My kids have always eaten super healthy. Hubby not so much. With my new way of eating though my hubby is actually on board with my new way of doing things and only eating "whole food." He says he feels better and likes that I am watching out for his health. Also, he travels often. He gets to make his own choices when he is out and around without them coming into our home.
nikki, my kids do have treats from time to time...it is MY choice whether or not I choose to indulge...do you do the shopping in the house? if so, don't buy the "junk"....junk foods aren't just bad for you calorically..and many, many obese people were ONCE thin people...as moms we really have to set our kids up for success...teaching proper "life giving" eating habits is one way we should be doing that...if your family insists on desserts find lower calorie, healthier options and insist on them!
Ask your pediatrician what your child needs to be eating - let your pediatrician help you talk to your husband about your child's diet.
For example, my pediatrician said to me about my overweight daughter,
"Everyone says to give her whole milk. That is good advice...if your daughter was a cow. She is not a nursing calf, she is a human, and past breastfeeding age."
We sat down and talked about what she should and should not be eating, and in what amounts. The most important thing we did was talk *with my daughter* about what she should be eating.
For us, the most devastating thing has been other adults (grandparents and (in our situation) church ladies) in authority telling her that it was OK for her to have unlimited portions of cake, cookies, candy, pizza, and all other treats. Even though food has been well controlled at home, it has been disastrous at church or grandma's house, or at school.
It has taken four years (she was eight at the time, she is twelve now, and in her first year of junior high) for the message to get through. Just in the past month, she has said, "I don't want to be fat! (5'2", 155)" and she has been making positive diet decisions, etc.
I encourage you to make baby steps toward a healthy family lifestyle...turkey bacon here...2% cheese or milk there...olive oil, etc...
And, please don't feel like anyone is beating you up. None of us would be here if we hadn't been in your shoes in the first place. We've been there, and we're walking along with you.
My kids have always eaten healthier than my husband and I have. That's part of what made me wake up to what I was eating. I couldn't eat my meals when they were awake because I didn't want them eating what I was eating. I wouldn't dream of feeding them some of the stuff I would eat...especially how much of it I would eat. So yes, I most certainly "impose" a healthy lifestyle on my babies. It was not imposed on me, therefore it does not come naturally to me. I want eating good healthy food and movement to be NATURAL to them. I want it to never be work. For it to just be what you do.
My husband has been on board with me from the start since he wanted to lose weight too.
He's already gone from 220 to 206 lbs in a month
I should note though that not only are my babies only 2 1/2 and 9 months old...I am also totally the nutritional gatekeeper in this house. So all food that comes in and out of this house comes through me. I have a responsibility to my family to keep them healthy and I take that very seriously.
Unfortunatly I take thier health more seriously than my own and that's something I'm trying to rectify right now.
But being that my children are so young it is sooo much easier for me to control what they eat. I imagine as they get older it will be tougher, which is why I'm trying to instill healthy habits and above all MODERATION in them now. so when they do get to school and go to school parties they have ONE cupcake and not 4 like I used to do...
But why would kids need such unhealthy fattening foods? There are PLENTY of healthy fats too that would probably be far better for your body than bacon would (like avocado, for instance!)
Sure, avocado is great. But there is debate about which fats are good vs bad. IMO processed foods are not good, but a natural food like bacon is a nice, high density, high fat food, and excellent for growing children.
Bacon is not a natural food. It is full of sodium and nitrates. These convert to cancer-causing chemicals in your body. In fact, my pediatrician said that children should not eat any cured meats (bacon, hot dogs, etc) unless they are nitrate free because of this.
Okay, well I don't know much about bacon at all. (I'm actually a vegetarian LOL). But I would just caution against deciding there is one way to eat healthfully for all members of the family, or that healthy eating = low fat and high vegetables for everyone. Kids need high density, high calorie, high fat foods!
"Kids need high density, high calorie, high fat foods!"
no... no they don't. Infants and toddlers DO need foods that are rich with healthy fats and calorie dense.
Kids? No they don't. They need measured amounts of healthy fats (and bacon is NOT A HEALTHY FAT) good quality carbs, good quality dairy (but low fat is JUST FINE after the age of 2, and lots of fruits and veggies. We're not trying to grow super obese kids here... we're growing lean children with large brains and they need HEALTHY food. We're also teaching children HOW to eat... so if we raise them on bacon and mayo... they will grow up thinking these are acceptable foods to be eaten in large quantities because that is how THEY grew up. We need to model good eating... not encourage gluttony because "your a child... you need the fat! Eat more!"
Kids actually need higher fat, higher density food. I don't think bacon is a bad food for a child. I notice I have to cook very different foods for my growing children than for myself. The hard thing is not eating theirs! But don't fall into that 'yuppy malnutrition' trap of forcing a low fat, low cal diet on growing children. That is not what they need.
There's nothing wrong with some bacon (and I didn't mean to imply there was) and a child does indeed need a significant amount of fat for brain development, which is why I asked how much the four year old ate.
"Some" bacon is really fine, but two POUNDS as a serving for one man and one very little boy!? Whether the little guy ate an unreasonable serving himself, he watched dad eat more than a pound (probably closer to two). It's a poor example to set, I don't think a 4 year old should learn that a pound and a half of bacon is a reasonable portion even for a thin adult (because he's going to be an adult one day, and eating a pound and a half of bacon in a sitting isn't something he should think of as normal - just as I wouldn't want a child to see an adult eating a jar of frosting or a quart of icecream, regardless of whether or not the child was given any).
There's a huge difference between putting a child on a low-fat diet and serving two pounds of bacon as a serving for two people (let alone when one of those people is a four year old).
Assuming the bacon was cooked fairly crisp, that's 2,000 or more calories just for the bacon. 2,000 calories is a pretty heavy breakfast for two grown adults to share, let alone an adult and a child (assuming they ate bacon and nothing else for breakfast).
I have teenagers in the house-- the girls are 12 and 14. Everybody in the family eats what I eat, except that I usually make either pasta or rice with dinner and everyone eats it except me. The kids moan and complain that we eat a lot of fish now, but most of the time, they'll eat it.
But, I'm careful not to the "the food police" either. I grew up in a home where food was restricted and carefully monitored and I don't want my kids to experience that either. I cook healthy meals, and the kids mostly snack on what's here-- fruit, cheese, bread. It's not too exciting. But I sometimes make pancakes and sausage, or bring home ice cream because I want them to learn to make their own food choices and I don't want them to be sneaking those foods or associating them with forbidden pleasure.
I think moderation is the key.
Luckily, as long as I have lots of tempting healthy stuff available I seem able to stay out of the bad stuff, so that's not a problem for me.
I tend to agree with most of the previous posts. My DH is overweight and I am very blessed that he will eat almost anything I put in front of him. My youngest son is days away from being 16 and he is not overweight, but he eats what I cook for the most part. My oldest son soon to be 20 is about 50/50 in eating what I cook. The difference in the two---- when my oldest son was younger I was on a "diet" and would cook 2 separate meals, so he didn't have to suffer...... as a result, he lives on fast food with NO VEGGIES! I thought I was doing him a favor by not making him eat what I was eating-- but I branded in his mind an unfavorable image of veggies being "bad" or "diet food"...... and I should not have (luckily he is in the military and is not overweight).
So.... here is my two cents worth...... I would sneak (if I had to) recipe substitutions in that your DH does not know of. Your son will LEARN to eat what you eat. Remember this is YOUR LIFE too..... and one thing I have learned from a lifetime of dieting.... if you don't see yourself doing it for a lifetime, then it won't work. So...... finding that happy medium is a must. You have to find something that you can live with forever...... for you and for them. As for the 4 year old..... don't give him a choice. God gave him to you to care for....... so do the best you can.
But, I'm careful not to the "the food police" either. I grew up in a home where food was restricted and carefully monitored and I don't want my kids to experience that either. I cook healthy meals, and the kids mostly snack on what's here-- fruit, cheese, bread. It's not too exciting. But I sometimes make pancakes and sausage, or bring home ice cream because I want them to learn to make their own food choices and I don't want them to be sneaking those foods or associating them with forbidden pleasure.
My kids still have the things they like but its in moderation and reasonable serving sizes not an All you can eat buffet of fat and sugar. They are normal active kids and I think depriving them of stuff I used to enjoy myself isn't reasonable but teaching them control over it.
We've been there, and we're walking along with you. 
