How can you make your S.O go on a diet and make sure he doesn't cheat?

[Mskanga]

Here is my situation:
DH has high cholesterol , last check up it was 329 and he's also overweight. I asked the doctor on the last visit about Atkins and he said he couldn't express enough times how good atkins worked and how much he pushes it on patients with his problem.
I know that I can get recipes to make at home and also his lunches for work but I am afraid that he would just throw it all away and go to McDonalds, he has
no will power at all . How can I help him? does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[yasuern]

Sure higher a food bodyguard to follow him everywhere he goes

Unless someone wants to lose the weight - its hard to motivate them. I have found however that since I have been on WW and buying healthier foods DH is kind of forced to eat/cook with whats on hand and although he is not on a diet - he is loosing a little weight and eating better which is good.

 

[Liz]

I'm sure you know there's no way you can force him get healthier, but I'd sit down and have a serious discussion telling him you are worried he's going to die! Maybe if he thinks dieting will be miserable you can get him to agree to trying Atkins for just a week and if he's miserable he can quit. But maybe he'd find its not so bad after all. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[nativetxn]

If you can get him to stick with it through induction he won't need willpower.

Tell him to go on induction and not cheat or just increase his life insurance, one or the other

 

[Mskanga]

Actually the three of us had a sit down talk , DH , the doctor and myself , and the doctor was straight forward with him, told him medication alone is not going to lower his cholesterol , that he has to put effort on his part , and just the other day I saw the doctor at my job and he told me that he doesn't think he will do anything about it, he is not willing to and I can't do it for him.
I'm also thinking on getting him a membership to a local gym, something has to wake him up!

 

[RaySharpton]

I agree with the other posters. But maybe if he can see your progress and changes, or just go ahead and have Atkin's type of food around. By the time he decides to do the induction, you can tell him he's already been eating the Atkin's type food. But now he must be very strict with his choices on induction.

Best wishes and encouragement, Ray

 

[Mskanga]

This is my plan and maybe I can get some changes made for him:
I want to print out some recipes that I know he will eat and make like a weekly menu , maybe I can start to change his eating habits by doing that. Maybe if we can get him started on that , then the next thing to work on is quit smoking. I have tried to encourage him so many times, offered to go on a diet with him both together, he just does not want to.
One very bad thing here though is he does not like meats, I'll have to figure out something.

 

[TigH]

The best thing you an do is be a good example to him. My DH complained about not losing for MONTHS, then once I started WW and he saw how great I was doing, he decided to commit. Before WW he would eat junk, too much pasta/bread, sweets during the day and cake or other sweets at night. He was maintaining, but wanted to lose.

Since we are both doing WW, I prepare all his meals (except our cheat ones or when he's out someplace that he can't bring his lunch to). He is so dedicated now, I am really proud of him. It only took a week of WW and his first weigh-in to give him the motivation he needed.

You know the old saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Just keep living your healthy lifestyle. It will rub off eventually. My parents are living with us temporarily. My mother, who was an ice cream and cake junkie, is now enjoying bowls of fruit topped with light cool whip. I could faint! My sister, who can eat anything and still stay slim, is cutting back on her lunches out to once a week and is packing her lunch the rest of the week. She is starting to talk about cooking veggies to eat with her dinner and cutting down on her rice/pasta intake.

I haven't tried to sway my mom or my sister, they just see the energy I have and the great results I have had and they are making their own choices to get healthy. Good luck!

 

[Kabuli1]

This is always a problem with us. I got DH to diet before our cruise last year using the 6 week Body Makeover and we both lost about 25 lbs in 9 weeks. But is was so resrtictive that he complained about it constantly and after we got back he managed to gain it all back. (He likes his belly!)

He needs to lose those 25 and possibly 5 more but that's it. Keeping it off will always be a problem unless he changes how he eats. He had very high cholesterol this past winter and the MD put him on Lipitor and told him that diet would NOT affect his levels because they were the genetic kind(????). I'm not so sure about that.

Anyway, we've been working our way down to Atkins by doing progressivly lower carb plans for the past few weeks. This week is now Atkins Induction and neither of us are having any problems with it. BUT there is nothing I can do to keep him going at it, it will be his decision. He allows himself 1 glass of red wine while he grills meat out on the deck (i'm guessing it's more than one glass - but I can't get him to admit to it and it etter than the 3-4 beers he'd usually have.) but tho wine may not be allowed on Induction - it's on HIS plan! I figure it is better to cheat small than not make the attempt at all. Go figure, he's losing more than I am and I'm not cheating!

I think the best you can do is prepare his food for him - all meals and if he mostly sticks to it, you've both won. Also you need to find something that works for both of you. Protein Power isn't as much meat as Atkins, but follows the same idea - you might want to check that one out.

BTW last week DH had his cholesterol checked and everything was GREAT!!! Of course he and the MD think it's the Lipitor - I know it's the diet!

Good luck, it's tough!

Sorry if I've rambled,

Karyn

 

[Mskanga]

Funny you mention that Kabuli because this is exactly what the doctor told him too, my dh's cholesterol is hereditary and put him on lipitor also , he said he has to take it for the rest of his life! But the truth is dh does not help himself, he works in an office so no exercise all day, comes home and vegetates infront of his computer , so his exercise is minimum , he says it's because he's tired from working and driving all week. I never thought cholesterol could be hereditary , in that case I hope my poor kids take after me, mine is 154.

 

[Kabuli1]

Yeah, well, my DH isn't into getting any exercise either - but he at least has a job that keeps him moving around all day w/ moderate amounts of exercise.

I gotta tell you, though, we went for a ride today and DH confessed that a. He's just not hungry anymore and b. He feels great! and c. He could stay on this way of eating (Atkins) forever! Of course, he's the original GrillMeister so the meat thing works well for him.

I think he's looking good, too, but the pot has got to shrink some more.

Karyn

 

[geetey]

I just wanted to add that cholesterol levels can most definitely be hereditary. BUT, he won't even know if his levels are, unless he tries to fix them.

A suggestion, if you currently make your dinners, try making only carb free meals. I know I have suggested this before elsewhere on WISH, but it really works! DH has lost 14 lbs in 8 weeks and he eats like a pig during the day. (He is 5' 11" and currently weighs 178.) A typical lunch for him is running to Taco Bell and getting a mexican pizza, 2 tacos and an order of nachos with a Code Red to drink. He does work out 3 times a week but he was doing that BEFORE he went no carb and his weight was 196. He also gets 1 cheat night a week, per the doctor and trainer's recommendation.

We don't 'count' carbs; I just use the guidelines provided by the doctor. Lean meats, green veggies. No pasta, no potatoes, no rice. A typical dinner might be a grilled chicken breast, broccoli, green beans. Would your dh eat that?