Overweight Husbands

Bluebellwould

Is he diabetic because a serious case of the munchies is one of the symptoms.

As is an under active thyroid gland. It is well worth trying to get him to seek help.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3112506/#:~:text=Thyroid%20hormones%20are%20known%20to,gain%20%5B3%2C%204%5D.

trustgone '*It`s the old saying really....you can lead a horse to water but you can`t force it to drink.* - unfortunately this is the problem for many overweight men I know (and increasingly, women) - they do, drink, willingly.

Very glad for sure that my OH is a social and occasional drinker. We BOTH carry extra weight - but that is due to portion control.

Rufus perhaps the ex husband retains the benefits of the married state???

DH is as happy as Larry with the meals I serve up, many from Slimming magazine. It is all the extra he consumes when not at the dining table.

Well if he doesn`t take your advice ExD tell him you are going to insure him as you will outlive him.
THAT maybe an eyeopener for him.
It`s the old saying really....you can lead a horse to water but you can`t force it to drink.

Hi, men do need more cals than women, and seeing as you like healthy food, why not make good wholesome meals and serve him large portions to fill him up?

SW ready meals are mostly spicy and no, not very filling for a large appetite.

Good choices are lean mince, chicken, eggs, loads of veg, hi fibre lower cal bread, fresh fruit and SKYR yogurts.

There lots of 79-99 calorie chewy bars...very nice and take a little while to eat too.

Good luck.

Rufus sadly not the way it works, the now single lady goes off and has a whale of a time and doesn’t have to do the cooking , cleaning and ironing for 2 people, or remember all of the Birthdays and buy presents for his family as well as hers.
And the newly single man, sits and wonders how he will manage to eat anything as he has never bothered to try to cook anything apart from beans and spag Bol. He will spend his days wondering what he did to deserve such a horrid wife! And will probably sit in a corner and shrivel up.
Heard today that a traditional white wedding dress could be to do with the fact that ‘all household appliances were white.........’ hmmmmm.

ages ago I read that single women live longer than married women and married men live longer than unmarried men

Pamela That doesn't seem right!
You're saying that if a DH becomes an EX and unmarried, his allotted life-span is suddenly curtailed, whereas I would think that being freed of criticism and apron strings, his single lifestyle would bring on peace and contentment and therefore increased longevity!
I'm no trick cyclist, but you know it makes sense!
Cheers!

Have you looked at the Hairy Dieters books? (The Hairy Bikers) There are a lot of slimmed down versions of normal meals.

I am another. I have done all I can, I serve the healthy meals which he enjoys, and he just snacks between meals and enjoys a couple of drinks in the evening,. It is only a couple and they are well watered down, but they are still calories. He has sleep apnea and is very good with using the breathing equipment every night. If he can do that why can he not approach his weight in the same constructive manner. He might be able to dispense with the breathing apparatus if he lost enough weight.

All I can do is carry on as I do and control my own weight and fitness.

I’ve tried over the years to help DH eat more healthily and I’ve now given up. He is type2 diabetic and has been on the 8 week diet course provided here. Every time he came back from his course he said they were saying the same thing as I’d been suggesting.

I just won’t be the food police any longer!

It does concern me but what can you do?

I wonder why it’s the wife that has to sort out the DHs diet?

I also used to think like that, until I realised that my OH's bad diet habits were impacting on our shopping and meals - and therefore my weight! So I make sure that when I'm providing the day's meals, they are healthy. On his cooking days (usually 2 days a week), I eat everything but leave the carbs out. If it's pasta, I eat a small portion.

rufus, ages ago I read that single women live longer than married women and married men live longer than unmarried men.
Now I am not sure about the figures but my DH would still be patting his beer belly fondly if it wasn’t for me!
We are on the 5/2, I’m secret eating at the moment because I don’t really want to lose any more but still feel I need to show my solidarity.
And luckylegs his snoring is almost nonexistent at the moment.
We’d love to cut the apron strings but then we maybe widows and he’s lovely really?

wonder why it’s the wife that has to sort out the DHs diet? ( as I do)

It's residual "mothering" instinct! You have to cut the apron strings sooner or later!

My husband has always been big, dieted in the past for weddings but just put it all back on and more. I’ve nagged in the past and said years ago that I don’t want to have a fat husband but to no avail.

Suddenly in February, he announced he wasn’t going to drink any more for the time being, which makes a huge difference. He also went on a really strict diet. He does the cooking so he’d make me a lovely meal but just have the meat etc with a salad or even just boiled eggs often. He admitted he was always hungry but sheer determination got him through. Neither of us had a drink for six months. Just been on holiday where he had an odd drink and relaxed the diet a bit but now we’re back, he’s back to it.

He found low fat versions of things, gave himself a treat of a sugarless Uncle Joe’s Mintballs or licorice, discovered that he liked a mixture of fruit with low fat yoghurt at lunchtime but with some granola on top or a salad but an interesting one.

All I can say is, I’ve been in awe of his willpower once he set his mind to it. He won’t weigh himself but I guess he’s lost 3/4 stones, stopped snoring, feels better, his knees don’t hurt as much. I don’t think you can make them do it, they might have to have a little fright, maybe like high blood pressure or something that is solved by losing weight. I’ve put weight on because he loves making delicious food and it satisfies his cravings but I got huge platefuls until I pointed it out!

Encourage him to walk every day?
DH often walks on his own as he walks at a much faster pace than I do.We go for an amble together most days, but every other day he does an early fast paced walk.

All you can really do realistically ExD is to provide nutritious meals and make sure the cupboards aren’t awash with snacks and treats.
Cut down on portion size too at mealtimes.If he has to go out and buy snacks he won’t do it too often presumably? Most people eat them if they are readily available but don’t bother to seek them out.Keep the fruit bowl filled up?

Sorry ‘he’s a meat and two veg’ man

geekesse OP said he doesn’t like pasta, meat and two veg, I think he might just notice lentils, she also said he goes out to buy buy sausage rolls and mars bars.
ExD i would show him your post, explain you care for him, are worried and at your wits end, hence a call for help. I agree with janeainsworth the only person who can make the change is himself.
Another option is stop cooking for him.

Oopsadaisy I wonder why it’s the wife that has to sort out the DHs diet?
I think that is exactly the problem.
When women assume it’s their problem, the man is not only absolved of responsibility for his own health & appearance but he can also blame the woman not only for nagging him about his diet but also feeding him the wrong things.

The book I mention is by Dr Michael Mosley's wife, she is also a GP.

Buy the Fast 800 recipe book and just feed him accordingly. It fooled my husband, he is losing weight. Bonus is, I am too. The main thing is, the book is full of tasty recipes

Good luck.

Replace meat in most meals with pulses or lentils. 100g of lentils is about 116 calories. The same amount of mince is 300 calories. Lentils make you feel fuller, digest more slowly so you feel full for longer, and incidentally contribute to healthy bowel habits. Almost every mince recipe can be made with one or other variety of lentils instead of meat, and you can make lentil burgers instead of the beef variety. If you have to use mince, use it half-and-half with lentils or add veg instead of half of the meat. For example, when I make spaghetti bolognese, I use very little meat but lots of chopped mushrooms and grated carrot.

Use skinned chicken or turkey instead of beef, pork or lamb when it has to be meat.

Change the balance a little on the plate: more pasta, rice or potato and less meat/lentil stuff. Never add butter to mash - use skimmed milk - and don’t use butter on new or boiled potatoes. Roast spuds should be a very rare treat, and chips too. If you do chips, oven chips are better than deep fried ones, but if you have an air-fryer, that’s even better.

Use smaller plates. They look full with less food on them.

If you do those things, you can cut the calories in every meal without an major change to the sorts of things you eat.

Do not keep biscuits, cakes, sweets, crisps or snacks in the house at all. If they are there, he will eat them. Keep fresh fruit available at all times.

Offer water or low calorie squashes, no fizzy drinks, not even sugar-free ones. Use semi- or skimmed milk for tea and coffee, and low calorie granulated sugar substitute.

I can recommend the 8 week blood sugar diet recipe book, Michael Moseley. Been using it since the start of the year and DH has lost and kept off 2 stone and myself 1.5 stone. Some great recipes in it, low carb.

Is he diabetic because a serious case of the munchies is one of the symptoms.