Okay. So I am at it again. I've reached a point where I have become disgusted enough about our waistlines and intake that I threw out the junk. Then hubby comes home..... :roll: Do you ladies buy whatever you want and hubby stays out of it? or do you "submit" and buy his junk and then the kids sneak it from the cubboard when nobody is around? I'm getting to a breaking point here . Hubby has a metabolism that most women would die for. He just doesn't get that just because someone may not be overweight doesn't mean they are healthy. He is selfish when it comes to making changes to benefit anyone else. Any help you ladies can give? Does healthy living trump the head of house card?....sorry if I should have posted on the Christian forum...at first it seemed like an "Other Conversation" thing....
Sigh..... DH is the one in this house with the biggest waisteline problem! So I do buy chips for the kids, and try to keep HIM out of them! I get wavy, because he likes the "regular" ones better. I also try to keep them put away where he is less likely to find them. My "newest" place is inside one of those popcorn tins you get at Christmas, LOL! I would like to buy all whole-wheat bread, etc, but have given up. It's just not worth the hassle. I do try to make some changes, but they are small (hoping they add up, LOL!) We are also exercising together as a family now. I found a copy of "The Chicken Fat" on-line. It's a really cool exercise song that was played on TV when I was a kid. "Go, you chicken fat, go away! Go you chicken fat, gooooooo!!!!!!!" It's like an army drill, and my kids love it. We do sit ups, jumping jacks, push ups, marching in place, etc. And the kids are keeping Daddy accountable. We do it pretty much as soon as he gets home from work..
I make up the store list, the menus and I do the cooking. My husband will eat what I make, but he will pick out every last piece of a vegetable. Kevin is super choosy, so often he will eat cereal for supper instead of what I made. I have started fixing more of what I prefer, because I miss vegetables. My husband and son could live on beef and fries all their lives, but I like things like corned beef and cabbage, ham with green beans and potatoes, and this casserole my mom makes of potatoes, zucchini, and stewed tomatoes. LOL!! Can any of you tell it's suppertime here? USA Today Weekend had an article about eating every three hours and losing weight. It's called the Three Hour Diet. I forget the author, though.
Here, if we could cut back on the condiments, I think we would have half the battle beaten. We buy potato chips and such things for treats but we have cut back on those as well - instead we buy things like flavored rice cake chips and popcorn. When we buy things for the boys lunches, it has become a desperate challenge to find hiding places for them. I think they all have a nose that was made to sniff out chocolate- they find the treats everytime! When it comes time to pack a lunch for them - SURPRISE! there's nothing left because they've already feasted away on it! And so I'm done buying the junk! As for weight loss - I wish I had that answer - it would do me a world of good (and the back too). The problem I have is that right now, walking isn't a really good option for me because it hurts to walk for extended periods of time, but swimming is a really good one because you're using every muscle in your body and it's low impact. Sorry that I'm not much help to you... Brenda
I try to teach my girls to eat healthly we have carrots and things on table when we are doing school, along with cut up apples and grapes. But, sometimes the craving just takes a hold and we need salt and chocolate. If you all know what I mean. We try to walk twice a day but as you get older it's harder to come off. It's hard to eat healthy all the time. But, sometimes if you make the meals creative and fun. They might give it a try and find out it's not so bad. I found out to get my girls to eat more and differnet things is let them help make the dish they see what goes in it and ask is this good for me mom and I tell them yes and why and then it goes from there and then they are more willing to give it a try and if they like it they say we made it. LOL GOOD LUCK :lol:
My husband and I were just discussing this over the weekend. We had some family pictures made, and when we saw them thought, "Yikes!! We have to lose some weight!!" My husband is good about eating what I make, but he likes to snack. I can make a perfectly healthy meal and he's fine....for an hour or so and he's snacking on junk food "just to tide him over." Our biggest battle is Dr. Pepper. I have a friend that stopped drinking pop (didn't change anything else about her diet or routine) and lost 20 pounds!! I keep thinking that's where we need to start, but it's so hard!!! I work nights from home, and then homeschool the kids during the day. Honestly, I don't know if I could make it without my Dr. Pepper!! I've tried, but don't get too far into the day until I cave in. The kids aren't a problem. My son has never LIKED pop (doesn't like anything carbonated) and will spit it out. My daughter will drink it if we let her, but since she and brother do everything together, she always gets what he does. I'm SO thankful that it's not an issue/problem for us. I'd much rather them not get started on it.
Both my dh and my ds are good about eating what I cook. Ds won't eat spicy food yet, so if I cook enchiladas, for example, I fix him his very own (same ingredients, but no spicy tomato sauce included in his). He has gotten to like taco salad! Ds won't eat lettuce type salads, but loves to munch on raw veggies like bell peppers (any color except green), cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. He also likes fresh fruit. Dh LOVES veggies, so that's not a problem in this household. Our main problem is getting chocolate cravings. I try not to shop for groceries when I'm hungry. I also try to stick to my list! Dh likes to snack between meals, too, so I try to have healthy snacks around. We hardly ever buy chips, I rarely bake cakes. (I usually bake them for church activities, and just pour a little batter in a couple of cupcake molds so ds has a treat. He gets sad if I take the whole cake away and he doesn't get some!) Ds is very active and healthy, his weight is ideal. Dh and I would like to lose weight. We try to exercise, but it's mostly built into our day (climbing several flights of stairs, parking farther away from the stores, etc.). We need to add some regular exercise to our week. With warmer weather coming soon, we'll get busy in our garden and get LOTS of exercise until autumn. Winter is the hardest time to stay physically active. Overall, we eat a pretty healthy diet. Dh and I have maintained our weight for years, we'd just like to lose some of it! It's a lot harder than it was ten years ago...
Oh, I forgot! We switched to Coke Light several years ago, and I dropped ten pounds! No other changes, just giving up the regular Coke. I had tasted Diet Coke over the years and hated it. But I made myself switch and after about a month, I got used to it. I'd rather have diet anyday now, the regular tastes so sugary. I know, quitting soda altogether would have been healthier, but I'm a bit of a caffeine addict. (Maybe that Mountain Dew my Mom drank affected me after all? LOL) Going off caffeine is a killer for me -- headaches, no energy, etc. I guess I need to think and pray about cutting back on the caffeine.... Ds is not allowed to drink dark sodas (with caffeine), but I occasionally let him have some Sprite.
You know, we were discussing food budgets on another thread. One way I am able to keep my food budget so low ($180 for two weeks) is by NOT buying pop and a lot of junk food. I was surprised how easy it was for me to give up pop! We rarely have it in the house, unless we're expecting company (or DSS is coming for dinner, LOL!) I do pick me up a can whenever I go to my MIL's house. I also don't trust any of the artificial sweeteners. I refuse to buy anything that contain them, including the "low sugar" breakfast cereals. Now, that's not meant as a brag! I still buy other things that probably shouldn't, such as chips for lunch, and we often have candy of one kind or another around the house. And I would love to drop about 25 pounds (DH closer to 50!!!)
Here's a quick run down..... I keep containers in the fridge of already prepared/cleaned celery, carrots, apples, oranges, and grapes. These are all our "free/no permission needed" foods and the kids know they are available at all times. Dd is great about eating healthy foods....her problem is that if anyone is eating, she is "hungry" too. She is a bit pudgy. Ds used to not be pudgy at all (too skinny actually) and now he is pudgy. He is almost 9 and I do remember boys going through that kind of phase. But he HATES the "free" foods and won't eat them. He comes by it honestly cuz DH won't eat any of them either. Dh won't take any fruit when it is offered with the meals either and he gives almost everything he eats a healthy dose of ranch dressing.....no pun intended :lol: . He got dd started on that too when she was young and he would get mad at me when I would "restrict" her diet by not letting her have it. Our compromise was "not with everything and only a small amount"--for dd, not dh :roll: . Dh has a bit of a gut started, but the rest of him is average sized, which is why he doesn't see his health problem. I have always been overweight, even when I was running daily and cross training for every sport throughout the year. Come to find out I have a thyroid problem, but medication doesn't help you get the pounds off that added up. With all of hubby's junk in the house--which he dispenses freely to the kids (unless it is in short supply and then he eats it in front of them but tells them they can't have it)--it is difficult to keep everyone out of it. Fortunately I don't have a chip and dip thing our I'd be over 300 lbs by now! It is difficult to lose weight when I fix "comfort foods" that Dh wants all the time. When I fix something he doesn't like he will only eat the meat served and then sits at the table with his chips and dip. The kids whine and he tells them that they can have some too after they finish supper!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Ugh. I told Dh that I was planning on starting Weight Watchers when I get my paychecks coming back in. He is very supportive of that, but doesn't get why I would want us all to "suffer" by not buying the junk. And on the budget topic.....I can spend at Aldi's (not sure if you guys have that store around you--cheap!!!) about $50 a week on a good healthy diet. Then Dh will make trips to the store for pop, chips, dip, etc. and throws a fit cuz I didn't buy it. That one trip to the store costs us about $15 or more if he gets ice cream (which he comes in the door saying "Babe, I thought you might like some" complete with a smile like he's gonna make my day :roll: ) Just so everyone knows....I love hubby soooooo much. That is not the issue at all. It really only has to do with health and how he doesn't understand.
Make sure to keep the cutup veggies on the top shelf and the other stuff down out of sight! I forget to do that every time.
I agree my dh is the same way send him to store and he comes home with all kinds of things and junk along with it. Longs to snack all the time but not on carrots, or anything good. Then he will get upset and say don't like the girls do all that snacking on junk, and he is sitting there doing it. I GIVE UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Becky, your husband sounds just like mine. If we have Chinese, he will order whatever it is and tell them "minus the vegetables"-WHAT CHINESE DISH DOESN'T HAVE VEGGIES!?! The only way I can get him to eat vegetables is if I make a sauce to cover the top of it. My son on the other hand will at least try things (most of the time) and loves his veggies, especially raw ones which are better for you anyways. My husband isn't so picky he wont eat what we have but that's because he's too lazy to make his own meal when he gets home from work-he he. He could live on pizza if I let him. In our house, I wear the pants when it comes to what we eat (among other things). I only buy whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta noodles, less beef, and VERY limited sweets and junk food. The only chips I buy are blue corn chips made with sea salt. My husband likes the spicy ones, I like the plain ones. I'm not saying we don't have the occasional junk, but we limit it. My husband knows that if he doesn't eat what I make-he starves. Plus, with the history of my husbands health and my families, we have to watch what we eat. He has-a plastic knee, psoriasis, tininitus, an ulcer, IBS, carpal tunnel, he's half colored blind, half deaf in one ear...the list goes on. There's more health issues as well. But gosh is he handsome . The only real bad thing for us is that we do eat a lot of cheese. I LOVE CHEESE-YUM!!!! Brooke: my husband LOVES ranch!!! He showers it on EVERYTHING. And now he has our son doing it too. He wont use ketchup, he asks for ranch now-AHHH! His response is "it's the ultimate condiment-it tastes great on everything". I've now began to buy fat free ranch-he isn't too happy about that one :lol: .
Jen, try this- ( I think I posted this before) Take tortilla wraps and cut them like a pizza. P,ace on ungreased cookie sheet and spray lightly. Bake at 250 until just lightly brown. Watch closely because they'll burn quick. You can used different flavors of tortillias, too.
Wow! I forgot that I posted this one! I didn't join Weight Watchers.....but I'm happy to report that hubby finally got onboard with limiting the junk....and ALL of our waistlines are fitter for it!....it helps that summer is here. We severely limited the videos and video games for ds (not that we own that many, but he was starting to want to veg out). Dd is a goal setter at 6 (she didn't get it from me!) and that girl decided that she wanted to climb the rope in one of our walnut trees.....well, she had a lot more weight than her little friends who could shimmy up with little effort...welllllll.....she was so determined that now she can do it, too! Wow! I was so proud of her. A key, though is to not make it about weight, but about health, although dd told me that the other girls didn't have the same weight to carry up there :wink: . I hope that determination sticks with her--and maybe some will rub off on me! :lol:
I wish no pop affected my budget that well! I only spend maybe $3 per shopping trip on pop and I still spend in a week what you spend in two. Part of my problem is that I'm feeing me - a diabetic and Brianna with prader willi. Both very particular diets. Lots of fresh veggies which are NOT cheap. No white bread, all whole grain - that stuff is never 2/$1 like the white is. Everything I buy has to be low carb, and I don't mean the stuff advertised as low carb, I mean the stuff that is healthy for you. There's a big difference. LOL. Once you cut out all the artificial stuff, it gets so expensive. The low sugar breakfast cereals? Check the label. Twice as many carbs. (maybe not twice, but a LOT more). So, sugar free for me, low calorie for Brianna and I both, and yet healthy. Yeah. <sigh> I'd love to cut my bill down but it just doesn't happen. Add to this her braces and the fact that she hasn't been allowed to have carrot sticks, or celery, or..... <insert sceam of frustration> Sorry. Vent over. :wink: Glenda
We don't buy a lot of junk food. In fact, only for special occasions and even at that we often aim for something healthier like veggies and dip or cheese and olives or something. Hubbie has some at work sometimes, and occasionally brings some home but not all that often. I gotta say hubbie is good about eating what I cook. We allow only a small amount of "picking out" here, and what is on the table is what you eat. I try to cook something that everybody likes, so if there is one part of the meal you don't like, there is something else you do like. Once they're out on their own they can eat as they like but until then it's tough luck. LOL This became a very GOOD thing when Brianna came along. Try explaining to a disabled child why her brother could something else for supper but she has to have whats in front of her. I was really glad I had stuck to my guns at that point. I got pretty unpicky eaters out of it, kids who will over all eat whats given to them. There were days when it seemed like it would never happen, and days I thought surely they'd starve on what they ate, but they've grown up quite healthy. LOL Now if they'd just eat LESS so I could buy less!!!!!!!!!! lol Glenda
water Huge help is to drink loads of water. Weight Watchers pushes water drinking. I went last year and lost over 20 lbs but have slowly put most of it back on. I do try to drink all the water. We did switch to diet drinks which I have always hated. They are not too bad once you get used to them. Any way you need to exercise and I don't do that. If I did I know I could keep the weight off. Weight Watcher is hard and buying good foods do cost a lot more. That is why I came off it. Couldn't afford to keep buying all the good foods. Oh well. HS mom's usually don't have an income to help out.
I cannot imagine how Jackie's family survives on 180.00 every tewo weeks. I shop Weis Market, which is the cheapest store around here. Even if I stick to their circular I cannot spend less than 130.00 a week., and that's buying store brands of stuff. I must have coffee and diet soda, so I buy those when they're on sale. For example when soda is 4-12pks for 10.00 I'll get 12 -12 pks. Coffee the same way. CVS pharmacy has Maxwell house, the big cans, for 4.99- almost half price. I called and ordered 5 of those to put away for when it's 8 or 9.00 a can. And then there's my 80 roll case of CVS t.p. for 26.00........
