Quote:
Originally Posted by dek6
WOW. Congratulations. Just exactly what did you say. My husband is 31 is about 100 pounds overweight, high blod pressure and high cholesterol. He takes 3 diff meds. I am trying so hard to get him to eat better. He does good for a few days. He lost about 10 pounds a few weeks ago and then after 2 weeks he put it all back on.
What did I say...let's see...
Well, for starters, we were on AIM together because I was at work and he was at home. Sometimes I find it easier to talk about potentially troublesome topics in IM, because the words are slower and more measured.
Then I said something like, "I would like to talk about a topic that I know we have both thought about. The honest truth is, we are both very overweight and unhealthy because of it, and our future health is in danger. Would you say that's an accurate statement?" (The point is to first get agreement on the basis of the discussion, which is an honest assessment of the situation.)
He agreed, so I went on, "I would like to talk about making some lifestyle changes so that we can fix this problem over the long-term. What we would do is make small changes that will eventually add up. I know that you will not like some of those changes, though. Could we talk about that?"
That's when he said the thing about having to stop drinking soda
I said yes, he'd have to give up soda; and after a couple of weeks of that, we would try some other changes to be healthier. Specifically we are going to try out the South Beach food plan together. I told him I wanted a couple of recipe books, one of which includes a lot of grilling recipes, which I said I thought he would like, and he said that sounded good to him.
So I guess I'd say that you really have to get some buy-in first, and then start making incremental changes when you have agreement. Start transitioning your kitchen to be a more healthy place; don't keep junk food around once you've agreed to not have it. If he's eating unhealthy lunches away from home, maybe take over packing him a lunch he will enjoy; BUT you must make sure that he will be able to enjoy it. You're not going to be able to get him to eat stuff he just doesn't like, so plan around the things he prefers. Example, my husband must have cold water to drink, he cannot just drink tap water; so part of our conversation was about that, and how to make that work better for him.
Being considerate and making room for a spouse's preferences goes a long way, I think. But it will probably be an extended process of you leading and teaching him.