Do your partners/children/family eat the same as you? Do they support your healthy food choices?
austin_88
July 9th, 2008, 10:22 PM
Boyfriend - We eat the SAME food, but very different amounts. He is trying to gain muscle so he eats probably 3 x the amount as me! But the good thing is its usually healthy and high in protein!
Family - I eat with my family maybe 4 days per week, usually they cook healthy foods anyway. Like stews, chicken dishes, protein and veggies. So I just help myself to a normal portion, they all eat quite a lot.
Myself - I make my own breakfast and lunch every day as I work full time, so the majority of food decisions are made by me!
When my boyfriend and I move in together and have a family It wont be a problem as I will want my children to eat very healthily and of course indulge once in a while!
Any family members who want to sabotage your weight loss efforts are probably just jealous or do not want to see your success.
shae
July 10th, 2008, 01:14 AM
Thanks austin. Hey you are an Aussie too!!! Yay!!!
My husband eats the same but much larger portions. And my children eat the same, just smaller portions lol. We are all very healthy and supportive of each other.
We eat alot of raw veges in our diet, at nearly every lunch and dinner. Only grilled meats and seafood and brown rice for carbs where possible.
When we eat at family functions i always offer to make a raw vege salad with chickpeas and eggs from our own chickens. This way we know if there is not a healthy option we are still safe.
I don't think anyone in my family would try and sabotage the way I eat. I have influenced them with most of their eating. lol
But some people just enjoy eating bad food.
allyphoe
July 10th, 2008, 06:13 AM
Of the 4 of us (3 adults, 1 kid) in our family, no one eats the same thing. There's some overlap, but it's very rare that we'd all have the same meal. We also rarely all eat at the same time.
JDhd
July 10th, 2008, 06:23 AM
It's just me and my partner and she's the one that started on a program to try to lose weight, so we eat the same things.
thedarwinfish
July 10th, 2008, 09:28 AM
My wife eats pretty much the same things as I do. This has been extremely helpful for me since we're not having to cook up our own dinners, sharing food costs and she's losing weight as a result, too!
mjbelkin
July 10th, 2008, 11:07 AM
My partner does the cooking in our house, and he's been very good at giving me smaller portions and cutting out the naughties.
maleficent
July 10th, 2008, 11:09 AM
Of the 4 of us (3 adults, 1 kid) in our family, no one eats the same thing. There's some overlap, but it's very rare that we'd all have the same meal. We also rarely all eat at the same time.
the schedule is one thing... but I hear my mother's voice right now - I don't ru n a restaurant -you eat what you're served or you don't eat...
Why does everyone get different meals? Allergies? Taste?
LandonsBaby
July 10th, 2008, 12:18 PM
My husband and I eat very different things. He won't touch a lot of what I eat. We can eat a lot of the same dinners but lately I haven't been cooking those for some reason (i'm not feeling well). Like tonight I won't be eating what I make him for dinner. I'll just save what is left for him to have tomorrow and I'll eat something else.
edco76
July 10th, 2008, 12:38 PM
Yep. But I am the alpha male. So they can only eat when I am finished.
J/k We mostly do but we still let the kids have a few things we don't and sometimes we want something they dont like. I would say 80% we do 20% we have 2 different meals.
allyphoe
July 10th, 2008, 12:51 PM
Why does everyone get different meals? Allergies? Taste?
Enlightened self-interest. ;)
MIL (who is normal weight and has never had a problem with her weight) cooks old-fashioned Chinese home cooking, flavored with MSG and dripping with oil. When I was having fat-triggered gallbladder attacks, she'd make battered and deep-fried pork nuggets special for me, out of lean pork so I could eat it. "I make these for you! No fat!" :smash: Another of her specialties is stir-fried lettuce (mostly prepackaged iceberg salad mix, but sometimes she'll do romaine). She refrigerates tomatoes and bananas, and will leave raw meat out on the kitchen counters from morning until night. She also doesn't believe in leftovers - if she makes it, it must be all eaten up. Oddly enough, she generally makes special food for herself (which she doesn't anticipate anyone else will eat, nor do we) at dinner for health reasons, but none of us can figure the logic behind those health reasons other than "my friend told me it was good to eat X."
Some of the stuff she makes is actually amazingly good. But if I eat much of what she makes 2 or 3 days running, she starts cooking for me on a regular basis, except she doesn't make foods that I'm willing to eat all the time, and then she gets grumpy that her food is being wasted and I get grumpy because I don't have the fridge stocked with stuff I like. We get along much, much better when I cook for me, and she doesn't. I eat from 9am to 5pm at work, come home and have a small portion of whatever I like best from what she made along with the rest of the family, and then get the rest of my calories (which is usually about 1/3 of my total) in between 7pm and 11pm.
My partner (who is overweight but not obese) cooks what MIL makes, because she'd rather not fight that battle. Her hours tend to be very different, because she needs a couple hours of peace and quiet every night so that she and MIL can both survive living in the same house. So she eats something she makes herself for breakfast around lunchtime, what MIL makes for dinner, and something that she makes herself for dinner around midnight. MIL is fiercely territorial of the kitchen, so taught none of her kids to cook, nor will she allow them to cook (even as adults) when she's present. She takes it as an insult to her cooking skills. So my partner has no cooking skills, and subsists mostly on frozen dinners and soup (either canned or ramen).
5yo kidlet is < 3rd percentile weight-for-height, and is the world's slowest eater, so we try to offer her calorie-dense foods. The food MIL makes is calorie-dense, but not particularly kid-friendly (too spicy and too salty, for the most part). She'll often have some of the main protein and some rice with butter, but get most of her nutrition from something plainer. She'll often have some of what I eat, or a 1-or-2-ingredient food that takes little or no preparation (a slice of bologna, or cheese on toast, or a piece of fruit). If she were taller (or I had the patience to listen to her drag chairs around), she'd get it for herself, but I'd just as soon have one fewer person leaving the fridge door open.
Trops
July 10th, 2008, 01:15 PM
I do a lot of the cooking at home, so I'm making what I feel like. It's usually something healthy, but not always. My kids know that there is healthy foods and foods that aren't so healthy. You can have the second group, but not all the time. When I'm making that, I'll just make something else for myself. I have a hard time sticking to a small portion of some calorie dense food that is oh, so good.
One of my favorites is I'll make pasta and sauce. I'll skip the pasta and just put the sauce over sliced veggies. That way we're all eating together, but I'm skipping the "bad" stuff. (I have a big appetite when it comes to pasta)
madness
July 10th, 2008, 01:46 PM
We pretty much eat the same things. I do all the cooking...well, my fiance is trying to learn to cook. But we make normal meals and just follow portion control. And I actually eat more then he does at a given meal. Used to annoy the crap out of me that I'm overweight and I'm still eating more. Well, turns out he is an incessant snacker. He eats probably 8 times a day, all about equal calories so I only see him 2 or 3 of those meals and they seem small compared to mine. His other meals (the ones that I'm not around to nag at him about) consist of bacon, cookies, candy and cheese. :rolleyes:
tymaboy
July 11th, 2008, 01:57 PM
I do most of the cooking but of course we have to have junk food inthe house for my husband to snack on. My son is also trying to becarful of what he eats - to a point. My son figures since he is working out anywhere from 1-3 hours a day that he can justify double portions (sandwiches, cerial, chips) he has lost & trimmed down but I think sooner or later he will level out & the dble portions that he like will work against him. My husband does not care what he eats or when but he does not support me much when he knows I am trying to watch what I am eating. He does not have a chose what he eats at dinner unless I put him in charge of it then he will order out or make a pizza. If he doesn't like what I make or don't make enough he will snack all night.
funshine
July 12th, 2008, 09:57 AM
I without realizing it started eating/catering to what my husband liked because it was easier that way. But it definately didn't help my weight or his so now that I've started eating healthier.... I've told him that he either eats what I make or he makes his own meal.
The biggest difference btw. us is that he does not eat vegetables. Ok he'll eat corn, peas, carrots, and celery. But anything green or not startchy he says tastes like tree bark. *sigh*
He also won't eat anything with onions or mushrooms.
Now that I've hired a personal trainer and have been put on a nutrition plan....he is starting to become more supportive in the choices we make for our dinners (the only meal we normally eat together). And he also realizes that if he wants something I shouldn't have....eating it outside our home is what he'll have to do because otherwise at this point I"m too tempted.
shae
July 12th, 2008, 10:00 PM
Good to hear there are partners and families out there that support healthy eating. I find it really does help.
I have a bit of a motto in my house that whatever I'm cooking must get eaten. There aren't alot of choices. But I believe by providing these healthy meals I am helping set up wonderful eating habits for my children.
It is really important to me that my daughter grows up with a lot of knowledge of healthy food, benefits of raw veges and fruits and understands and is otivated about how wonderful and important exercise is in her life. There is a lot of pressure on young girls out there to be so slim without caring properly for their bodies.
Everyone sounds like they are doing a good job. Well done!:Angel_anim:
Lraebennett
July 16th, 2008, 09:42 AM
Do your partners/children/family eat the same as you? Do they support your healthy food choices?
My boyfriend supports me, throughout the two years we've been together he has made some healthy changes. I think it depends on the person also. He claims that you really can't tell a difference between diet and regular soda, will drink water, and he pretty much is a garbage disposal, so whatever I make he will consume. haha
He's definately not big on veggies, which I can understand, but he will eat some of them.
I will never tell him not to have certain foods in the house, becuase it's better for me to learn to eat right WITH temptations, so that in the end, I can be stronger.
Plus, guys can eat more than us... psh. Must be nice to have testosterone and muscles. haha
I wish I could change him into as healthy as a lifestyle that I lead, because he doesn't understand how hard it is for me, but he gets exercise,and eats what I cook, so at least that's one step in the right direction.
JulianaRose
July 17th, 2008, 09:49 PM
Family - Not terrible. Once in a while though my mom will buy a box of donuts, and of course she'll buy my favorite ones. And of course my two little brothers being the growing boys that they are can eat whatever and not gain a pound.
Me - Eh. I gained weight after I got a job because I had more money to eat really poorly. Growing up we never had "Friday Pizza Nights" and stuff like that, so when I got money, I spent it.
Friends - Not terrible, but not good either. We go out for pizza quite a bit, or ice cream (we have been known to buy a thing of ice-cream and eat it between the both of us in a night) But we are all trying to lose weight so that helps.
Phoenyx
July 22nd, 2008, 10:05 AM
I do most of the cooking, so my husband eats what I cook. At least I know he has one meal in a day that's healthy. I haven't heard any complaints. Besides, I'll still throw on some rice or pasta for him if what I'm cooking would normally have that accompany it. Only now I use brown rice most of the time. If I make spaghetti, I'll make up the pasta for him, and do a quick sautee of some zucchini for me. I'll put a very tiny amount of the pasta in with the zucchini so I'm not depriving myself. Or I'll have a very tiny bit of rice just to enjoy the flavor.
Family and friends are very supportive. Our gatherings usually consist of a bbq, and I'll create a huge salad while I'm there for everybody to enjoy. But since there are several of us working on losing weight, its not difficult to find things to eat among what has been prepared.
Work can be the most challenging of places, and I'm sure that's where I packed on a lot of the weight. Always a lot of carb & fat laden, empty caloric food that is easy to access. Can't really go out to lunch with 'the guys' anymore because all they seem to want is pizza. And the 'salads' at these places, well... they suck, what can I say? I bring my own lunch most of the time now, and if they are going somewhere I can find something that won't make me gain 5 pounds in a day, I'm happy to join them.
angelicrock
July 23rd, 2008, 08:43 AM
My fiance and I both eat healthy. In fact, we made the change to a healthy lifestyle because of our son (now about 4 months old).
My family is a bit tricky. My sister is very picky with food so she has a hard time with the healthier stuff (she is a twig though thanks to her metabolism). My mom tries to eat as healthy as my fiance and I but with my step-dad and brother in the house pigging out on fatty foods, she finds it to be difficult. My real dad is an excercise fanatic and is in relatively good shape for his age and the amount of free time he has. Eating healthy is hard for my dad when my step-mom (who is hispanic) cooks amazing food, most of which is not healthy.
We try to be encouraging to our relatives but in the end there really isnt much we can do. They will eat what they want when they want. It is nice to have someone that is on the same page though.
Peggy
August 6th, 2008, 05:50 PM
oh hell no... i would be so glad if i had someone here to go through all this with me together. but unfortunately, my husband is so skinny and he gaines no weight. no matter what and how much he eats.
just for e.g. when we go to DQ ... he takes one flame thrower (half pounder) and two ultimates (quater pounder ea.) ... plus coke ... and he eates all that and very often. and he eat the same amound of food every day.
my problem is, i can eat a lot either and i really savor food, but i really gain weight very quick.
i really don't want him to lose more weight, because he is 6.3 food and just weights 171 pound ... but it's really hard for me to eat just less and just salad, when he eats a lot and really yummy things, right beside me...
getoutside
August 16th, 2008, 09:11 PM
I'm the only one in my house that eats clean. Everyone else eats crap. I just make sure not to eat the crap, but it does have its advantages. When I crave something, its easy to find a bite of something, and get over the craving instead of having to buy a whole bag or pack of something I'd rather not buy at all.
keelynn414
August 20th, 2008, 06:45 AM
I do ALL of the cooking in my house as my boyfriend is a bit of a lazy bum when it comes to all things domestic. However, if I need a carborator or engine part repaired or built, or basically anything that involves wiring, computers or sound systems, he's the man for the job! hehehe
Anyway, I mostly cook separate food for him. When I do make us the same thing, it's the lower calorie version of a food we normally ate before I went on my "diet". For example, we like chesseburgers in the summer, so I still make those. Now I use 93% lean meat, low calorie cheese, and wheat buns, making it about 150 calories lighter than the burgers we used to make. I also switched out a lot of basic things like sodas and snack items, breads, etc to healthier versions, and he actually likes them better- go figure! He's even told me to never buy real coke again (which was a amjor bad habit of mine.. at least 3 cans a day)- stick with coke zero he says. So he is pretty supportive in that he lets me do my thing and fully supports the food changes I've made for him too. I think as long as he doesn't have to cook and the food doesn't taste like rubber, he's happy! He's 6'2" and about 190lbs, so he looks pretty darn good already, but I've noticed over the last 2 months that the tiny little gut he has is getting firmer thanks to the small changes I've made in his food too. Now if I could only get him to go to the gym with me!! baby steps, baby steps....:-)
Nope. It's just me and my girlfriend and we have always eaten different things, both before and after my lifestyle change.
Basically she is stick thin with a very high metabolism (and she's quite active) and finds it very hard to put on weight. She's also a picky eater and though she likes to eat healthy she will sometimes eat high fat processed foods for convenince sake.
I am not at all picky and love to try new foods. I have a normal matabolism I guess (I'm not going to say it's slow because that would probably be a lie, but it's certainly not fast). I find it very easy to put on weight!
To top that off she has a very weird working schedule so it isn't too often that we can eat meals together. I like to eat together though so before I started eating healthily I would eat what I normally eat and then eat again with her! That has, of course, changed.
So, to sum up, nope me and my partner rarely eat the same things.
Niccivan
August 23rd, 2008, 04:48 PM
I WISH my husband and kids would want to eat healthy things. But if its not dripping in grease, caked with calories, etc, then they won't eat it.
I tried to serve them grilled chicken salads one evening for dinner, and not one of them ate. Instead my husband took them and went to McDonald's. He even called me on his way home from work today to see what I wanted from Wendy's for lunch. *sigh*
When my husband eats, he eats. He can eat 4 full sized hot dogs with chili and cheese, chips and about 3 cokes. The poor food doesn't stand a chance. He's not obese, but he's certainly not slim. He ran a marathon about 2 years ago when he ripped his meniscus in both knees. So, that ended his running/exercising all together.
The rest of my family is just as bad. my father is pretty overweight and so is my mother (who has type 2 diabetes because of weight issues). My sister is 6 feet tall and weighs about 304 lbs. So, as you can see, eating unhealthy and big sizes are a part of my family. It makes losing really hard. But I'm determined to prove everyone wrong.
In4Manhattan
August 23rd, 2008, 07:22 PM
Well, I usually eat with my family (6 people including me). My sisters are two so they automatically eat small portions. My brother is very athletic, he eats twice as much as me yet he doesn't gain a pound (and I'm the overweight one, lol). I mean literally, the other day, he took a mixing bowl for cake, filled it with Frooty Loops and ate them with whole milk. My father is not necessarily unhealthy in the foods he eats, but not healthy either. My step mother eats pretty healthy, but it seems as if all she eats is salads, which is not particularly a favorite of mine.
carinna
August 23rd, 2008, 07:25 PM
For the most part my BF does eat the same as me. He's got less willpower, though, so he's more apt to cheat. Which is hard when he does it right in front of me. :toetap05:
-Chris-
August 26th, 2008, 01:39 PM
I am lucky to be in a relationship with a registered dietitian, so she keeps me in line most of the time. I will be the first one to say that it helps out immensely to have your partner support your good eating habits. Nutrition is the foundation of being healthy and maintaining an ideal body weight.
If your partner does not eat the same as you, or you both do not eat very healthy, try going on a diet together. Both of you could add some fruit in the morning, for example.
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