's a partnership. I'm not responsible for his nutrition and he's not responsible for mine.
  • emmaprocopiou
    emmaprocopiou Posts: 246 Member
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    I'm lucky in that my husband doesn't need to get fitter or lose weight, but he is a picky eater especially with veggies and is definitely a meat and potatoes kind of man.
    However in the 12 years we've been together I have been cooking for him and he has no idea of the wealth of veggies he has been consuming in curries stews casseroles.
    The other night for example grated courgettes ( zucchini) and kidney beans in the chilli. Mushrooms and grated carrots in the bolognaise
    For the veggies he does eat , I heap them on with roast meats, I cook with less oil now in general and am slowly reducing the salt so he doesn't notice.
    Basically I treat him like the kids lol
    Cook new things get him to help , curries and things with spice are great for hiding extra veg , like kale or spinach, or squash he might even like it
    As for exercise, you can't force him but lead by example. Going out for a walk or a bike ride etc
    Most loss starts in the kitchen though
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I cook. He eats what I cook and says thank you.
    Meat and potatoes are not unhealthy. They have plenty of nutrients.
    I would try new ways of cooking meat or vegetables. Try grilling or roasting. Watch portion sizes and sauces. Have a salad with dinner.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
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    Lounmoun wrote: »
    I cook. He eats what I cook and says thank you.
    Meat and potatoes are not unhealthy. They have plenty of nutrients.
    I would try new ways of cooking meat or vegetables. Try grilling or roasting. Watch portion sizes and sauces. Have a salad with dinner.
    This. Potatoes especially have an amazing nutrient profile.

    Don't be afraid of white foods. There is nothing wrong with them.

    I love meat and potatoes.

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Hubby solemnly asked me to stop making curries. Not his thing. He still gets a teaspoon in his favourite stew.

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