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Original poster

Helping my overweight husband

57 replies

Jamieleecurtain · 02/04/2023 22:48

My husband is quite overweight. He has an active life. High stress job where he is always on his feet. The rest of his life is completely full with hobbies, a qualification he’s doing, friends (he has about a million) and being a dad/husband (works hard around the house, very hands on with the kids etc). We have very small kids. He runs or swims a couple of times a week. He just never stops.

The problem is that he is addicted to food. He uses food as a reward or a boost to get him through the day. He is horribly worried about his weight but attempts to diet just don’t last. I’m not sure how to help him. Even if I insisted on cooking him super healthy meals or starting preparing breakfast and lunch for him (currently he does this himself) I don’t think it would help as he just gives into temptation and snacks (probably this would get worse if his meal calories were cut)

We were discussing ways he could break his emotional eating habits and start prioritising his health in a way that would last (he’s dieted before but always gains the weight again) and honestly I’m not sure where to start. Any experience?

OP posts:
qpmz · 03/04/2023 17:39

Intermittent fasting might be the ticket. Not as hard as it sounds.

NessVan · 03/04/2023 17:53

Hi,

I've recently started ozempic in January, I didn't have a lot to lose, but I am terrible with snacking , comfort eating, and food for rewards. Eat when I'm happy or eat when I'm sad. it's my go-to! However, Ozempic silenced that little snacking devil on my shoulder , and I've been able to lose what I wanted to and happily not struggle with temptation.

I'm only recommending this as it worked for me. It doesn't suit everyone, and I can only speak from personal experience. (I am not a medical professional) Also, some people get bad side effects from the injection. Thankfully, I didn't.

Dixiechickonhols · 03/04/2023 17:55

LookUponMyWorks · 03/04/2023 14:14

Of course, it does all come down to a calorie deficit but when I was calorie counting it was always 'counting down' your allowance which for me led to a scarcity mindset around my 'allowance' which fed into an all or nothing approach for me.

With SW I've found I've had to take all the terminology around it with a massive pinch of salt but it basically boils down to encouraging you to eat the foods that are healthy, lower in calories and high in satiety (these are 'free' foods such as fruit, unsweetened yoghurts, rice, pasta, white potatoes etc) and nudging you away from foods that are less nutritionally dense (such as crisps, chocolate, etc), which are foods you need to 'count'. I really didn't think it would work but it has for me. I don't eat any of the SW products just eat normal food and cook from scratch a lot.

Show quote history

Slimmingworld gets slated on here but it’s been great for me. Men tend to do very well on it.
Theres a slimmingworld podcast anyone can listen to - there’s an older episode called one for the men with man of year Jason Drury and a recent one with Joe Thompson well worth a listen.
Lots of areas do free sw online or 12 week group membership if bmi is 30 plus - check with gp surgery.

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Weight management
bellac11 · 03/04/2023 18:41

I think men generally do quite well with most weight loss plans, because they have a higher muscle mass and burn calories better and also lose it quicker so its more motivating for them, unlike us where the weight drops off slowly so you lose interest (well I did)

SoundsLikeALlama · 03/04/2023 18:47

Best thing is to put in a no snacks regime and just don't buy 'shit' food

SoundsLikeALlama · 03/04/2023 18:48

As someone else said, just cutting down snacks, he will probably lose weight

I was/am a terrible snacker and when I cut out snacks and ate bigger meals instead, I lost over a stone 😂

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