What do you do if you’re spouse likes junk food?
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Replies
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Ask him to support you or find a way to make it fit into your calories.1
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All foods in moderation. Maybe a couple bites. Work it into my calories. Log it. Move on. It’s unreasonable to expect others to give up foods because I can’t control myself. Just my opinion.5
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I don't think of food in terms of junk food, but if you're meaning things like crisps/chocolate etc, I still eat them most days, but I fit them into my macros/calories.4
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When you break ice cream and doughnuts down into their base components, you're talking about milk, cream, sugar, yeast, flour, and fat. Those are all foods that most of us eat, but because some of those foods are constituted into a form that's been labelled "junk", we stress about them and feel guilty for eating them. Guilt about food is a useless emotion that works for diet food companies, but not so much for humans. A scoop or two of ice cream or a doughnut once a week won't kill you, in fact it might be an idea to include them in your weekly meal plan so you don't feel like you're missing out. You don't have to restrict any food, but it's useful to learn to have some foods in moderation. If you go over your calories, eat fewer calories next time. Try and cultivate a more relaxed attitude to food if you can. If you want something, have some of it. Just don't have too much of it. No one is going to knock on your door and chastise you, so don't take on that role yourself. It's a pointless exercise.
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I don't understand those who insist Thier partner/family stop having things because they can't
It's not my families burden that I ate too much and ended up at 387lb
I make room in my calorie allowance for a little of the high calorie treats, they can fit more in Thier allotment than I as they are healthy weights (1 is a little under ) and the kids especially are very active
That said there is a cupboard just for Thier high calorie/carb stuff. If it's not being eaten at the time it must be put back in there
If it's left on the counter I bin it. If it's abandoned in the living room I bin it. Didn't take long for them to catch on19 -
There’s some serious concerning behaviour going on here.My wife brings home donuts and things like that. When she does, I throw them out. Then she complains that my throwing them out is a waste of money, and my counter is that buying them is the waste, and she is endangering the health of everyone in the family by buying it. She now buys it, gives it to the kids directly and then complains about their weight...go figure...
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You don't eat it if it doesn't fit and, if you can make it fit, you enjoy it. Guilt should have nothing to do with it.
And it is sad that anyone would throw away food or deny others foods because of their own choices.8 -
Are you planning to give up on these foods forever?
You can fit it in your calorie goal and eat it if you want it. Eat a smaller portion. Exercise a bit more to have more calories. Choose a slower more comfortable rate of loss and eat more foods you enjoy.
If you don't want it but like something sweet then buy or make something you like that fits your goals better.
When you live or work around other people they are going to have their own food you will not control. You choose how you deal with it. Don't feel guilty for eating food. You didn't do anything bad eating ice cream instead of broccoli. It is just food with a different number of calories and nutrients. Guilt over eating is unproductive. You do not have to be a perfect dieter to lose weight. Log it and move on.
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My wife brings home donuts and things like that. When she does, I throw them out. Then she complains that my throwing them out is a waste of money, and my counter is that buying them is the waste, and she is endangering the health of everyone in the family by buying it. She now buys it, gives it to the kids directly and then complains about their weight...go figure...
So, in my case it's the husband who sometimes buys junk, but I don't throw away the junk he buys, and I think we would have a serious problem if he started throwing away my treats.
That would only conceivably be ok if someone in the house (mostly the kids bc adults know the risks and can think for themselves) had a serious allergy or medical condition that warranted certain foods be avoided. Otherwise, having treats/junk in the house isn't endangering the whole family's health.13 -
My wife brings home donuts and things like that. When she does, I throw them out. Then she complains that my throwing them out is a waste of money, and my counter is that buying them is the waste, and she is endangering the health of everyone in the family by buying it. She now buys it, gives it to the kids directly and then complains about their weight...go figure...
Anyone who throws away food that I purchased, and intend to eat in moderation as part of an overall balanced diet, is endangering their own health because that will not end well for them....34 -
My wife would be absolutely miserable if I banned sweets from our house, I would never consider trying to restrict her in that way. I have come to accept (and enjoy even) that we WILL have some kind of sweet treat for dessert every night, so I plan accordingly. I workout hard and I save my calories, also I realized that cutting out my evening glass of wine afforded me another cookie so that was helpful. We both really enjoy our nightly routine of eating our treats snuggled on the couch together before bed, its worth skipping an afternoon snack or cutting down my portion at dinner. Sustainable lifestyle changes should be enjoyable and well balanced IMO.12
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My wife brings home donuts and things like that. When she does, I throw them out. Then she complains that my throwing them out is a waste of money, and my counter is that buying them is the waste, and she is endangering the health of everyone in the family by buying it. She now buys it, gives it to the kids directly and then complains about their weight...go figure...
What in the world... I'd be pissed if I bought food and my husband threw it away. Talk about controlling.17 -
We have a cabinet high above the refrigerator (well out of my wife's reach and sight) where I stash my peanut butter, chocolate candies, and whatever other foods she has trouble controlling her impulses with. She knows there's "goodies" up there, but the fact that she would have to go out to the garage and get a stepladder to get to them is enough of a deterrent from impulsively eating them like she would if they were readily accessible in the pantry. Plus, she doesn't know exactly what is up there (sometimes it's just protein bars, which she despises), so it makes it even less worth all the trouble to only discover nothing she'd really want anyway.
Fortunately she's not at all a fan of the low-cal ice cream I eat on a pretty much nightly basis (Enlightened and/or Chilly Cow), so that's safe in the freezer - she won't touch it even at her bingiest of bingy times.
Another vote for OP's husband hiding his foods that trigger her.
Really, that's not to much to ask.4 -
1st understand that food is not 'good' or 'bad'. If you choose to have ice cream, or a donut, or whatever, account for it in your daily calories. Not a big deal.
If its hard for you to have a lesser amount of his junk food, get things that DO fit. Try Halo Top ice cream. Depending on the flavor, its 240-360 cals for the pint.I’ve been trying to lose weight. I don’t buy junk food when I shop for groceries. My husband, on the other hand, when his cravings kick in, he will go and get some ice cream or donuts. Some of the leftovers just laying around and it’s very tempting. I told him to hide them, but his reason was that’s why he works out so that he can eat donuts. Ugghhh... sometimes I gave in and eat a bowl of ice cream, then I feel guilty later. :-(
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missysippy930 wrote: »All foods in moderation. Maybe a couple bites. Work it into my calories. Log it. Move on. It’s unreasonable to expect others to give up foods because I can’t control myself. Just my opinion.
Not everybody is a moderator, nor should they have to be.
https://gretchenrubin.com/2012/10/back-by-popular-demand-are-you-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/
...When dealing with temptation, I often see the advice, “Be moderate. Don’t have ice cream every night, but if you try to deny yourself altogether, you’ll fall off the wagon. Allow yourself to have the occasional treat, it will help you stick to your plan.”
I’ve come to believe that this is good advice for some people: the “moderators.” They do better when they avoid absolutes and strict rules.
For a long time, I kept trying this strategy of moderation–and failing. Then I read a line from Samuel Johnson, who said, when someone offered him wine: “Abstinence is as easy to me as temperance would be difficult.”
Ah ha! Like Dr. Johnson, I’m an “abstainer.”
I find it far easier to give something up altogether than to indulge moderately. When I admitted to myself that I was eating my favorite frozen yogurt treat very often—two and even three times a day—I gave it up cold turkey. That was far easier for me to do than to eat it twice a week. If I try to be moderate, I exhaust myself debating, “Today, tomorrow?” “Does this time ‘count’?” "Don't I deserve this?" etc. If I never do something, it requires no self-control for me; if I do something sometimes, it requires enormous self-control.
There’s no right way or wrong way—it’s just a matter of knowing which strategy works better for you. If moderators try to abstain, they feel trapped and rebellious. If abstainers try to be moderate, they spend a lot of precious energy justifying why they should go ahead and indulge.17 -
Your husband is a grown man and allowed to eat what he likes. It's not fair to expect him to change because you want to change. Learning self-control is a key part of maintaining a healthy weight, but so is learning how to incorporate foods you enjoy.9
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I think this is part of life and you have to learn how to deal with it. Junk food is not going to be hidden all the time forever to make life easier for you. you just need to learn how to moderate. Either fit it in to your calorie allowance or don't eat it.5
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I learned how to deal with it. My fiance has a thing with Taco Bell, Slim Jims, and candy. After awhile it got to the point that seeing it doesn't bother me anymore. It took about a month for it not to phase me.1
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My wife brings home donuts and things like that. When she does, I throw them out. Then she complains that my throwing them out is a waste of money, and my counter is that buying them is the waste, and she is endangering the health of everyone in the family by buying it. She now buys it, gives it to the kids directly and then complains about their weight...go figure...
What in the world... I'd be pissed if I bought food and my husband threw it away. Talk about controlling.
Exactly. I'm the first to say "don't let me eat this" and "can we please throw this away" but no way in hell you'll get away with making the decision for me.9 -
I’ve been trying to lose weight. I don’t buy junk food when I shop for groceries. My husband, on the other hand, when his cravings kick in, he will go and get some ice cream or donuts. Some of the leftovers just laying around and it’s very tempting. I told him to hide them, but his reason was that’s why he works out so that he can eat donuts. Ugghhh... sometimes I gave in and eat a bowl of ice cream, then I feel guilty later. :-(
So I think there's a couple of things here. First, I don't think it's too much to ask your husband to not leave temptations laying around for you to stumble across. But having said that, if what you mean is he shouldn't have that food in the house, I think that's unfair and frankly only a short term solution. You live in a world full of temptation, you need to figure out how to live with it.
So I'd say first sit him down and ask for his help. If there is one particular treat you simply can't moderate, maybe ask him if you can keep that one thing out of the house for a month or two while you are getting the hang of your diet. And to otherwise keep treats put away.
Then you need to rethink how you look at food. There is no reason to feel guilty about having ice cream. I had ice cream 3 or 4 times a week while I was losing weight. You don't have to cut out any foods, just get a foundation of good food and portion treats responsibly so everything fits in your calorie goal.My wife brings home donuts and things like that. When she does, I throw them out. Then she complains that my throwing them out is a waste of money, and my counter is that buying them is the waste, and she is endangering the health of everyone in the family by buying it. She now buys it, gives it to the kids directly and then complains about their weight...go figure...
I really hope this was supposed to be tongue in cheek or something. That sounds like such a toxic environment, so much anger and guilt around food
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