I just couldn't bare being in the kitchen so I opted out of eating much. That left me with cravings. I would of eaten a whole cake if it were presented to me. I did eat but not in the same way as the other days-just not interested. And that is okay as I didn't eat sugar to compensate because there is nothing of the sort around here. That meant that eyed the Swiss cheese and the bread. But I refrained.
That is the advantage of living in the boondocks though-I wasn't going to go to town to buy a chocolate as its a 30 minute drive.
I have an issue that I think is common though-my spouse eats alot of good food but because he tends to be starving all the time the bulk of his diet is breads. Some breads I can do without like the English muffins which I think smell like stale yeast no matter how fresh they are. But other breads can be sooooo tempting!
My husband has liver issues so his protein count needs to be carefully tallied-he needs it but too much of it and his liver can't clear the ammonia out of his blood which leads to bouts of dementia. I think he would do great on a modified Paleo diet-one that allows him to eat grains to help him gain weight but also to keep him filled up. If I put a slab of ribs in front of this man he'd eat every last bite and not share-he is definitely a carnivore! But balance is so important here!
While my husbands medical condition might be unique to us-having a spouse who doesn't want to give up breads as a dietary staple isn't. He eagerly awaits the next apple pie or the rhubarb scones which I just don't want to bake right now.
He thinks I am insane to even try to do this diet. Once upon a time I thought all you Paleos out there were insane as well, so I relate. But I think he would feel better in the long run if he tried it himself if he got rid of the bread as filler.
Have you found a way to get your spouse interested in eating better? Have you come across a "modified Paleo diet"? Link? Information?
I can ENTIRELY relate to my husband's eating habits, effecting my own! Long story short, there's only so much willpower a person can possess. I have two strategies. Firstly, when it comes to making food for him, I can bake it, cut it and store it, but he has to serve it for himself. I found if I cut out the serving part, I didn't salivate over wanting the food myself.
ReplyDeleteSecond strategy is to keep his food out of sight! David keeps his treats on the bottom shelf of the fridge and in the upper shelves of the pantry. Both take some effort to see and find, and since asking him to serve his food, he is noticing how lonely eating is now. I didn't set it up this way for him to notice, it just happens to help my willpower doing it this way. When he wants to eat my food, then I serve it and we eat together. That's the other thing, if he's going to eat his food, I try and be out of the room, or if we have things to discuss, I'll do it from a different set of furniture (ie: he'll eat at the table, and I'll sit on the bar stool at the kitchen counter).
Why all these weird arrangements? Because I'm a social eater. If I'm standing near someone and they're eating, I'll want to eat it too. It helps my willpower endure if I don't have to be handling everybody's food and not part-taking in it myself. Having said that, I can occasionally serve food without a problem - its just if its all the time, its harder to stay focused on avoiding the food, everyone else is eating.
David has "coincidentally" started to eat more like me though, because he had a personal goal to meet, which was getting fit! He needed to be, in order to apply for the Army Reserves. As he started lifting weights, his body started craving more protein and vitamins, and as a result, less bread products came into the house. And he really felt it when he ate the bread products too. I'm like his personal trainer if I notice he's losing form in his workouts, I ask what he's been eating that day. We have a running joke now, if there's a problem, "gluten is responsible!". He noticed I said that a lot, if he had an ache or was feeling lethargic, I asked if he was eating bread products.
He liked to stir me for my gluten "sensitivity" on his behalf, if only I wasn't so correct. He exercises pain free and has more energy, when he steers clear of bread/gluten products. But to answer your question on how to get your partner interested in eating better, I think for the most part its got to be something they're already interested in. Eg: how can you turn a hobby or personal pursuit into something better, if they eat better? It was David's goal to get fit, not mine and for the most part, he owns his own health. I offer my two cents worth, but I don't give him grief if he doesn't abide. We have slightly different goals and we eat slightly different things, but we try to encourage one another.
For Garry to eat more like you, he has to recognise it has some value for him. Has Garry thought about joining in with the hunting friends you trade with? That would get him outside and experiencing food in a whole different way. For guys, they really need to SEE the value in what they're pursuing, rather than thinking about it like women do. David wanted to be in the Army Reserves, because he fed the soldiers at the army base. He saw what they were capable of on a daily basis, and he wanted to see if he could match it. No amount of me talking to him about changing his diet went in, but when he saw a goal he wanted to pursue and it happened to align with my eating habits, only then did his personal eating plan change. Crazy, huh?
Life can be ironic like that, but also very scientific and practical. Guys really need to see what's in it for them, and that's not a put down. Its just how they're biologically programed. :)
Chris, I am the main cook so if he wants something that I am not cooking he makes it himself. I am in the kitchen while he does that so when I smell toast wafting through the air it makes me hungrier! He also is always hungry so he eats a lot of fruits which I think is a real indication of a carb addict. But I cannot change him so I offer main meals in healthy form that he adds carbs to. Not half bad but I know that he can't go long without his bread and butter.
DeleteI put the bread and toaster in the bread box. Out of site out of mind is a great way to approach this. He always hid the chocolates anyway and he won't bake so there is no problem there. I won't do it for him.
I'm less selfless than you but I don't have kids so I don't feel obligated to fill the house with tempting foods. However that is how I have fixated on toast!