Hubby wants to lose some weight

**chaya** · 07-22-2011 01:04 PM

Last night hubby asked me to cut down on his meals because he needed to lose some weight. he is 6'3" and weighs 215. He said he wants to get down to 185-190. I like him just the way he is but his uniforms are getting a little tight. He says he's gained 20 pounds since we've been married, so I assume he means it's my fault he is getting fat. When I fix food, he always takes seconds (or thirds), I can't just let him go hungry.

I've never thought of losing weight, I've always tried to gain weight. I suppose the best way would be to keep a spread sheet of everything he eats and cut down on his calories. Maybe a little jogging around the block would help, I'd be up for that too.

**KMonte85** · 07-22-2011 01:45 PM

Sounds like portion control is going to be his biggest challenge! If he likes eating 2nd's and 3rd's, he's going to have to get used to eating less at one meal. Maybe he needs to eat more throughout the day (healthy options, of course) so he doesn't wolf down so much in one sitting.

Exercise would definitely be a great idea for losing the extra pounds too! Maybe you two could go out for a 30 minute jog 2-3 times a week to get started? I bet the cardio would be good for him, especially given his job as a police officer, should he ever need to outrun a perp!

**jns** · 07-22-2011 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by chaya

Last night hubby asked me to cut down on his meals because he needed to lose some weight. he is 6'3" and weighs 215. He said he wants to get down to 185-190. I like him just the way he is but his uniforms are getting a little tight. He says he's gained 20 pounds since we've been married, so I assume he means it's my fault he is getting fat. When I fix food, he always takes seconds (or thirds), I can't just let him go hungry.

I've never thought of losing weight, I've always tried to gain weight. I suppose the best way would be to keep a spread sheet of everything he eats and cut down on his calories. Maybe a little jogging around the block would help, I'd be up for that too.

215 is about right to start losing weight for someone who is 6'3" and of your husband's age range (I'm 6'3"). Gaining weight is easy with a new wife that you don't want to disappoint when it comes to eating (leaving a lot of food left over is an indication that you don't think the food is very good or so I surmised from my wife 20 years ago).

When I was younger, going to the beach helped as I went many times solo and with minimum supplies.

A question (you may have answered this in another thread): what does he do for lunch? He can probably cut back on lunch somewhat. Too much food makes you lethargic in the middle of the day.

In general, you can make enough food so there aren't leftovers with him going back only once to finish the dish off.

**chaya** · 07-22-2011 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by jns

215 is about right to start losing weight for someone who is 6'3" and of your husband's age range (I'm 6'3"). Gaining weight is easy with a new wife that you don't want to disappoint when it comes to eating (leaving a lot of food left over is an indication that you don't think the food is very good or so I surmised from my wife 20 years ago).

When I was younger, going to the beach helped as I went many times solo and with minimum supplies.

A question (you may have answered this in another thread): what does he do for lunch? He can probably cut back on lunch somewhat. Too much food makes you lethargic in the middle of the day.

In general, you can make enough food so there aren't leftovers with him going back only once to finish the dish off.

He eats lunch in a restaurant, I'm not sure where or what he eats. I suspect it is a lot of burgers and fries, that's what he orders when we stop for fast food. I made him bento lunches, rice, veggies, sliced meat etc. for a week until I caught him dumping it out before he came in the house. He said he didn't have a chance to eat lunch that day.

I'd love it if we went to the beach, but he don't like the beach very much. That's hard on me since the beach was so much a part of my early life.

When I fix our food, I always fix some vegetables, I'm diabetic and supposed to eat a lot of veggies. He will only eat a bite or two of the veggies so I have them for snacks later. Starting next week, after sis leaves, I'm going to cut back on his carbs and fats. Also, I'll ask him if he can start taking his lunch and what he wants in it.

My mom used to try and make my father lose weight without success. The only bad arguments they ever had were over his diet and weight. I was surprised the last time I saw him, he had lost a some weight. My brother had put on about the same amount dad had lost. Seems like all the males in our family tend to be fat and the girls tend to be skinny, like me.

**jns** · 07-23-2011 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by chaya

He eats lunch in a restaurant, I'm not sure where or what he eats. I suspect it is a lot of burgers and fries, that's what he orders when we stop for fast food. I made him bento lunches, rice, veggies, sliced meat etc. for a week until I caught him dumping it out before he came in the house. He said he didn't have a chance to eat lunch that day.

I'd love it if we went to the beach, but he don't like the beach very much. That's hard on me since the beach was so much a part of my early life.

When I fix our food, I always fix some vegetables, I'm diabetic and supposed to eat a lot of veggies. He will only eat a bite or two of the veggies so I have them for snacks later. Starting next week, after sis leaves, I'm going to cut back on his carbs and fats. Also, I'll ask him if he can start taking his lunch and what he wants in it.

My mom used to try and make my father lose weight without success. The only bad arguments they ever had were over his diet and weight. I was surprised the last time I saw him, he had lost a some weight. My brother had put on about the same amount dad had lost. Seems like all the males in our family tend to be fat and the girls tend to be skinny, like me.

With him eating burgers and fries, it will probably be impossible for him to lose weight. Fries are horrendous for diets and many burgers have even more calories.

I watched a TV show called Food Revolution and was surprised to find that a restaurant I go by every night on my way home from work was featured on that show. I had been there once before, so I decided to try the controlled calorie from the show. It was really quite good. So good tasting, high quality, moderate calorie burgers are possible in fast food, its just not what you can find.

With a partner, the draw to going to a restaurant is very high. You get out of the view of a lot of the public who will come up to you and interrupt your lunch if your in your car, in a park or just about anywhere. And you can make it so no one can sneak up on you. The restaurant has air conditioning and a chance to sit in something other than your car seat. Yes you have air conditioning in a car, but a busy body will complain if you run it during your break. Since your partner isn't on a diet, there will be pressure to eat at the same place. A bag lunch is convenient for late lunch breaks, often away from restaurant row.

Too bad you can't get him hooked on beach volleyball. He would be at the beach whenever possible if he got hooked.

To get him to like your lunches, fix him something he would like, not something he would not ordinarily eat. Fix it in away that minimizes calories and salt - less or no frying oil, skinless chicken, etc. For heating food, I always used the truck window on sunny days. Maybe you'll have to include something for his partner to get him to comply. Probably a peanut butter and jam sandwich is better than what he is eating now.

**chaya** · 07-23-2011 04:22 PM

I don't think I can do much about his lunches, only ask him to try and cut down. He is too beat to go jogging when he gets home so I'll see if he wants to jog in the morning, that will mean getting up early.

I have a lot of frozen chicken breasts, was going to use them for fried chicken but thinking of cooking them on the BBQ instead. The skinless ones get dry on the BBQ but maybe I can find a recipe. I'm just going to fix less food for dinner, that way he can't take seconds and thirds.

I'll be missing my sister for a few days, but will get into this diet thing soon.

**chaya** · 07-24-2011 02:43 PM

Me and hubby went jogging this morning. After we got out outside, he asked me where shall we go. I said let's jog down to the beach. He asked me if i could make it that far because it's over a mile to the beach. Of course I said let's go I'm ready. So off we went.

By the time we got to the beach, he was leading and I was struggling to keep up. I was feeling just about spent so I sat down on a bench and asked him to sit for a while. He just kept jogging in place in front of me and said no lets go home I'm hungry or lets get breakfast at that restaurant over there. So I got up and said I'll fix breakfast at home lets go.

We got within 2 blocks of the house, he was ahead and I was puffing behind. I just couldn't make it any further, my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurt, I had a stitch in my side and I was puffing so hard my throat was getting raw. I sat down on a lawn and said I had to rest. He just kept jogging in place and waited for me to get up. Finally I got up and shuffled home. I couldn't make breakfast and went up and flopped down on the bed in the guest room. I woke up 3 hours later, if I hadn't had to pee so bad I probably would still be sleeping. I hadn't realized it but Hubby is in MUCH better shape than me.

It will be a while before I go jogging again, I got 2 blisters on my left foot. Blisters are bad for diabetics and must be treated aggressively. No more jogging for me until they heal.

**CHANDLERS WISH** · 07-24-2011 02:54 PM

Most restaurants do not serve nutritious breakfasts, bacon and eggs come to mind

I assume you carry honey or something with you? It's good to see that he had initual concern for you as a diabetic but, he's on a mission it seems, if he kept jogging in front of you on the spot when you couldn't cope, so I believe he can go on his own every morning without you, that be the case.

However, when you start out exercising, you "have" to go slow, and then you increase it, you don't go like a bullet at a gate... In my opinion, after the first "stop" by you, he should have walked with you, and then jogged the last 2 minutes not continued to jog so you tried to keep up.

Just an observation.

Carbs are good for losing weight by the way, it's the mixture - good protein, carbs and vegetables... Vegetables can be pureed and hidden amongst pasta, which is carbs with grilled chicken mixed in between... Doesn't your oven have a griller? If the BBQ doesn't do it nicely...

**chaya** · 07-24-2011 04:01 PM

The problem was that I had drastically underestimated him. I thought because he was 20 pounds overweight, he was also out of shape. That was not the case. I guess he gets a lot of exercise on the job, he don't like to talk about his work. I thought that because he is so big and I'm so small, I should be able to jog circles around him.

I had been teasing him about going jogging for a couple of days. I must have gone too far because he decided to show me up. We started out slow and together. I found it increasingly hard to keep up as we neared the beach. I was never in trouble because of my diabetes. I carry little tubes of pure glucose for low blood sugar events. I just ran out of gas because I'm so out of shape. When he was jogging in place and I was down, he kept asking me if I was alright. I kept saying I was ok.

**jns** · 07-24-2011 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by chaya

Me and hubby went jogging this morning. After we got out outside, he asked me where shall we go. I said let's jog down to the beach. He asked me if i could make it that far because it's over a mile to the beach. Of course I said let's go I'm ready. So off we went.

By the time we got to the beach, he was leading and I was struggling to keep up. I was feeling just about spent so I sat down on a bench and asked him to sit for a while. He just kept jogging in place in front of me and said no lets go home I'm hungry or lets get breakfast at that restaurant over there. So I got up and said I'll fix breakfast at home lets go.

We got within 2 blocks of the house, he was ahead and I was puffing behind. I just couldn't make it any further, my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurt, I had a stitch in my side and I was puffing so hard my throat was getting raw. I sat down on a lawn and said I had to rest. He just kept jogging in place and waited for me to get up. Finally I got up and shuffled home. I couldn't make breakfast and went up and flopped down on the bed in the guest room. I woke up 3 hours later, if I hadn't had to pee so bad I probably would still be sleeping. I hadn't realized it but Hubby is in MUCH better shape than me.

It will be a while before I go jogging again, I got 2 blisters on my left foot. Blisters are bad for diabetics and must be treated aggressively. No more jogging for me until they heal.

Time to work on the shoes as they shouldn't be causing blisters at that distance, well maybe if you are really out of shape. Maybe when you heal up somewhat, try walking half of that distance and back at least several times a week. If you can, do it every day and gradually lengthen it. If you toughen your feet enough you will not blister which will be much better for a diabetic.

Try going to a sporting goods store and get some of the patches they have for keeping from getting hot spots and blisters in the first place. I used to backpack and hike a lot in my 20's and I have used such products to make sure I could continue the next day. Of course, I was nuts back then, but I did it because I could. First trip to Grand Canyon: went 9 miles down and 9 miles up in one day starting about 10 a.m.; second trip, multiple downs and ups at different places over two weeks including a quick overnight trip down the Tanner Trail to prove to the Park Service that I was in shape to backpack the Canyon and get further permits. Without patching, I would have probably not been able to continue.