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Dieting & exercise

Weight loss tips for DH please

(53 Posts)
NannyB2604 Tue 30-Apr-24 17:09:14

Hi all, I'm looking for advice. For quite some time DH (69 next month) has been overweight (we're talking nearly 30 BMI, so not quite obese). He's tried several times to lose weight, but failed mainly because (a) feeling hungry makes him miserable and (b) he doesn't do much exercise (the extra weight means he gets out of breath). I cook healthy, tasty meals (eg Hairy Dieters), which he loves, but come evening he's hitting the sweet snacks. Hopefully today marked a turning point, as his GP told him that he should lose weight to help with his high-ish blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. Any tips to help him please? Thanks in advance.

MamaB247 Sat 04-May-24 12:28:07

It's the snacks you need to look at you. Need to start switching these for healthy alternatives to start with. Go for the sugar free and skinny versions first then try to cut them down. My hubbys issue was cheese he'd eat a whole block of brie in a snack on a night. Now he has a few cream crackers with light cheese spread and some blueberries or he'll eat a bowl of peas and sweetcorn mixed. Something he's always liked and much healthier. Or cucumber, tomatoes etc cut into wedges grated carrot mainly the veg and fruit below 50 calories (zero foods) he can snack to his hearts content now. Some you have to be careful if he's diabetic due to blood sugar but looks up zero calorie foods on YouTube. There's loads. Make snack south of them.

Shantygirly Sat 04-May-24 12:35:04

Cut down on carbs and cut out sugar. (watch out for hidden sugar like in flavoured yoghurts and dried fruit). How about swimming or aqua aerobics? Good exercise and not so hard on the old joints! I always leave the swimming pool 'buzzing' after a good aqua class.

Purplepixie Sat 04-May-24 12:37:00

If it is just down to you doing the shopping then stop buying the sweet treats etc. But if that was my husband then I would try not to nag but say that you want him to live to a ripe old age and not drop down dead. Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but it is reality and he needs to do something because his dr has pointed out these things to him. Good luck!

Grantanow Sat 04-May-24 13:13:11

No sugar, no bread, biscuits, cake, other carbs. Use nuts for snacks. More fish including tinned sardines. Get Dr Moseley's book.

Germanshepherdsmum Sat 04-May-24 13:15:51

No snacks full stop. Anyone who eats three nutritious and satisfying meals a day doesn’t need snacks. It’s just a habit.

grandtanteJE65 Sat 04-May-24 13:29:38

Does your husband want to loose weight, or is he just saying so to satisfy his doctor and you?

He won¨t loose weight unless he is prepared to make an effort.

To help him, throw out all the snacks, whether crisps, bicuits, chocolate etc, plus all soft drinks (including the so-called diet coke and sugarfree this and that ).

Keep treacle, sugar, brown sugar, marmelade, jam and honey locked away.

Serve smaller portions of food - use smaller plates. That way the difference in portion size isn't so noticable.

If you can, get him to agree that it is three meals a day and nothing in between.

Discuss with him which form of exercise he finds least boring
Walking, cycling on a conventional bike, not one with and electric motor, jogging etc. and do it with him EVERY DAY, or at least six days a week.

If he does not want to loose weight, you cannot make him - the decision has to be his and his alone, but you can point out that you have no desire to be rid of him to whichever illness his doctor has pointed out may well be the result of h is life style.

But there again - if your husband would rather live life his way rather than live a long life, he will do as he will do to quote the Rum Tum Tugger and there is nothing at all you can do about that!

icanhandthemback Sat 04-May-24 13:42:27

My husband followed Slimming World with me; low sugar, low fat, 1/3 veg or fruit on every plate at meal times and 20 Syns in treats. That meant he could have sugar free jellies (1/2 Syn per portion) with fruit in along with a sugar and fat free yoghurt (1/2 Syn) for his pudding. He could also have a Curly Wurly (5 Syns) as a treat in the evening. He lost loads and has maintained.

winterwhite Sat 04-May-24 15:12:57

I dislike the word treats used of things we eat. We aren’t children. We can surely ration ourselves without infantilising the process.

nipsmum Sat 04-May-24 15:38:54

Stop having these fattening foods in the house.

Barbadosbelle Sat 04-May-24 18:23:34

..

I read an article in The Times a few weeks ago about Apple Cider Vinegar and the help it can be with losing weight. Lots of 'celebrities' take it. Acts as an appetite suppressant.

I Googled and read more, then more in Amazon reviews. Most recommended tablet form rather than the liquid because of the acidic reaction on one's teeth. All favourable reviews.

I bought a tub from Amazon 3660mg, with Mother, 90 tablets, £11:69. Weighed myself Tuesday and took two tablets with Dinner that night.

Only weighing once a week on Tuesday's so don't know yet but certainly my appetite is much less and so I'm hopeful.

Might be worth researching.

..

icanhandthemback Sat 04-May-24 19:59:37

winterwhite

I dislike the word treats used of things we eat. We aren’t children. We can surely ration ourselves without infantilising the process.

A treat is "an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure." It doesn't have to be infantile any more than you have to be sniffy about people's use of language on here.

LJP1 Sat 04-May-24 20:08:21

Try more fruit & vegetables to fill his stomach and supply some micronutrients which are probably missing.

Good luck! shamrock

Sarahr Sat 04-May-24 20:55:29

Smaller plate for meals. It looks a full plate with less quantity. Smaller cup/mug for hot drinks. Smaller glass for cold drinks. Plus, he can keep a food diary to see exactly what he is consuming. It is so easy to "just have one biscuit/one packet of crisps". Walking is excellent for the overweight. Just a very short walk to start with, going a little further each day. Arm chair exercises until he can move more easily. Always do everything with him so he isn't exercising and eating alone. My husband is now in sight of his weight goal and I have benefitted too. We now walk every day and have smaller plates. I still have my larger mug but I drink fruit and herb teas, whereas my DH is using a smaller mug. Good luck to you both and take it one step at a time. You can also try heart healthy recipes as they will give you alternatives to use when cooking your favouritemeals.

Sarahr Sat 04-May-24 21:18:25

You can have sweet snacks. Never bring out the packet. Always portion out onto a plate. We have half a slice each of cake or fruit pie or one biscuit each, share a packet of crisps. Never buy multi packs. Don't buy anymore than one at a time. If it isn't there neither of you can eat it. I can say after 7 years hard slog that we are both benefitting from our new lifestyle and weight loss. DH challenged the nurse who told him to lose weight to also lose some. She is still overweight and I have a fitter leaner husband back again.

Skydancer Sat 04-May-24 21:19:03

2oaktrees this is an excellent idea.

vickya Sat 04-May-24 22:23:05

Slimming World works and so does Weightwatchers. I lost first in one and then the rest in the second, almost 8 stones in total by 2007 and have been a WW gold member, staying below goal since then. I get quite a way below and go up a bit at times like Xmas, Easter etc but not above goal. The mandatory thing that keeps me honest is the weekly weigh in. You can eat things you like but need to pick one of the versions of eating plan and the all allow not being hungry and having foods you don't want to do without.

I have a very sweet tooth and have a nightly treat after supper of an ice cream like www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/310169770 or one of the other ones that are low fat and very nice. I also have a big bowl of salad in the before supper time when I'm already hungry. Foods for breakfast like porridge are healthy and filling and fewer WW points. The encouragement of the group leader and other members is useful.

4allweknow Sun 05-May-24 01:30:53

Just don't have the sweet snacks in the house. Offer an apple, banana, blueberries or if desperate, carrot sticks. If impossible to live without the treats, some rice cakes are very low in calories but not carbohydrates, and can have flavours eg salt and vinegar, toffee.

muckandnettles Sat 18-May-24 16:51:14

I'm afraid that he needs to do the work on this, not you. No sugary stuff, fewer carbs, etc, but I'm sure he knows that. Basically he will feel hungry at times, but needs to know that and deal with it, know that it will pass and distract himself with a cup of coffee or going for a walk. The first two weeks are the worst!

My doctor also recommends doing 16:8 as a regular way of eating, ie. eat in an 8 hour window however you want to do that. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't recommended by my GP but that's what I do now and I'm quite used to it - no breakfast and just start eating at midday until 8pm. It's easy enough to do without calorie counting or anything special and although you don't get any drastic weight loss, you will eventually lose little by little if you want to as it makes it easier. Again, the first two weeks are the worst!

M0nica Sat 18-May-24 17:52:18

I think the only useful advice given so far is by fancythat
^ Anyone wanting to lose weight has to find the best way for them personally. What works for one person, may not work as well for another. That is because a person needs to find the best way that works for them personally.^

Evryone else has given excellent advice on what works for them, for me it is the 5;2 fasting eating patten.

At the end of the day NannyB2604 has to hand the responsibility over to her husband to work out what will work for him, what eating pattern suits him. If he needs to snack make meals smaller and actively choose snacks that are not high in sugar or calories - fruit, or loc cal risps etc. Or if he wants to do without snacks he could eat bigger meals.

The same with exercise, he must find out what works for him. For a diet to work, he has to own it.

Galaxy Sat 18-May-24 21:55:51

Yes Monica and fancy that are right, you cant decide what is right for your husband, I have just lost 2 stone, I would no more have asked my husband to organise that than fly to the moon.

arthur1960 Sun 19-May-24 09:32:58

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M0nica Sun 19-May-24 17:37:11

And I am NOT going to ask what she found that made a huge difference

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NightFoxy Mon 20-May-24 09:16:35

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NightFoxy Mon 20-May-24 09:18:14

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