Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

i love dh BUT..............

22 replies

hatefeelinglikethis · 04/09/2004 22:26

Thought i'd started a thread but something happened to it, any how, i don't want to feel as i do and i've changed me name you to the sensitivity of this matter but i love my dh dearly but don't fancy him anymore. He's put on loads of weight, he sweats profusely, grunts when eating and is basically a slob and i just wish that i could fancy him as i dread the thought of feeling like this forever. It makes me tearful at the thought, i always said i would never stay in a lustless relationship and here i am, married with children, in love yet feelihng something has gone and things are really beginning to start grating. am i just one of those unlucky few or does this always happen? i can't bear it as things are beginning to make me cringe, i've talked about dieting but it's the whole attitude the whole slobbiness of it all that is the problem, he doesn't care anymore. I look at other men and although i'd never be unfaithful i wonder whether things could or might have been different

OP posts:
harrassedmum · 04/09/2004 22:31

Have you tried starting diets yourself and just doing the same meals for him? Or not buying rubbish? Or will he just go out and eat takeaways and crisps? If so it might be time to be honest, horrible, but better than you feeling this way forever more. Do you think you could talk to him about it? Is it just his weight or is there more to it, such as him just not making any effort generally?

hatefeelinglikethis · 04/09/2004 22:39

i've stopped buying chocolate, crisps etc but he will go out and get them and he just gets so excited about having a pizza or a "munchie" night that it drives me mad. I don't want to be the one to nag him, i've told him he's beginning to look uncomfortable, i've even told him that him "on top" is uncomfortable due to width (sorry to be crude) but nothing seems to sink in, i can't help wondering why he feel so comfortable to let himself go. I've given it to him big hard and stern, he listens and then eats! what am i to do? it's just dreadful as he is really starting to grate and i know that that is the beginning of a downward spiral and i don't want it to be, i don't want to be in that sort of marriage

OP posts:
harrassedmum · 04/09/2004 22:46

Is he depressed about anything?

hatefeelinglikethis · 04/09/2004 22:51

i don't think so, he's just like a little boy in a candy shop all excited about food. I don't have a weight problem atall and can eat what i like yet have seriously cut back and sacrifice treats so as not to encourage him but it's just not working. I've told him he's growing boobs etc etc but it's almost like my opinion doesn't matter anymore, he doesn't care if he's big and sweaty and only concerns slightly if he has to go to a public swimmming bath! which annoys me because i wish he'd care about how i feel.

OP posts:
harrassedmum · 04/09/2004 22:55

Something definatley doesnt sound right. Although i must add that when i hear a man talking the same way about a woman i get very defensive (prob cos ive put 2 stone on after having a baby!). Do you think hes happy looking as he does? If you really are unhappy is it worth looking into leaving him? Is that really what you want?

hatefeelinglikethis · 04/09/2004 23:00

i really don't want to leave him as\like i said i do love him but i also do seem to spend alot of time unhappy because i don't feel we're clicking that great anymore, maybe because i don't fancy him i don't know. He's very authorative and poo hoos alot of what i say which makes me so cross as i feel undervalued when he does that but i made the decision to marry him and don't want to give up now but he's so difficult to talk to. If i was to say i'm thinking of leaving he would say "you're so mega dramatic etc etc" as opposed to listening to what i have to say! yet at the same time i can't bear this deteriorating anymore and me falling even more out of love!

OP posts:
Beetroot · 04/09/2004 23:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

hatefeelinglikethis · 04/09/2004 23:09

i've tried so hard but he just can't seem to get motivated. It's hard because i'm thin and can eat what i like without having to worry but i've already sacrificed that to try and support him on a diet and exercise regime but he has no willpower! i've tried every route from heart attack to unattractiveness but he doesn't seem to care what i think just keeps saying he has a stressful job and need time to relax! He's not even 40 and he's acting as if he's 70, always out of breath etc i'm just getting annoyed that he can't want to do this one thing for me

OP posts:
MummyToSteven · 04/09/2004 23:09

from your most recent post HFLT it sounds like the weightloss thing is the tip of the iceberg - that you feel he doesn't take you seriously in enough in general - any chance of getting him to relate, or maybe getting yourself some classes to improve your self-esteem?

harrassedmum · 04/09/2004 23:11

Absolutley, the last few weeks have been tough here just not getting on and feeling like he wasnt interested in me etc, i really had come to the end of my tether with him, sat him down and very calmly said 'i feel this and this is wrong, you upset me when you do this, ive tried to talk to you, you dont listen and now ive had enough. I want you to leave.' He was very shocked, didnt realise i was serious when ive got upset before and has been making more of an effort. Men do just blame our hormones for a lot, i think. You must try, but if he wont listen you cant live in an unhappy marriage forever.

harrassedmum · 04/09/2004 23:13

Eating is not he way to relax either. Says me with a glass of wine and chocs! I also think the problem is more than weight.

hatefeelinglikethis · 04/09/2004 23:24

harrassedmum - i know you're right aboutr the unhappy marriage bit maybe i ought to sit down and be quite abrupt and forceful about what is the real problem. He seems to think that because he works long and hard that that is his god given excuse to do everything else ie eat, smoke etc. like i said i don't want to leave him but maybe i need to mke him realise how serious things are as i'd hate to be stuck in a marriage whereby i don't fancy my husband anymore. Maybe we should never have settled down together, maybe we weren't meant to be, oh i don't know i'm thinking all sorts of unhappy thopoughts at the moment

OP posts:
libb · 04/09/2004 23:26

how old are your children? could they cope with you both having a temporary break?

unicorn · 04/09/2004 23:44

hflt.. I am fairly sure you are not the only one.
both me and dh have 'let ourselves go' since having kids.. but I think sometimes I see his faults more than he sees mine.(so am more critical)
I am really not sure what the answer is.. all I know is that having kids can knock you (for the proverbial) and self esteem most definately takes a battering.
Advice... well wish I had some.. but it really is the stuff like finding time for yourselves again (ha! easier said than done sometimes)to remember just what you did enjoy.
But you are not alone you know... people definately change, and I think in some strange way it is all about changing with them (???!)

hatefeelinglikethis · 04/09/2004 23:52

children are too young plus it would really knock dh if we had a temp split, i guess there is no answer except to be totally honest with him and persist, maybe i should tell him i don't fancy him anymore? perhaps that might be the jolt he needs

OP posts:
unicorn · 04/09/2004 23:58

.. telling him you don't fancy him anymore may not have the effect you want..it may end up making him more fed up/ depressed etc.
Sounds like he needs to find a 'life' other than kids/food/drink etc... but... I hate to tell you this... if he doesn't want to, then there isn't much you can do.
time to start thinking about You.. and perhaps that may shake him up ?

bobs · 05/09/2004 01:39

To some people eating is like a hobby - how abour introducing other "hobbies" like cycling, swimming, 10 pin bowling etc - anything to take his mind off food. I went through yrs when it was all I thought about (I'm thin now ) - it was mostly comfort eating for me.

Beetroot · 05/09/2004 11:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

lulupop · 05/09/2004 18:40

HFLT, have to bath baby right now but will come back to give you my thoughts as I am in exactly the same situation, and feel the same as you about it...

lulupop · 05/09/2004 20:00

Right. Baby asleep now (hopefully she'll stay that way). This aituation sounds horrible for you. Has your DH put on a lot of weight suddenly, or has he just slowly got bigger? Do you think he is comfort eating? How does he react when you say something as direct as finding "on top" less comfortable these days?

I have a similar problem with my DH at the moment, in that I love him to bits, he is a good father, but has just put on a lot of weight slowly over the last three years. He was never what you could call slim, but now he really is overweight. It does bother me. Partly it's the superficial level of just not fancying him as much any more, but partly I find it hard to respect someone who shows so little respect for himself.

I have tried to encourage gently, by suggesting he join a gym (I go, he joined, and never went, even once); by telling him I wasn't going to buy any biscuits or sweets any more (like you, I do actually like to eat these things in moderation, but I've given up getting them as if DH finds a packet of sweets he'll eat the entire lot); by pointing out how much better he'd feel if he lost some weight. I reckon he could lose 3 stone, but I said maybe just a few pounds as didn't want to be any harsher than I had to.

He makes the right noises and then just carries on going out to lunch 3 times a week, lying about it to me so I give him an evening meal as well, and sneaking sweeties out of DS's sweetie box. It really pisses me off, as I try to stay looking nice for him, and although I'd LIKE to drink 3 glasses of wine and eat pudding every night, I don't, as if I did I'd be a lot bigger .

Not sure what to do now, as when I was more blunt and said look, I really want you to lose weight, he told me I was shallow and he wouldn't want to be with someone who felt like that. This makes me so sad, as actually, if the situation was reversed, I know I'd feel the same. But then, I'd also feel like maybe I should make an effort for my other half.

Do any of your DH's family or friends say anything to him about his weight? Do you think he's happy the size he is? I think the whole weight thing is a bit different for men, and in my DH's case I think he really thinks he;d like to be thinner but just can't be bothered to put in the work. At the end of the day, you've got to want to lose weight for yourself, and no amount of nagging is going to get you to do it. In fact, in my DH's case, it seems like the more I mention it, the more he eats.

Not sure what's going to happen as I can't imagine ever splitting up, but equally, a sexless marriage is pretty depressing .

Hanna · 05/09/2004 20:18

It has taken me four years (since dd1 started solids)for a healthy diet to be in place in our home but have finally got there thanks to 'you are what you eat' book from the tv show. Have you thought of packing dh of to Doctors to have a male physical with relevent tests? He might have a shock then that may make him think about things. Especially coming from a Doctor.

bran · 05/09/2004 20:42

Unfortunately some people don't think about their health until either they get ill, or one of their peers has a heart attack (or something) unusually young.

Tell him you don't want to be a widow, you don't want your children to be fatherless, but if he doesn't look after himself you're afraid he'll be dead in 10 years. That way he doesn't feel unloved and unlovely, and it might just shock him enough to do something about it.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page