Okay, maybe he was in a foul mood. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt...but oooooooooooooh, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! <stomps foot>

DH is looking over an email I got about the SBD -- about purging your cupboards of unnecessary temptation. Then ... THEN...he starts going off about how this is such an expensive diet and he could easily see spending $300/wk on meats. Then he starts going off about how this is just like the Atkins diet, etc.

I am so frustrated

I should explain that we eat out of boxes -- almost all the time. Mac n Cheese is a huge staple in our hours (I know! I know!) So of course he's freaking out over the fact that the staples in our house won't be eaten by us and we're substituting...what?!?! I guess all he sees are dollar signs and meats.

I want to cry. I really do. But I better not say any more because it'll look like I'm bashing my husband -- or it'll prompt all of you to do it -- and I certainly don't want that...but GRRRRR!

It is more expense the first month...then you get all of the staples and differnet stuff, and you get used to cooking the SBD way....It will be ok

Frugal... Deep breath darlin..give him some space to cool off a bit!
Try to explain that yer health comes first-- Phase 1 is a bit "atkinish" but after that it is sooooo NOT. And it does not promote eating tons of meat everyday..
Little by little start removing those boxed items to "storage"..
Build up yer new pantry little bit each week....
In the beginning it does seem expensive, but you will soon learn what and how much to by.. and planning meals helps.

Try making one of the tried and true People pleasin recipes fer DH.
I'm sure the other chicks here will have more words of wisdom and may have faced the same resistance you are

I can relate. My DH is fine with the new way of eating, but he feels like our pantry is empty. Do you know how much room those BOXES take up? LOL

Is your husband committed to SBD also? If not, you can fix him the food out of the boxes.

I was trying to cook down my M&C by feeding it to my DS and my DH went to Sam's and bought a huge thing of it. I could have killed him! (but, he didn't know).

I agree with everyone else that the first little bit is expensive while you get set up. But, once you start learning your favorites and what you will eat, it isn't that bad. Afterall, isn't your health worth it?

Good luck with grumpy... I hope he comes around.

Now, if I can just get mine to quit asking for CRACKERS!

Hey Frugal hang in there. My hubby is my rock and support however my mother, who lives with us, is the grumpy sabator in our house. She is diabetic and a sugar junky. I purged our cupboard really well this summer and she is constantly *****ing about there not being anything to eat in the house. She has a drawer that we call her candy drawer and I refuse to buy anything for it anymore. I've decided that if she wants to eat herself to death with sugar that I'm not going to be her enabler anymore and have refused to buy her candy. If she wants it she can get off of her butt and go get it herself.

I agree with the other chicks that it is expensive when you first start out but after you get to where you know what you like and what you need for staples it rounds out to just about what we were spending on junk, eating to much of the bad stuff and eating out all of the time. I don't know about the rest of the chicks but since I have been doing SBD I don't eat nearly as much as I use to. When you are eating the things your body needs it just seems to not need as much of it.

Hang in there hun and feel free to vent here anytime you need to . That is what we are here for.

sounds justlike my hubby,he says the same thing.i just ignore him,cause he fusses when i don't lose weight so he can't have it both ways either i can stay fat or i can buy what i need to lose it,he will get over it,thats how i feel anyway

Thanks, ladies.

DH just called and I was so proud of myself -- I didn't crab him out. He detected something in my voice and I told him I was a bit ticked at him. He asked why and I told him (again, calm, cool and collected--you know, like a *real*grown up ). He apologized and admitted that most of it was just misdirected anger. He woke up in a foul mood (I guess preparing for the day at the store -- he's a manager at a furniture store) and we had just done up a grocery/menu list -- which we BOTH hate doing. I assured him what ya'll had said -- that stocking a pantry -- regardless of whether it's healthy, natural foods or junk food -- is expensive! I told him we'd look over the recipes once the cookbook got here and decide which recipes could become our *new* staples and which ones were *splurges*.

He seemed to agree to that.

By now, you're probably thinking that Frugal is a complete fruitcake. Well, I am...but I am especially proud how I am approaching problems as a *grown up* instead of just shouting and insinuation name calling (you know the type -- "You are just so stupid when you do that!" Not really calling them stupid, per say...but insinuating that they are just that!) I know you all have just *met* me, but believe me...I have come along way!

I know what you mean about the cost of meat. I buy most of my meats at Sams Club/Costco because I can get it in bulk, which saves money in the long run. I take one package of meat and divide it into meal-size portions and freeze them. I get the large bags of frozen chicken breasts and large bags of brocolli and green beans which are a wonderful staple for the freezer. These are better than the limp beans and brocolli that I find in the stores during the winter here.
Canned and frozen veggies at Walmart are used along with fresh veggies, too.

It does help if your DH is doing the diet along with you but if he's not this can still be done. I just make sure that the bulk of what I cook is OP and will add a few things for DH.

Another thing is portion control. My DH usually eats *alot*~piles his plate and always goes back for seconds before he even realizes that he's full. So, I've told him that we are watching our portions now and that I will not be cooking huge amounts of meat. Last night I cooked a London Broil in my dutch oven (slow heat in the oven) and added cabbage and brocolli plus a few carrots and red potatos for him. There is enough meat left over for something tonight~maybe shredded and used for burittos or a taco salad.

Good for you!!! Don't forget that you don't have to do all the fancy recipes in the book. As long as the foods you choose are on the allowed list, you are good to go. I love the Pistachio Chicken Salad recipe. (get the pistachios in a large bag at WalMart and they last quite awhile). I will even just make the chicken breasts along side some veggies when I don't have time or ingredients for the salad and dressing. many of the recipes can be adapted to your lifestyle. I keep things pretty simple and love to use spices to flavor things.

DH admits that he needs to lose weight. I think he wants to lose weight. And he seemed excited about what I've told him about the SBD. The thing is, we are both carb-o-holics. And not the good kind either. Rice, pasta and potatoes...we love them all. It's going to be a change...but I *know* and I've *known* all along that simple sugars and those 'white' carbs (as I call them) are NOT good for me.

This is just what I need. And it seems like it's only 'limited' ( and I use that word loosely) in phase 1 and 2...once I get to my GW, it seems like I'm just eating sensibly...what I should have been doing all along (woulda, should, coulda...*sigh*)

One thing I did way back when I started South Beach was to gradually take the stuff that I would no longer eat and fix it for DH and Brian. For awhile (after p1), I would fix ww pasta for me and regular for them until I used up what I had previously bought. Then I switched us all to ww pasta. There are some things my husband is not willing to stop eating even though he eats the meals I fix and there are some things that I buy for Brian.

I know that I personally hate wasting food and will not throw away good food - guess that comes from growing up poor. You can take unopened stuff and donate it to a food bank or just gradually use it yourself.

Even now, food planning makes me grumpy so I can sure understand that. One thing that I am doing is that I picked up an extra calendar and I am using to keep track of the meals we eat. I will mark out a meal if we tried it and didn't like it and put a star by the ones that were specially good. I'm also putting the page number and an abbreviations for the cookbook. I'm hoping that makes it easier to remember what we all like and how we like it (especially what sides were good with it).

Barb what a fantastic idea with the second calendar. I have been trying to figure out how to do exactly what you just said. I have been just using a spiral note book but we get so many calendars at work that I could just grab another one to do this in. Thanks for the great idea.

The one thing that I have been doing is writing in my cookbooks. And OK I didn't think I would ever do that. Raised with a very strick you don't write in books attitude.

It is really helping though becaus sometimes we don't like the original recipe but if I play with the spices or make it a marinade instead of a rub or something like that we really like it. Also have been writing a rating on each recipe and what I put with it for a side dish that made it really good. Helps us a lot.

That is a great idea...I have got a ton of calendars around here (I am a freebie freak...LOL) That is definitely worth trying...and it'll also help with meal planning -- which as I've already said -- DH and I hate to do.

Great idea! That's what I'll do with the extra calendar that arrived to late to gift somebody!
I took years to get up the nerve to write in a cookbook but do it all the time now. It's great to see hints and warnings! They really are manuals for cooking. RTFM, eh, Barb?

I have notes on a lot of my cookbook recipes too. I'm always writing notes on what I change and how everyone likes it but I have so many cookbooks that sometimes I know I want to make something that I haven't made in awhile and I can't remember which cookbook its in. I figure the calendar should help with that.