Height: Tall enough for my feet to reach the ground
Brightside, I can totally emphasize with you about your husband, mine is the same way. He and I were talking just about 2 weeks ago, we had been watching a discovery channel show (or was it the health channel, whatever) about obesity and gastric bypass and they talked about people who were weighin in over 800 lbs. He was looking at what they ate and just amazed that they are not "full" and I said to him that unless you have ever had a weight problem you honestly do not understand. I have struggled my entire life and I have binged in the past and have to fight the urge to still sometimes. It isnt a matter of being "full" it is a mental satisfaction thing. You eat to feel good, then when you realize what you ate or how much you just ate you feel like crap, then you want the "good feeling" back so you eat more and it never stops. He can sit and eat 2-3 candy bars and not gain an ounce, eats healthy also but has a very high metabolism so he *can* do that if he choses. Or he will sit with a bag of chips and eat a couple handfuls and then set the bag down and not touch it again, where as I will eat a couple handfuls and if it is still within eyesight or reach I will keep nibbling until the bag is gone! I have to physically remove the food from my sight.
Now he doesnt understand how I can eat so little and still be full but then in a couple hours need something small to snack on. But that is how MY system is. He does the same thing but eats much bigger meals and then wants to snack within a short time also. I guess what I am trying to say is that while he is sympathetic to my *problem* he doesnt understand the full spectrum of it because he has never had a problem like it himself.
I once asked my husband, "If you weren't hungry and someone offered you your favorite food [for him, it might be cheesecake or pizza], would you eat it?" And he said, "If I wasn't hungry, no. Why would I eat something if I wasn't hungry?" Wow, not eating unless you're physically hungry, what a concept! *smacks forehead*
I really believe men are wired differently...not just the difference in fat-to-muscle ratio, but I think hormones affect us, too. I know so many women who'll binge on chocolate yet very few men with a sweet tooth.
Thankfully, my husband has been very supportive and is eating better along with me. He's taken some of his favorite recipes and made lower-fat versions of them. He even added spinach to his baked ziti so that we'd get more veggies in, and now it's our favorite dish.
Thanks StillTryin...glad my guy isn't the only one who doesn't get it. When I complain about junkfood in the house, he says "just don't eat it". The thing about chips makes me crazy...my DH does the same thing, has some, then he's done. I'm the type who nibbles & nibbles until the bag is gone. Bingeing is an awful cycle...been there, done that!
Laurelle - glad your guy is so supportive. You're lucky! Want to share the baked ziti recipe?
Brightside - My husband is the one who makes the ziti (yes, a man who cooks, I know I'm lucky!) so I don't know all the details on baking it, but we switched to part-skim ricotta and mozzarella and we mix in a box of frozen spinach - just blend it all with the ziti and sauce and bake it. I will ask him all the proper details! We've tried it with broccoli, too, which isn't bad but the ziti mix seems to blend better with spinach. It ends up being very filling.
Maybe you can be a little more assertive with your husband and let him know how you feel when he brings in the chips. Something like, "When you bring chips into the house and eat them in front of me, I feel tempted to go off my eating plan because I love chips. I would appreciate it if you could eat chips only at work or at least hide them from me in the house." You never know, it might work when you let him know how it's affecting you.
My DH is clueless as well... He tries, but he just doesn’t get it.
When we go to the store, he will help me read food labels even though he doesn't truly understand that calories, fat, sodium, carbs, fiber, sugar, and protein all need to be looked at to determine whether or not I should eat it.
One reason I cook most of the time is because he will not low-calorie, low-fat the recipe. I don't drink milk, and we buy 2% milk for the kids so I buy skim milk to cook with because the kids won't drink it. He will use the 2% every time. I almost had a cow one night because I was browning 10% fat ground beef for tacos, and he started to just dump the ground beef with all of the fat with it in the pot with the beans and seasonings. He said, it adds to the flavor; I was like, it adds to the fat and calories. I drain the grease off and rinse with water to get even more grease out of it. He doesn't understand that 10% fat ground beef is still high in calories and fat. He will also use regular butter in things instead of the low-fat margarine that is in the fridge. Mayonnaise is the same way; I buy regular and light mayonnaise because the kids won't eat the light. I had to just start buying all reduced-fat cheese because of the same thing.
DH will temp me with desserts - like cheesecake - and tell me that it won't hurt me. If I do eat something like that, I split it with somebody. My daughter took us to the local Italian place for my birthday, and I got strawberry cheesecake for dessert. We split it! I also ate two slices of pizza with mushrooms only. I haven't had pizza with meat on it in 3 years except for one time, and it made me sick.
I don't like chocolate so resisting a lot of sweets is easy, but I do like cheesecake, certain cakes, apple pie, sweet potato pie, etc. Those are my weakness... and I can't forget, REGULAR PEPSI. I used to drink it all the time, and I mean I didn't drink anything but Pepsi. Now the most I will drink is 12oz a day and sometimes not even that; I try to only drink it for my headaches (caffeine helps with migraines) and stomach upset.
Does Alli make anyone's stomach sour? Since Friday night, after going to Denny's, with every meal, my stomach gets to hurting and has a burning feel to it. I take a pill every meal. I can't finish the meal and I'm guessing that's why I'm losing weight. Is it my body reacting to the pill after all this time, stress I'm going through at home (splitting with my husband) or heartburn?
I don't take the pill often, and sometimes it will give me an upset stomach, but it's usually VERY mild. It's very possible your stress is contributing to your discomfort. But maybe someone else will know for sure.
Metalchic - I hate when people sabotage, whether it's intentional or not. Sounds like you really work hard at cooking low-fat. The fear of an "assplosion" kept me from even a bite of tiramisu last night. Maybe it will help you when you are next offered cheesecake! You're lucky you don't like chocolate!
Laurelle- obviously you live with a reasonable example of the male species. While my dh is wonderful in some ways, food is not one of them. We've been married almost 20 years and he doesn't feel he & the kids should have to be denied chips & other types of treats in the house. I do better when I keep it all in a non-see-through box in the pantry. My kids are 10 and they're so much more reasonable at this age than I was when I was their age. I used to hide candy & food and stuff the wrappers into the trash where no one could see and then deny I ate it! I think the fact that they have free access to treats makes the treats much less appealing. Fruit is always out on the table, treats are in the "special box" in the pantry. Obviously my food issues go way back to childhood!
Ah yes, all of our old food relationships. I blame my childhood pediatrician for my adult weight problem. I was actually an underweight kid - skinny as a rail. So the dr told my mother to practically force feed me to put weight on me. I was healthy, got strep throat every couple of months but I think that was because I tended to share my popsicles with the dog. So I got used to having anything and everything I wanted - not junk, but even if I didn't particularly want anything more, my mother would give me an extra helping of mashed potatoes or piece of lasagna or another hamburger. I'd eat it because after all, children in Europe were starving. (I suppose now they say Africa or North Korea.) Then I stopped growing 3 or 4 inches in height a year and suddenly was not underweight anymore. The dr then exclaimed that he didn't know how I got so fat! I remember him saying that right to my face, "How did you get so fat?" So it's not my fault! It'd Dr Keillor's fault!
I look at my son and get pretty worried. He definitely likes to eat. If he's bored, he'll sigh and say..."I'm hungry." I know he's not hungry, just bored! At mealtimes, he always has an eye out for seconds. He eats more healthy than any kid I have ever seen, so it's NOT FAIR that he is easily 10-20 pounds heavier than he should be. That may not sound too bad, but he is heavier than I was at his age (9), and I'm quite heavy as an adult. Does he stand a chance? I'm sure all you moms out there understand me when I say how much I hate always telling him no. I usually try to give a healthy option when he wants a snack - apple, banana, etc. He eats virtually no chips, cookies, pop, etc. He always had a fruit or veggie with his meals, drinks lots of water, and eats the same low-fat, low-calorie, whole grain type things I do. He has a bagful of candies and junk food from grandma (thanks, mom!), but he only gets one thing a day.
I don't reward him with food, don't give him free reign of snacks, don't let him spend his money on food, do take him with me on walks, etc. He plays sports, does not play video games, but I do admit he's more of a in-the-house-reading type kid than a riding-bikes-outside type. I don't want him to be hung up on his weight at this age (although he kind of is), but I also don't want to just ignore it!
And of course, it doesn't help that my daughter can eat 1/2 a pizza, ice cream, etc., and still be skinny. Grrrrr...
I was thinking about "assplosions" and wanted to share.. although it's yucky.
I was in K-Mart about an hour ago, and went in to use the ladies room. There was a woman in there, furiously washing her hands. I went into the stall, and saw what could have only been a TE, cause i have never seen anything else like it. She looked so embarassed; I wanted to tell her that I had been there before, but she booked out of the ladies room.
That keeps me eating well, cause I wouldn't want that to happen to me!
But maybe someone else will know for sure.
