Help Me Help My Husband!

How about trade the dinner plates for smaller ones for everybody? Get out and play or walk as a family? Give him snacks, but portioned out so he has something healthy in a healthy quantity and only enough for the week? Maybe get him a nice cooler bag for his lunch and help him prepare healthy meals so he doesn't binge in the evening?

Late night snacks that didnt bother my waist were air popcorn and pickles.....

Feed him healthy protein. Give him a ziploc baggie with raw nuts in it to munch late in the day or on his way home. So when he walks in the door he isn't completely starved. Have something ELSE to hand him when he walks in the door: a glass of ice water, a celery stick with peanut butter on it, a basket of laundry to fold/put away, his running shoes.... seriously... get him occupied quickly.

Also, make sure he eats a breakfast that includes protein. A bowl of cereal is food, but it isn't the right kind of food really. He needs to eat 12-14 grams of protein at breakfast for it to last till even close to lunch. He needs to eat some protein at lunch too... a salad with no meat won't cut it.
If you fill him up with protein and veggies (limit the simple carbs which just equal sugar) then he will feel fuller for longer. Serve a garden salad with every meal as one of the side dishes. Eliminate sides dishes like white rice, macaroni, mashed potatoes, and bread.

As far as being a night snacker, there are two things you can do that will work together to address this problem.
1: don't bring junky snack foods into the house (no chips, no crackers, candy bars, ice-cream, or other junk); and
2: keep a supply of ready to eat snacks on hand that ARE healthy. The aforementioned celery sticks, (wash and cut up a few stalks, stick them in a sandwich ziploc bag and fill with water to help keep the celery fresh---stick it in the fridge), raw nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts) already shelled (my husband loves the Emerald brand), some of the greek yogurt that is now readily available (high protein, low fat), fresh fruit like apples which are now in season.

Maybe an hour after dinner you could get up and slice a chilled apple, put a dollop of peanut butter with it, sprinkle the apples and/or the peanut butter with cinnamon and serve it to him on a plate while you sit on the sofa (TV munchies). Or make popcorn on the stove (in a whirly pop it doesn't take much oil and it is FAR healthier than any microwave popcorn) and just add salt.

And stay positive. :)

Serve a lot of foods that add voume / but are low cal. Think multiple sides of veggies. Add salads, several steamed veggies (use herbs, salsa etc, low fat seasonings on them to keep them tasty). I don't eat meat but when I did and was watching, I would be sure that the majority of my plate was veggies...load it up....then I included a normal sized portion of protein and the smallest size portion of starch (brown rice, baked potato, pasta etc). The veggines fill you up, have fiber to keep you full and have little calories. You feel like you ate a ton but overal cal count is still low enough to be successful. Make sure he drinks plenty of water before and during his meal. Some people mistake thirst for hunger. Water also keeps you fuller. Good luck.

I've got to second the "weight watchers" suggestion. My hubby also wanted to lose about 20 pounds and tried all sorts of things. He just didn't know how to really eat like a "normal" person - and he had no idea how to make a lifestyle change. I suggested weight watchers and he said, "That's for women!!" Until I pointed out there is "Weight Watchers Online, for MEN" - specifically for men! I have no idea how it's different (It probably isn't) but you know guys..... Anyway, my husband lost at least 20 pounds this Spring. And the best part is, WW really helped show him HOW to eat!! Good luck :)

He probably does have time to eat at work, but just doesn't take it. Send him to work with healthy snacks that he can eat on the go, like a granola bar.

If he's a late night snacker, then have some low calorie snacks available for him. The reason many people will choose the junk food is because it's easy and all you need to do is open the package. So keep some healthy low cal easy snacks on hand.

drinking more water. If he likes to snack at night, air popped popcorn is a good low calorie/fiber snack.

Hey, Jamie,

Weightwatchers is really awesome and if he doesn't have time to do the whole meeting thing, the online stuff is even better. It keeps track of everything for him step by step. All he has to do is enter the information.

Make sure he eats a good breakfast before work and send him to work with healthy snacks that he can eat on the run at work. Things like cheese sticks, pretzels, baked chips, nuts. That way he has time to snack during the day on things that are good for him and won't binge once he gets home because he's literally starving. Make sure dinner is healthy, he can have extra portions of veggies or salads without doing himself too much damage, let him fill up on the good stuff.

If he has a sweet tooth, the 100 calorie hostess cupcakes are really good and come in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and carrot cake. Sugar free pudding and jello, sugar free fudgecicles, fresh strawberries and bananas cut up in some creamy sugar free vanilla yogurt is really, really yummy.

Hope this helps,

L.

My hubby just joined weight watchers on line, they have it for men now too. He can look up what he is eating and get the point rating. My hubby lost about 3 lbs the first week. He is so happy that he can eat anything and can still have his beer. He just has to watch the portion size and how many points each food has.

A good breakfast is essential. Then pack something healthful he can eat while he is working. (My husband keeps some nuts, fruit and veggies at work.) You may have to text him to remind him to eat until it becomes a habit. Then have a healthful dinner. After dinner, make sure he drinks a big glass of water.