So my hubby is very tall 6'6 and is around the 340's right now. He carries his weight super good so he just looks like a big man rather than fat. His arms and legs are very muscular but needless to say he just turned 30 and he knows he needs to lose some weight.
Problem with hubby is keeping him encourage. He lost 7lbs overnight!!!! and has been at the same weight for the past two days so now he is telling me that "this diet is not working"
I am keeping him on a low carb (40-70 depending on the day) I told him to give it some time but he is very impatience. A few years ago we both lost weight fairly easy and quick just by getting rid of the junk and eating home cooked meals. It seems like is getting harder this time around...
So ladies, and gentlemen! Need some help with tips!
Unlike a lot of women, he obviously hasn't spent his whole life doing diets. You need to educate him on how things work. When you first start a diet - you often will have a woosh ... and thats often just water weight your body is holding on to.
He needs to understand that on a daily basis he may not see a difference at all - so many factors affect weight. he just need to make sure he's trending downwards. Plus scales don't tend to be accurate enough to only notice a .1 difference but .1-.2 a day leads to a pound a week which is great weight loss.
Perhaps for him, he needs to only weight once a week!
I may be wrong but I sense poor motivation or perhaps some fear in your husband. I would work on fixing those things. Most of us have felt our weight-loss plans weren't working at some point, and the key is to keep following them anyway. So try to instill some motivation into him. I don't know how to do that though. One way might be to have him explain to you every so often why he wants to lose the weight. But if the motivation isn't in him, it just isn't going to work. He'll eat salad in front of you and bacon when you're at work.
And if he's afraid, then the thing there is to be supportive and reassuring. If he's anything like me, once the difference between the starting weight and the current weights hits about 15 pounds or so, that fear will start to go away.
mandypandy2246: I tried to explain him but he is set that the scale is not moving... Do men also retain water???
ControlW: I don't think fear is playing a role, he is just not that kind of guy, he is go getter and do it right away type of man so for him waiting is a real pain lol
JohnP: Im keeping him around 2000 calories per day since he is always on his feet. Eventually he will see a loss, but my question was more like I need tips to keep him motivated.
Make him read the goal section, not one person has a story of hitting goal in on week. Reading posts on this site has helped many of us stay focused. Let him chose rewards for accomplishing small goals. What works to keep u motivated? Maybe some routine blood tests will show an elevation in sugar or something and give him a push. Not saying they will, but my elevated sugar sure made me think twice. Ultimately he has to want it to achieve it. I have wanted to lose weight many times but apparently I didn't really want it, because I didn't really strive to accomplish. You can show him the light but he has to want to walk into it.
JohnP: Im keeping him around 2000 calories per day since he is always on his feet. Eventually he will see a loss, but my question was more like I need tips to keep him motivated.
Sorry I wasn't being clear. I'd have him read this post.
Motivation comes and goes. Education gives you the tools to understand what is happening.
Have him look at a calorie calculator. Teach him.
Either he wants to lose fat or he doesn't. Nothing you can do that won't potentially breed resentment so the best thing you can do is educate him on how it works and then the rest is up to him.
Achieving a healthy weight and reasonable fitness level, takes take a lifestyle change and patience.
It also takes a great deal of educating yourself.
It does sound like you are doing most of the cooking. If he really wants to do this, he needs to be involved in the kitchen.
Being at the same weight for 2 days, "DUH", Blonde moment.
I have 2 years of food and exercise journals, and calendars that are above my scale where I weigh in each morning. These tracking tools help me to identify trends in how my body works and responds, long term to what I'm doing.
He needs to take ownership over the process. He should decide if he wants to follow a low-carb path, and he should decide how many calories he needs in a day. And he should be the one to count them, if he thinks that calorie counting is the way to go.
This has to be his project if it's going to work, IMHO.
Something about men is that they are very hard to be "encouraged." The changes that need to be made to lose weight needs to be on him. All the cheerleading, coaching etc. cannot make up for the little to no motivation on his part to keep his end up in order to lose weight. Like JohnP said, the only thing you can do is educate him and let him do his own thing. You can support him, yes, but only on his terms. Anything more can be discouraging to him and can be borderline "nagging." Instant gratification is a trait common to weight losers, another thing for him to know. But the saying that I hear is that "it took time to put the weight on, it will take time to take it off."
Need advise... In the men department! Lol
