How to stay on track when your SO doesn't want to eat like you.

I am having such a hard time with this. My boyfriend is wonderful and wants me to do what makes me happy, but he is very happy with his eating habits. He doesn't want to eat the things I NEED to eat to make myself better. I am having a hard time figuring out a way to approach the situation with him and how to work around his food wants. Do I just cook separate meals each night, or make my own and tell him he is own his own for meals. Has anyone else had this problem? Would love to know how you handled it.
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Replies

  • Treece68
    Treece68 Posts: 780 Member
    I guess that would depend on what he wants to eat ... but I agree with the person above eat the same but less and ad some veg or whatever else for you.
  • DanerTee
    DanerTee Posts: 263 Member
    ^^ this or you can sit down and make a plan-with him- that works for both of you. My house is a bit like yours. I will do things like have the stir fry they are eating, but omit the rice or make zucchini noodles for my spaghetti and meatballs while they have regular pasta etc.....I hate to make separate meals, and I don't feel like that is a good example for my kids. I don't want them thinking they can request anything they want!
  • StacyChrz
    StacyChrz Posts: 865 Member
    I agree with the posters above. I also try to be sure I communicate my needs to my hubby and he is really receptive. If he wants to go out to eat we'll go, but I explain that I don't have enough calories to enjoy and appetizer and a meal so I will focus on my healthy meal. He can be free to order whatever he wants.
    We also just don't keep certain foods in the house that really set me off on a bender.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
    I would either make my own food, or adapt the main meal he is having to fit how I wanted to eat.

    In my family (there are 5 of us, one is veggie, two are incredibly fussy in different ways, one is allergic to a few things, and then there is greedy old me) it was commonplace to never all eat exactly the same meal, but with some planning ahead we could eat roughly similar meals and still share the social aspect.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    My husband cooks what he wants to eat and I cook what I want to eat. If either of us wants what the other is cooking, we're welcome to it -- we just tend to prefer different things.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
    What are your boyfriend's specific eating habits?

    My OH and I eat mostly the same things but I have more veggies and he has more starch. I'll pass on the bread and the wine most times. He'll have a side salad; I'll have an entree-sized salad. I have more protein and less rice than he does.

    When we get an 8 piece pizza, he has 5 slices and I have 3 (and a big salad). He's a foot taller than me and needs more calories.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    It really depends on the two of you and your preferences and who does the cooking. If you do the cooking then make meals that fit your goal but make sure there's enough of it to satisfy him, too. Even if he were trying to lose weight with you his calorie goals would be greater. You could also make an extra side dish that is more calorie dense that only he eats or you just take very little of.

    You could make meals he likes and you just have a little bit of it plus a salad and veggies on the side.

    You could certainly make two separate meals but who wants to do that?

    I assume that lunch and breakfast you each do for yourself? You could eat lighter meals for those to leave room for the bigger dinner with him.

    There really are a lot of options and no 'right' way to handle it or even a need to handle it the same way every day.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    You can eat what he eats, just eat less. That is what i do at home.
    This. You don't need special foods and you cannot expect your man to give up his favourites just for you.....

  • johnnylondon
    johnnylondon Posts: 2 Member
    It all depends how strict I'm being. If I'm doing a spell of 5:2 then we'll eat different meals. If I'm trying to maintain then I'll portion the same meal out differently.
    It can be a real struggle! We've been together for 6 years and I'd put on 20kg! I just had to realise that we can't eat in the same way as each other because we're just built differently.
  • courtneyallisonatx
    courtneyallisonatx Posts: 133 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    How exactly do you eat? Part of the problem is often people think that because they're on a diet everything has to be bland and boring...I make all kinds of deliciousness using primarily whole food/minimally processed food ingredients...like tomorrow night I'm grilling some sirloin steaks that are marinating in some carne asada sauce I whipped up...I'll do baked potatoes and likely roast some asparagus...what's not to love? My wife and I will both eat a healthy meal in portions that are appropriate for us.

    Most of our dinners are some kind of grilled meat, poultry, or fish with some kind of starch or grain and a veggie side...usually sauteed or roasted.

    My boyfriend is very much addicted to fast food. He also loves carbs, all the time every meal.
  • lmew91
    lmew91 Posts: 88 Member
    I usually make mostly the same meal for the two of us, but tweak it a little if I find it necessary, to more comfortably reach my daily goals. For example, I may fry his pork chops, but broil mine. Or, he may have a beef burger on a regular bun, I may have a bunless turkey burger. Other times, I may not really care for what he's having, so I have something totally different. Rarely do I cook two completely seperate meals for us, but one of us may eat leftovers while the other has, say, scrambled eggs or something else easy. Sometimes we both eat the same meal. He has snacks to take for lunch that I generally do not eat; not that I don't like them, but a Swiss Roll doesn't fit into my calorie allowance as nicely as an apple does. Our kitchen has food he prefers, and food that I prefer, so I don't really find myself "tempted."
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    How to stay on track when your SO doesn't want to eat like you.
    By taking personal responsibility for what I eat.

    If that means I cook then I cook. If it means we have different portions or different sides it's not a big issue. Or I might have an extra snack - loads of options to cater for different needs.

    Do wonder why you have to radically change your diet but your BF doesn't?
    Is your diet (noun) so bad you have to change or are you switching to diet (verb) foods?