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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to try to help my wife lose weight? Somehow.

464 replies

HelpMeHelpMyWife · 29/03/2026 22:01

I'm male, stepping into the lions den.

My wife (51yo) is obese. There have been a few times over the years when I've suggested that she's destined for a mobility scooter or worse and offered her a few tips of how I managed to get rid of 3 stone and generally vastly improve my health. Needless to say it went down very badly indeed and I don't really dare mention it again. (Although I feel it's my duty to. A duty I am now shirking.) I've talked to her mother a couple of times and her mother said she's talked to her but clearly that has not helped either.

Lately she's had bad hip, knee and back pain, so my fear that she's actually damaging herself now. I know from my own experience that with 3 stone less everything became easier.

She does Weight Watchers meetings but that clearly has zero effect.

So what do I do? Mentioning it to her is out but something's got to change or she's essentially going to be handicapped. (In fact I'd argue she already is, she couldn't climb over a fence, for instance.)

I'm half tempted to say something to our teenage daughter in the hope wife will listen to her but that seems a massive thing to put on her. (Perhaps not as massive as a mother on a mobility scooter, or ill.)

On personal note I find the whole thing intensely frustrating. Shouldn't Weightwatchers be pointing out the health risks of being over weight? Or her doctor? When I started getting knee pain and a few other medical early warning signs it was blatantly obvious that losing weight and getting fit was the obvious first step and ten years on the benefits have been obvious. It's not rocket science. (Sorry about the last paragraph, I needed to get that out.)

WTF do I do? Or do I just accept it and try to forget about it?

YABU - "Mind your own business and let her make her own mistakes."

YANBU - "Do something to help which I've suggested in a reply."

OP posts:
JustSawJohnny · 29/03/2026 23:37

No shock there!

He was a twat on the show and he clearly is still one now!

JenniferBooth · 29/03/2026 23:37

Smilesinthesunshine · 29/03/2026 23:35

Yes I do think he will as he will not have a choice. She will be in a wheelchair before long and it is the partner that will have to pick up the flack, all the caring duties will be on him.

So the roles will reverse

pepperminticecream · 29/03/2026 23:37

DaffodilTuesday · 29/03/2026 23:10

It took me about two years to lose three stone by going to the gym regularly and cutting out the lattes. But I am single and if I had had someone on at me about my weight, I am afraid they would have been out the door. It’s hard when you are working, parenting (single parenting in my case) and running a house to find the time for the gym, and to be honest, my housework has taken a nosedive because I prioritise the gym and pool, DC and my job now. There are just not enough hours in the day. But I know when I was still married, my husband would have expected the house to be organised as he wanted it to be.
So I do think the questions about what the domestic split looks like matter.
But I also think leave your wife alone. Support her in other things, make sure she is confident and has time to do things she enjoys. Enjoy the life you do have. And if her weight is a deal breaker for you, then call it a day. Certainly do not suggest she takes weight loss injections, they are a medical intervention with risks and should be a free decision to take.

This is a really good point. I am very tidy and hate things being out of place in our home. However, I had to let so much of that go because in order to workout, meal prep and spend quality time with my children I had bring in extra help for our and also let my standards go a little. Otherwise there just isn’t enough time.

OP, maybe a way to bring this up with your wife is to acknowledge how much she does and either take on some of her tasks (laundry, cleaning, making kids meals, cooking, etc) so she gets an hour or two of time per day to workout.

Maybe you can find a female personal trainer who can come to your house so your wife isn’t having to make time to get to the gym and back.

AltitudeCheck · 29/03/2026 23:36

The answers here would be very different if you had said your wife was seriously harming her health through smoking, if she was an alcoholic or if she was addicted to drugs.

All you can do is ask her how you can best support her. I would find it hard to stand by and watch someone becoming increasingly obese and losing mobility and their independence if they weren't doing serious anything about.

MyNextDoorNeighbourVotesReform · 29/03/2026 23:35

I expect your wife is depressed and unhappy. Which isn't a good frame of mind to start losing weight

Your self satisfied smugness about your weight loss in the face of a woman who is just bloody miserable, is frankly sickening

Fgs don't consider counselling as a career

Leave your daughter out of this

Summerhut2025 · 29/03/2026 23:35

Can you suggest you go for a walk somewhere together to get her moving a bit? Does she likes dogs? If so good excuse to get one and go for walks. Take over the cooking and make healthy meals. She also may need hrt as menopause causes weight gain but maybe mention that around other symptoms if she’s getting any I.e. joint pain, hair thinning or night sweats, it may be easier to bring that up without mentioning weight as a symptom, but hrt can help it all

allthingsinmoderation · 29/03/2026 23:35

Most people who are obese know it.
They know how it affects their mobility and their health.
The thing is the changes required to lose weight and improve their health has to come from the person themselves,when they are mentally ready,no one can make them do it.Sometimes well meaning advice feels painful and hostile.
Tell your wife you love her no matter what and that you will help her in anyway she wants you to and that you want her to be happy and healthy.

Smilesinthesunshine · 29/03/2026 23:35

JenniferBooth · 29/03/2026 23:26

Do you really think he will be doing that when he cant even be bothered to shop or cook. Come on now.

Yes I do think he will as he will not have a choice. She will be in a wheelchair before long and it is the partner that will have to pick up the flack, all the caring duties will be on him.

MoneyJo · 29/03/2026 23:34

She knows she's obese.
She knows that to lose weight she needs fewer calories / to burn more calories.
Knowledge isn't the issue.

I knew I was obese and I knew what it would take to change. I just didn't seem capable of making those changes. Then I listened to a series on BBC Sounds by Prof Giles Yeo and it really woke me up to my issue which is mostly food noise. I started WLI and it's absolutely transformed my life. The food noise has pretty much disappeared. I didn't think WLI would be possible for me financially or practically but I discovered that they were.

If you were able to do it from an empathetic position and not from one of telling her what to do, you could try listening to the series and then sharing it with her, and asking if she's thought about WLI.

I know a pp said you still need to control calories but that's so much easier when a) you actually start to feel full and b) you don't have constant food noise.

Batties · 29/03/2026 23:32

HelpMeHelpMyWife · 29/03/2026 23:28

But I will not say anything to him, because I know how much I would have hated it if he had said anything to me.

Men are different to women. Tell him. Tell him absolutely bluntly. I was obese, although I'd convinced myself I was "fit but fat", (That's always a lie.) My blood pressure was at the top end of normal and the Doc just said in plain language that I was a fat bastard and I was storing up medical problems for myself. That really was my moment of realisation it so obviously true that I was wrecking my knees and heading for high blood pressure and god knows what else. Changed my life.

So my vote is to spell it out to him. Even if he ignores it he won't be offended.

You keep making very generalisations statements about the nature of women. It sounds as if you view us all in a certain way, simply because we are women.

Men are not different to women in terms of our preferred way of communications. I am a woman, and I prefer very direct language.

JustSawJohnny · 29/03/2026 23:32

I need to know exactly how overweight she is because if you're suggesting 3 stone above ideal weight is 'pretty much disabled' and heading for either a wheelchair or the morgue I am going to HOWL!

You sound so smug after your weight loss.

Maybe you put her off being thin 😂

Imanexcellentdrivercharliebabbit · 29/03/2026 23:32

SentFromIpheon · 29/03/2026 22:17

where were all these genetically disposed people in the 60s 70s and 80s?

Hate to say it but this ⬆️
sign post her to the Mounjaro jab and find a a way to pay for it between you
I’ve lost 5 stone - 2 stone to go and never felt better.
literally best thing I’ve ever done for myself, my DH he’s so happy I’m physically more healthy and slim now. I bike, walk and have even agreed to go camping 🏕️ this year

DH can’t keep his hands off me and is so happy I can do all the things I couldn’t/wouldn’t before

pepperminticecream · 29/03/2026 23:31

WallaceinAnderland · 29/03/2026 23:28

She knows.

She knows she is obese. She knows she has health problems. She knows that she is limiting her lifespan.

It's her choice.

Focus on your own choices.

Yes, this is true. You can’t force her to do anything.

OP, have you thought about what you’d do if she never lost the weight?

tipsyraven · 29/03/2026 23:29

brunettemic · 29/03/2026 22:24

Sorry, bit if you’re as obese as OP implies then it’s easy to lose some.

It really isn’t.

pepperminticecream · 29/03/2026 23:29

Lostinbrum · 29/03/2026 22:55

Yanbu. Its you thats going to end up looking after her if she doesn't shift the weight and does end up immobilised. Because the more things hurt the less she is going to want to do and so the bigger she gets etc etc. In my house we are quite blunt with each other so im afraid so home truths would coming her way

I agree. It’s a touchy subject but as someone in a marriage who decided to create a family, I think it’s imperative that I do whatever needs to be done to keep myself as healthy as possible. Illness happens but I want to do what’s in my power to be healthy for my children and husband for as long as possible. My husband agrees. It’s hard work and often I’m forcing myself to workout but it’s worth it.

WallaceinAnderland · 29/03/2026 23:28

She knows.

She knows she is obese. She knows she has health problems. She knows that she is limiting her lifespan.

It's her choice.

Focus on your own choices.

HelpMeHelpMyWife · 29/03/2026 23:28

But I will not say anything to him, because I know how much I would have hated it if he had said anything to me.

Men are different to women. Tell him. Tell him absolutely bluntly. I was obese, although I'd convinced myself I was "fit but fat", (That's always a lie.) My blood pressure was at the top end of normal and the Doc just said in plain language that I was a fat bastard and I was storing up medical problems for myself. That really was my moment of realisation it so obviously true that I was wrecking my knees and heading for high blood pressure and god knows what else. Changed my life.

So my vote is to spell it out to him. Even if he ignores it he won't be offended.

OP posts:
Woodfiresareamazing · 29/03/2026 23:27

HelpMeHelpMyWife · 29/03/2026 22:01

I'm male, stepping into the lions den.

My wife (51yo) is obese. There have been a few times over the years when I've suggested that she's destined for a mobility scooter or worse and offered her a few tips of how I managed to get rid of 3 stone and generally vastly improve my health. Needless to say it went down very badly indeed and I don't really dare mention it again. (Although I feel it's my duty to. A duty I am now shirking.) I've talked to her mother a couple of times and her mother said she's talked to her but clearly that has not helped either.

Lately she's had bad hip, knee and back pain, so my fear that she's actually damaging herself now. I know from my own experience that with 3 stone less everything became easier.

She does Weight Watchers meetings but that clearly has zero effect.

So what do I do? Mentioning it to her is out but something's got to change or she's essentially going to be handicapped. (In fact I'd argue she already is, she couldn't climb over a fence, for instance.)

I'm half tempted to say something to our teenage daughter in the hope wife will listen to her but that seems a massive thing to put on her. (Perhaps not as massive as a mother on a mobility scooter, or ill.)

On personal note I find the whole thing intensely frustrating. Shouldn't Weightwatchers be pointing out the health risks of being over weight? Or her doctor? When I started getting knee pain and a few other medical early warning signs it was blatantly obvious that losing weight and getting fit was the obvious first step and ten years on the benefits have been obvious. It's not rocket science. (Sorry about the last paragraph, I needed to get that out.)

WTF do I do? Or do I just accept it and try to forget about it?

YABU - "Mind your own business and let her make her own mistakes."

YANBU - "Do something to help which I've suggested in a reply."

Hi HelpMeHelpMyWife. Congratulations on losing weight and increasing your fitness!

I hit my highest weight ever during lockdown - 14st 3 lbs. All that banana bread and hours spent cooking from scratch as I was clinically extremely vulnerable and didn't go out for months ...
So in June 2020 I decided enough was enough.
I started walking every day, at least a mile. It was very hard initially but after a few weeks I started to really enjoy it, and gradually my fitness improved and I could walk longer distances, and even up hill!
At the same time I started eating less, and eating healthy - basically a Mediterranean diet.
By November I had lost 3 stone.

I say all this because there is no magic bullet answer - it's the same as it ever was: eat less (crap), move more.
But your wife has to WANT to do it.

She's probably menopausal, which can be a killer for MH as well as all the physical issues. But she will feel better being fitter, as you know.

She could also try the eating window and intermittent fasting - basically the 5:2 diet.

What do you think might motivate her? Planning a great trip to places she's always wanted to visit which would involve walking?
A stay at a spa resort which has healthy foods only?
Shopping for fab new clothes when she's reached her target weight?

You know her best - is she happy at her current weight? In which case, don't waste your time...

Edited to add - I'm not a fan of weight loss jabs. I think it would be very easy to put the weight back on unless you keep taking them.

Also - would it be possible for you to take over some of the shopping/cooking? Then you could buy healthier ingredients and maybe inspire your DW to do same...

JenniferBooth · 29/03/2026 23:26

Smilesinthesunshine · 29/03/2026 23:25

Because he will be the one escorting the obese partner to hospital appointments and surgeries when she has to have every joint replaced!

Do you really think he will be doing that when he cant even be bothered to shop or cook. Come on now.

SunMoonandChocolate · 29/03/2026 23:26

Sorry, I haven't had time to read the full thread, but if no one has already suggested it, and you aren't short of dosh, you could perhaps ask her if she'd like you to pay for her to try Wegovy or Mounjaro. Perhaps approach it by saying something along the lines of I know you've been trying really hard with Weight Watchers, and I've heard some good stuff about these weight loss drugs, if we can afford it, would you like to give those a try?

I'm disabled but have always struggled with my weight, and my DH has never complained about my weight, but knows being so heavy and unable to exercise upsets me, so if I bring up the subject, he always says, 'Well you know I love you whether you're fat or thin, but if there's something new you'd like to try, you know I'll support you in any way I can', and he does. For example, if he knows I'm trying to stay off the sweet stuff and he wants something, he'll go and eat it in the kitchen, in the car, or anywhere else that I won't see him, as he knows it's unfair to eat stuff in front of me that he knows I don't want to be tempted by.

On the other hand, you could always mention that you've read about someone (me) who in spite of not being able to exercise due to a disability, has managed to lose 1 1/2 stone, by using something called 'Slimpod' - Google it and read up about it so that you can explain it to her - it works to retrain your brain with regard to eating, and where I had tried every diet in the book, as it was something new and completely different, I decided to give it a try. You can get a 10 day FREE trial, and compared to Weight Watchers, etc., it works out really reasonable. After the free trial, if you decide you want to keep going with it, it costs £49 a month for just THREE months, and after that, it's free. All you need to do is listen to a podcast at some point every day, a lot of people, including me, do it at night just before going to sleep, I often fall asleep during it, although I think it's only 9 minutes long, but the information is still absorbed by your subconscious, and as I say, for someone who had a bad habit of comfort eating, and snacking while watching TV in the evenings, it's really worked. I've been doing it for 10 months now, and as I say, I'm barely able to get out of bed, so if your wife can exercise, that will of course help, although it really isn't necessary. I've actually stopped the evening snacking, although can have something now and again if I want to, just not lots, every night. However, I rarely have any desire for chocolate anymore, and that used to be absolutely IRRESISTIBLE to me. Oh, and just so you're aware, I have no links to the company, but just wanted to share the info as it's really helped me.

GOOD LUCK!

Fishingboatbobbingnight · 29/03/2026 23:26

TooPoor4PandaPooTea · 29/03/2026 22:35

Everyone's solution to bring overweight is WLI.

Have they all forgotten that WLI only work on a calorie controlled diet? @ACynicalDad @Sogrownup3 @Gurrul @worcesterpear and whoever else thinks that a woman going to WW won't know about WLI.

absolu and complete bollocks and shows you up as someone who has not been on them or had a close relationship with someone on them !! I lost 9 stone on Mountjaro and it’s changed my life for the better . I no longer have blood pressure meds , osteo arthritis infections in my knees .. no longer need a CPAP machine to prevent death through sleep apnea. Nor do I need statins for my now perfect cholesterol.

PLEASE STOP THE NONSENSE ABOUT NEEDING TO BE ON A CALORIE CONTROLLED DIET .. it’s nonsense . WLI stop you being hungry and give you the ability to eat very small portions before being full !
I eat curries, takeaways occasionally but I also love cooking . Nothing is off limits because the drug makes the portions so small !!

Smilesinthesunshine · 29/03/2026 23:25

Batties · 29/03/2026 22:43

Question OP, why do you think you have the right to tell a grown woman what to do with her body?

Because he will be the one escorting the obese partner to hospital appointments and surgeries when she has to have every joint replaced!

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 29/03/2026 23:25

Also you can order simmer eats ready meals so no wasted time cooking and only healthy food eaten

JenniferBooth · 29/03/2026 23:24

If they are daft enough to bring back Fat Families i think they will find the reaction very different to what it was in the two thousands