I had a mini-binge last night after doing so well all day long. My wife is overweight and doesn't really care what she eats, and she has all kinds of goodies laying around in the kitchen - a big bag of M&Ms, some Snicker-Doodle homemade cookies, chocolate-covered ice cream bars in the freezer (my personal downfall), homemade biscuits on the counter, and cooked-up bacon just lying there next to the stove(!) Egads! And to top it off, it was one of those nights when I was just plain starving before bedtime, and I had burned up all my alloted calories for the day by 8 p.m., darn it!
So I wound up eating things I ought not, but at least I didn't go crazy with it. I probably vacuumed up an additional 600-800 calories before bedtime. Maybe I should just look at it as my treat for the week - like Weight Watchers "discretionary points." I know the important thing is to hop back on the wagon and keep my eyes on the finish line. And you know what they say about falling - analyze what happened so it won't happen again. In my case, I need to make sure I leave myself with enough calories before bedtime to kill that hunger craving so I won't be so apt to forage for forbidden foods.
Also get yourself to the store and stock up on healthy snacks so that you can grab those instead.
I'm the cook in the house and have carb loving kids and mother in law living with us. I bake our own bread, baked goods and cook all meals from scratch. My snack drawer is filled with pretzels, gingersnaps, tostados, oreos and the cereal cabinet is a mix of sugared cereals and stuff like muesli.
I can't have any of that stuff. Yep, I bake the bread and don't touch it. I bake muffins (healthy whole grains for everything) and can't eat them. I made all kinds of things I can't eat. But, I have healthy snacks everywhere too - apples, cheese sticks, low carb protein shakes, protein bars and so on. It helps to have yummy things around to keep you from the things you shouldn't have (I have blood sugar issues so it's really a "shouldn't have").
also, are there things your wife likes but that you don't? I do buy treats for my (very skinny!) child but I buy things that I don't like at all so I am not even tempted! lol!
Maybe you could make a deal with your wife where she doesn't leave those things out! You know what they say--out of sight, out of mind. Not much can be done about the ice cream, but the other stuff doesn't need to be "laying around" in the kitchen.
Wow, to be honest I'd sit your wife down and ask for a bit of support. Even if she doesn't want to lose weight, she could at least not buy/hide those things to make it easier for you. I wouldn't put up with that. It is not as if you would be torturing your family by 'making' them eat healthily, so I'd go ahead and demand some support.
Wow, to be honest I'd sit your wife down and ask for a bit of support. Even if she doesn't want to lose weight, she could at least not buy/hide those things to make it easier for you. I wouldn't put up with that. It is not as if you would be torturing your family by 'making' them eat healthily, so I'd go ahead and demand some support.
Really? I would never expect anyone else to modify their eating habits just because I was. Hide her food? Not buy what she prefers to eat? If someone had told me what I could eat, where I could store the food, and what I could buy when I was overweight, I would have told them to stick it. Besides, asking someone who is overweight to hide their food is really not encouraging good habits in THEM.
There is junk food in this house. It is totally my responsibility and under my control whether or not I choose to eat it. It's not on anyone else.
And you know what they say about falling - analyze what happened so it won't happen again. In my case, I need to make sure I leave myself with enough calories before bedtime to kill that hunger craving so I won't be so apt to forage for forbidden foods.
Really? I would never expect anyone else to modify their eating habits just because I was. Hide her food? Not buy what she prefers to eat? If someone had told me what I could eat, where I could store the food, and what I could buy when I was overweight, I would have told them to stick it. Besides, asking someone who is overweight to hide their food is really not encouraging good habits in THEM.
There is junk food in this house. It is totally my responsibility and under my control whether or not I choose to eat it. It's not on anyone else.
Have to agree with that here. While I think it's great when a family does come together and want to eat better and live a healthier life, it's not unsupportive to not do so. I don't expect my family to give up carbs just because I can't have them. And most of what we eat is really healthy - the bread is whole graine. The rice is brown and so on, but it's still bad food for me.
Now, you could ask nicely that your wife make sure she put away the M&Ms and so on and maybe not store it in the same place as your healthy snacks, but beyond that, I wouldn't expect more.
Originally Posted by claire0412 Wow, to be honest I'd sit your wife down and ask for a bit of support. Even if she doesn't want to lose weight, she could at least not buy/hide those things to make it easier for you. I wouldn't put up with that. It is not as if you would be torturing your family by 'making' them eat healthily, so I'd go ahead and demand some support.
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Originally Posted by aimeebell Really? I would never expect anyone else to modify their eating habits just because I was. Hide her food? Not buy what she prefers to eat? If someone had told me what I could eat, where I could store the food, and what I could buy when I was overweight, I would have told them to stick it. Besides, asking someone who is overweight to hide their food is really not encouraging good habits in THEM.
There is junk food in this house. It is totally my responsibility and under my control whether or not I choose to eat it. It's not on anyone else.
Yes, really, just like I helped my spouse quit drinking by not keeping alcohol in the house. There are those of us who believe that we are addicted to certain foods, like sugar, just as some people are addicted to alcohol. Keeping certain foods around is just like setting a six pack of beer in front of an alcoholic and expecting them to just use will power to resist. I asked, not demanded, my husband and children for their help and they gave it to me. There were just a couple of items that I asked them to not bring in the house but we got containers to put the rest of their junk food in. We kept those temptations out of sight.
If you can't ask your loved ones for help, who can you ask? For many of us, this is not a matter of losing a few pounds so that we look better. It is a matter of quality of life or, possibly, life or death. I think that your family should care and be willing to help.
Don't feel bad Tricon. Last night I baked choco chip cookies and HAD to taste test them before I let my really skinny boyfriend have them. I only tried 2...or 5..with a little cup of 2% milk. This morning I weighed a lb more, but I weigh myself every day, so who knows what it's from. I'm definitely focused, and not letting last night make me feel like I failed and I have to start from the beginning again (so to speak.) You just move on, because there's going to be a lot of temptations, goof ups and indulgences, but the goal is consistently thinking/acting healthy, not imprisoning yourself to a life of absolutely NO indulgences.
I feel for ya! Hubby is better now but for years, he wanted high calorie, snacky foods around. Some things I just can't seem to resist if they are in the house. He doesn't have a weight problem and thought I should "just not eat it".
These days I manage (mostly) to not eat his chips because I buy them in the small bags for his lunch. He uses these to snack on at home sometimes too. I don't know why, but if there is an open bag of chips in the pantry, I just can't seem to control myself but I can leave the others. I leave them in the box or bag they came in so I don't see them every time I open the door. I know I'm spending a fortune doing it this way but it's better than having to struggle with it.
Maybe your wife buy her M&M-type stuff in the individual bags instead of big ones. As far as the other stuff, the only suggestion I have is to bag and refrigerate or freeze any leftovers immediately. Seriously, who can resist bacon leftovers? I can't! Last night we had enchiladas for dinner. They were Schwans so they were in a baking dish. As soon as I got ours out, I put the whole dish uncovered into the freezer. Then a few hours later I was able to pop it out of the dish and bag it for another meal. If I wait for it to cool down, I eat some before putting it away.
I agree you should be able to ask your wife for a little support. At the very least, she could not have the foods out in the open.
I think in order for somene to be truly sucessful in losing weight, they need to have a strong support system and an enviornment that supports their goals. There isn't just one food that he is trying to avoid there are many, that is just setting yourself up to fail. Perhaps you can talk to your wife and come up with something that works for both of you.
It's true that ultimatly you the choice to eat it or not eat it but I think I would be really upset if my husband brought home a bag of oreos and ate them in front of me. She doesn't have to chage her habits if she doesn't want to but being respectful and supportive is part of a healthy marraige.
My wife is overweight and doesn't really care what she eats, and she has all kinds of goodies laying around in the kitchen -
How long have you been on your program? When I first started my weight-loss I was super-morbidly obese, and my husband was a meer few points into the overweight range. I could have blamed him for all the junk food laying around the house, but only the day before I was helping him eat it. It was not his way of life, but OUR way of life. All he knew at the beginning was "this time" was (probably) another one of my professed "I'm gonna lose weight and never do it" proclamations. LOL When he saw I was serious, and the pounds started melting away, he began to be much more supportive. But in the beginning, for all he knew, it was just another one of my sorry attempts for yet another diet. Do what you gotta do, and try not to blame anyone but yourself for your binging. She didn't force feed you did she?
How long have you been on your program? When I first started my weight-loss I was super-morbidly obese, and my husband was a meer few points into the overweight range. I could have blamed him for all the junk food laying around the house, but only the day before I was helping him eat it. It was not his way of life, but OUR way of life. All he knew at the beginning was "this time" was (probably) another one of my professed "I'm gonna lose weight and never do it" proclamations. LOL When he saw I was serious, and the pounds started melting away, he began to be much more supportive. But in the beginning, for all he knew, it was just another one of my sorry attempts for yet another diet. Do what you gotta do, and try not to blame anyone but yourself for your binging. She didn't force feed you did she?
I completely agree, my boyfriend was the exact same way when I started. I can't count the number of times I said I was going to do, lasted a couple of days and then reverted back to old eating habits. His problem wasn't so much the junk in the house as it was the constant desire for us to go out to dinner which is where I lose my control much more readily. Once he realized I was serious he stop wanting to go out so much. Plus I am the cook of the house so I have control of what we eat which makes it so much easier.
You are ultimately the one that controls your weight loss, sure it would be easier if she didn't have the junk sitting out but it is simply an obstacle you have to overcome. Hopefully you will inspire her with your progress! Stay strong
many of us, this is not a matter of losing a few pounds so that we look better. It is a matter of quality of life or, possibly, life or death. I think that your family should care and be willing to help.
Not that it should matter, but I actually have weighed just about the same as you weigh now. Does that make me better qualified or more entitled to respond on a weight loss board? No. I have my opinions on addictions of all sorts and feel that being "powerless" is a bunch of bunk. If we were powerless yesterday, we are powerless today, self-accountability.
That said, I really don't think the OP was really blaming the wife for the binge and was doing a good job of assessing why it happened and how to make it happen less in the future.
Drat those temptations in the kitchen!
My wife is overweight and doesn't really care what she eats, and she has all kinds of goodies laying around in the kitchen - a big bag of M&Ms, some Snicker-Doodle homemade cookies, chocolate-covered ice cream bars in the freezer (my personal downfall), homemade biscuits on the counter, and cooked-up bacon just lying there next to the stove(!) Egads! And to top it off, it was one of those nights when I was just plain starving before bedtime, and I had burned up all my alloted calories for the day by 8 p.m., darn it! 
And you know what they say about falling - analyze what happened so it won't happen again. In my case, I need to make sure I leave myself with enough calories before bedtime to kill that hunger craving so I won't be so apt to forage for forbidden foods.
When I first started my weight-loss I was super-morbidly obese, and my husband was a meer few points into the overweight range. I could have blamed him for all the junk food laying around the house, but only the day before I was helping him eat it. It was not his way of life, but OUR way of life. All he knew at the beginning was "this time" was (probably) another one of my professed "I'm gonna lose weight and never do it" proclamations. LOL 
When he saw I was serious, and the pounds started melting away, he began to be much more supportive. But in the beginning, for all he knew, it was just another one of my sorry attempts for yet another diet. Do what you gotta do, and try not to blame anyone but yourself for your binging. She didn't force feed you did she?
