My husband and girls are thin and healthy by any and all standards. They exercise a lot and can eat most anything. Thankfully, 95% of their food choices are healthy, but not all of them. My husband, who is super fit, likes to have ice cream, chips, and chocolate in the house at all times. I am usually fine with it but sometimes I SWEAR the chips are calling out to me. I don't eat them, but I hear them.
I have read enough on here to understand that removing temptation is the best option, but what do people do who can't remove temptation? My husband tries to compromise by picking baked chips, and ice cream flavors I don't like, but chocolate he won't budge on. He already feels he is being supportive since I have stopped cooking his meals for the time being, & he simply won't rid our home of all the things he enjoys.
Out of sight, out of mind. It's easier for me because I only have my 5 year old son to worry about and not another adult.
But some of the things I do are buying treats for him that I just don't like. Not that I buy him much candy, but if I did, it's something like a Reese's cup because I don't like peanut butter.
I buy ice cream novelties for him so I don't have to dish out the stuff, he can just take one himself, and I keep them on a lower shelf in the freezer, both so he can reach and also, so I don't see them when I open the freezer.
I also have a special cabinet that has his stuff in there, so I'm not looking at it all the time just going in and out for routine things. Not just treats, but granola bars and things I can pack in his backpack so he always has snacks with him - he gets a little nuts if he's hungry, and he's finally learning to eat something if he feels hungry, which is helping his behavior. (It probably sounds like I buy him a lot of junk, but he's very skinny and I'm pretty lenient with snacks for him, as long as he's eaten a healthy and nutritious meal. And I try to get things that are transfat free, HFCS free, etc. so while they aren't the highest quality calories he eats, they aren't awful either.)
You can also ask your hub and kids to not snack in front of you if that's a trigger (or excuse yourself and go to a different room)
I'd ask your husband to put the chocolate somewhere that you can't reach it easily nor see it as you go about you business in the kitchen. I know resisting temptation is easier for some people and harder for others. For me, if I put a food on my theoretical "Do Not Eat!!" list, it's pretty safe for me. I have some trigger foods that I just can't eat anymore or at least until I get the majority of the weight off and maybe learn some self control around them and can't keep in the house. There are other foods that could be dangerous but if I don't start, I'm fine.
My trigger foods are: Sweetened boxed cereals (Froot loops, Captn Crunch, Cinamon Toast Crunch), Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips, Cheddar Cheese flavored Ruffles chips, Cake of any incarnation. I do not keep those in the house.
Foods that the b/f likes that I don't touch but can have in the house: Oreos, Margarine, White Bread, Chips, Mrs. Fields Cookies, regular soda. Those are on "The List" and I leave them alone.
Last edited by Michelle98272; 04-30-2010 at 04:01 PM.
I used to have the same problem, until I realized my family has to support me. DH loves his sugar stuff, but due to PCOS its the WORST thing I can eat. So I just don't buy it.
I agree that maybe asking your DH to have a "stash" somewhere besides the kitchen. Tell him not to tell you, and don't buy them for him, so that you don't know they are somewhere in the house. The only other option I can see is getting him to convert to only buying enough servings for one treat at a time. It becomes a pain to have to drive, but I would hope if he wants to support you he would be willing to try different things to figure out what would work for you.
Its hard, but I know if you keep trying you can figure out something that will work!
I just don't allow anything in my home that is unhealthy or tempting. My son gets enough junk from school and same with my husband at work, when we are at home we eat healthy meals and snacks. To each their own, maybe the separate cabinet is a good idea, get it out of sight!
This might sound a little crazy, and idk if it will work, but here is my life.
I live with three roommates. Currently, I have ever type of bad food in my house: chips, cookies, chocolate, poptarts, mac and cheese...the list goes on. We're a pretty agreeable bunch; none of my roommates would care if I ate everything in the cupboard. Sometimes, one roommate will bake treats for the entire house.
I simply tell myself, over and over again "thats not my food. Thats not my food". It doesn't matter if its your husband, your children, whomever...its not yours. So, not only are you eating bad food, but its kinda stealing. Suddenly, stealing isn't so tempting...
My boyfriend was a big-time junk food buyer - always chips and chocolate in the apartment (he is also thin and sporty). I was finally really honest with him and said that I felt I was gaining weight because of it and that it was always a struggle to say no.
He fully supports my efforts to be at a healthy weight.... so he stopped buying both. Now, he'll eat chocolate at work and instead of chips, he buys these wasabi macademia nuts - which are a good salty fix and you do not want to eat them until the cows come home, unlike chips.
Although, I do honestly wish sometimes that I could have complete control over my kitchen again, like I did when I lived alone. I really miss that.
My husband enjoys the occasional ice-cream and chips... Just because he likes them, or my kids get a little candy, doesn't entitle me to have it as well. I agree, it is not MY food, and it is not going to help MY health. If I don't want it, but it's presence is tempting, then I have to redefine my relationship with that food. I shouls be able to put something off limits for ME without it limiting THEM, it's just a feat of some self control.
I agree that out of site is out of mind, and I will occasionally have my husband hide some foods from me or leave them at work, but in general the further I get in my weight loss journey the less temptation those hold for me.
Learning to say no to my inner two year old, instead of giving in or requiring other people to change to accommodate ME, was one of the best long term strategies for maintenance I have learned.
I have this problem with my husband who is diabetic and is usually non-compliant. He knows that if he chooses to bring bags of Reese Cups home, he better hide them from me... One, because they are terrible for him... and two, because I will be upset if I know they are in the house. I'm just not strong around sweets. Lately, I notice that he has stopped this bad behavior and is now eating fruit instead of sweets. Maybe my behaviors are rubbing off on him. Also, I have stopped buying candy for my grandson as I am reading about all how many children are overweight ... it's a national epidemic!
For me, out-of-sight, out-of-reach helps tremendously. Hubby and I are both dieting, but our trigger foods are different. We keep my trigger foods in a large soup pot on a shelf I can't reach. Sure I could get a stepladder and get them down (I do know where they are), but I tend not to think about them if I can't see them.
Also, even if I do start thinking about them, the idea of getting the stepladder out and lugging it to the pantry.... the amount of time it takes is usually enough time for me to realize I'm being ridiculous. I did get the stepladder once, but carrying it to the pantry I had time to think "what the heck are you doing?" and I put it back.
I find it really hard, I live with three guys, all of which are skinny and can eat whatever they like. I just have to deal with the temptation and have treats that are low in calories/points around so I don't feel like I'm missing out.
I also hold by the - it's not meant for me, it's not intended for me, it's not mine, it's not earmarked for me. I have a condition and for me to touch *their* food would be ludicrous - and not an option.
I would talk to hubby yet again and tell him you need to the support to be taken a step further. You're fighting for you life here, after all. Especially now, in the early stages, while you grasp the control. He can get his ice cream/chocolate/whatever fix elsewhere - but not in the home. "Please, please pretty please - it's vital to me right now. You will be rewarded with a much happier and healthier wife"
If that doesn't cut it, there's the "it's not mine" very important theory and yes - out of sight out of mind. He needs to keep his *supply* out of your sight. Let him hide it and not even tell you where it is! If need be (not for the ice cream), buy a safe and put it under lock and key - I'm serious by the way. Whatever you've got to do. WHATEVER YOU'VE GOT TO DO.
Do it. Because it's worth the effort.
I can't get rid of all the junk food at my house either. I am a college student, but I live with my parents and sister. They all eat sort of unhealthy. I buy my own food, and I put it on the seperate part of the freezer. I find as long as I have foods I love then I do not crave their food. However, when I start to get low on food and have to things that are healthy, but I really do not care for I find myself craving their junk food.
It is hard, but you can do it. I believe in you.
Last edited by Asherdoodles87; 05-01-2010 at 11:22 AM.
I have the same problems .. unfortunately sometimes i give into them and i eat what i shouldn't usually at night when hes sitting there munching away ill have a lil bit of what hes eating .. because he refuses to let me rid the house of "his" snacks i split the kitchen and hes got his own cupboard for his things and i put mine in a separate part of the kitchen .. i know there there but i don't have to look at them every time i go to get something for myself because his cupboard has just HIS junk food .. like the PP said out of site out of mind!! hope you can find something that helps you
How to live with temptation
