Help! I Eat To Live & He Lives To Eat


Help! I Eat To Live & He Lives To Eat [EXPERT]
10 tips for couples with seemingly incompatible eating habits.

So, exactly how do I deal with this constant see-saw, night-and-day tug of war? Over time and painful experience, I've learned a few ways  to understand and deal with this frustrating scenario:

1. I work on myself. I can't change him, I can only change myself. I believe each of us is entitled to our own free will. So, no matter what I want for him, he's still the one putting the fork to the mouth.


To encourage him toward better eating, I don't try to hide any secret food stashes around the house myself.

2. Nagging only makes it worse. I tried that. It only adds stress to touchy, personal eating choices and drives him into eating more, not less.

Instead, I set up the circumstances that will encourage him to make better food choices by making only the healthiest foods available in our house.

3. Minimize the temptations. I know that he thinks he can exist on burgers with donuts as buns, but I have to give him a little help. Under the guise of budget reduction, I do not bring any of those rich, tempting bakery and dessert carbs home from grocery shopping. I just don't buy them.

4. Prepare meat and vegetable, not meat and potato meals. I really try to serve low glycemic (low sugar), high nutrition foods, reducing those carbohydrates that stimulate the cravings and make him override his natural feelings of fullness and eat more.

Try making raw vegetables rather than cooked as well to get your man to eat his veggies. A lot of men who don't like vegetables had a mother who overcooked them, or served too many soggy, canned vegetables, seeding the aversion. But even small children will eat vegetables when they're crisp and raw. Bad Body Image? 15 Ways To Improve Your Self-Esteem

5. Stabilize blood sugar with protein, not carbs. I always have plenty of high-protein ready-to-eat foods around: bags of cubed, cooked turkey instead of cold cuts, cheese cubes, plus cut-up organic celery and carrot sticks. Hummus bean dip instead of sour cream and jars of Greek black and green olives or fresh, deli-style dill pickles are some options. Fewer baked goods, more real food options. Popcorn not chips.

6. Have lots of probiotic-rich, cultured foods. Support good digestion by making or having a variety of live, cultured foods on hand: yogurt, yogurt or nut cheese, kombucha (zippy, fermented tea), dairy or coconut kefir. They're much cheaper and healthier when you make them yourselves. Find recipes in my Cookbook and Nourishment Guide, Truly Cultured,

7. Don't buy soda. I keep a fruit juice and club soda alternative on hand that seems to satisfy his sweet bubbly desires. Absolutely avoid all high fructose corn syrup! I've seen it again and again. It sets up a "forward feeding" response, literally secreting the ghrelin hormone that signals your body to eat more.

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