How to get your husband to eat real food… A letter to fellow and future husbands, from a man who has been down deep in the trenches and survived, who can sympathize with you on your pain when all you want is something crunchy to snack on and something bubbly to drink.Ā Except that your wife took away your Doritos and soda and all you’re left with is celery sticks and water.Ā I hear ya, man.Ā Hang in there, you’ll be okay.Ā Written by Mr. Crumbs.
Listen up.Ā Life as you know it is ending.
Your wife is making changes to your kitchen… your pantry… your lunches?!Ā Celery and carrot sticks are making their way into your lunch, she feeds you salads occasionally for dinner, and NOW she wants to EXCLUDE meat, and go all vegetarian ā one night a week?
You come home from a long day’s work, open the cabinets and find:
Soda?Ā It’s gone.
Chips?Ā Gone.
Cereal?Ā Gone.
Instant anything?!
Gone.
Dude, I knowā¦ been there.
Almost two years ago, I started coming home to science experiments on the kitchen counter.Ā Strange, white-ish substances growing in clear liquid filled jars were sitting on the counter top.
Stuff that resembled rice, but wasnāt quite rice, found its way into our dinners.Ā Smoothies, containing who-knows-what, were now breakfast.
Long gone were the days of my comfort breakfast:Ā Quaker chewy granola bars (chocolate chip flavored, to be exact).
And there was my wifeā¦. Smiling.Ā No no no – BEAMING ā so proud of her āaccomplishments.ā
I wanted Doritos.
But before you flip out, run to the store and stock up on Hot Pockets, chips and frozen mozzarella sticks, finish reading and hear me out.
How to Get Your Husband to Eat Real Food
You may be addicted to fake food!
I know this may sound strange, but you really may be addicted to the junk thatās found in most processed foods.
Do you find yourself craving a soda in the afternoons?Ā Better yet, do you drink anything other than soda?!
Do you go out for fast food?Ā Do you have a stash of candy at work, or buy the convenience bags of chips when you run into the gas station for a fill-up?
Yeah, that used to be me too.Ā Chips at the gas station, Wendy’s for lunch. And water… Whatās water?
I was young(er) and considered myself bullet proof.Ā (Um… yeah.Ā But I had gum disease too.)
Your wife is looking out for you and your family.
Here’s the thing.Ā Those Doritos donāt really contain cheese.Ā Hot Pockets arenāt really pizza and that soda contains high fructose corn syrup, which after you read about it, youāll probably never touch the stuff again.
Many health problems and diseases today stem from diet, but lucky for us, this addiction is easy to control.Ā Plus, your doctor will love you and youāll look forward to that yearly physical… Well, most of it.
Your wife doesnāt look so guilty now does she?
Give her a chance!
Seriously, your wife loves you to death and is only looking out for you.Ā It’s time to give her a chance and not be so critical when it comes to the menu.
When dinner doesnāt look like, umm, dinner ā try it anyway!Ā If you donāt like it, eat as much as you can forcefully stuff into your mouth ā and kindly, lovingly say:
Honey, thank you for dinner. It wasnāt my favorite meal, but I appreciate your creativity and hard work.
Trust me, sheāll get the hint that you didnāt like it and will never make it again (plus, you said it nicely enough that she wonāt make you sleep on the couch).
Who knows – you may end up liking kefir and yogurt. Ā And youāll like it more when youāve come to an understanding on how good probiotics actually are for your digestive system.Ā Those weird vegetables called zucchini and squash will become your friends and your body will thank you.
As real food begins replacing the fake food in your diet, youāll soon notice that you feel better, sleep better, and over time, the cravings for those foods you once loved will be gone.
By the way – youāll save money.
Believe it or not, just because you eat whole-wheat pizza dough, brew kombucha or refuse to eat non-organic meat ā doesnāt mean your wife will go out, buy a Mercedes Benz and start shopping at Whole Foods while sipping on a Starbucks iced coffee.
Eating real, GOOD food is affordable.Ā In fact, simple math proves this.Ā Eating real food is more affordable than processed foods.
For example, a combo meal from a standard fast food joint will run you around $7/meal.Ā Lunch alone for a month will run over $200.Ā That doesnāt include dinner.Ā Say you did dinner as well ($200).Ā Thatās $400/month for one person.Ā Not including breakfast.Ā Add your wifeā¦ $800.Ā Got kids ā multiplier effect.Ā And we all know, $7 for a meal when eating out is cheap.
Oh, and back to those Hot Pockets. You pay $4-5 for two?Ā What if I told you that you could make your own, REAL and much better hot pockets with Italian tomatoes and fresh mozzarella for just $.86 each?!
Weāre a little extreme and have a monthly food budget of $330, but we donāt skimp. My wife is a genius when it comes to applying the best tips and tricks to make the most of our budget.
On taco nights, I chow down on 6-8 freshly pressed corn tortillas or my favorite flour tortillas with fresh salsa, organic chicken, cilantro and an assortment of sides.
When itās time to grill, we have fresh, organic bbq chicken with homemade bbq sauce.Ā Steak nights, we graze on grass fed beef. Oh, and Italianā¦.
Have you even tasted freshly made spaghetti ā not from a box?
Do I have your attention now?
Your wife is right and you are wrong.
At least when it comes to diet anyways.
If your wife is trying to transition to a real food diet, support her, encourage her and at least give those weird foods a try.Ā Youāll save money, feel better and most importantly ā make your wife happy.
Wives – share with your husbands to help win them over for the cause! And read this letter to you.
Thank you so much for writing this. I am going to have my husband read this just so he knows that he is not alone. Its also good for me to know that I am not a lone in trying to convince my hubby with whats best for him & that it is possible for him to see things a little more my way! Haha! He is a good sport most of the time and always eats the crazy meals that I come up with and tries my homemade granola bars and drinks green smoothies when I dont give him any other options. But he still buys cases of soda and has his ice cream most nights of the week. I dont want to push him too far…I respect him and dont want to tell him no. I want him to come to realize that the benefits of what I do and then maybe he will one day – on his own – stop buying the soda and icecream (at least not as often!!). I want him to realize that I love him and only want him to be healthy. Plus, I like to save us money too! Thank you, Mr. Crumbs, for being such a good sport with your wife and learning to love and appreciate what she does! That’s great š
Oh Katie, you are SO not alone in the battle, and neither is your husband. This is a battle that has been and will continue to be at the forefront of marriages and kitchens. Your approach of showing him the way, compromising in certain areas and hoping for the long term goal of changing on his own sounds like a recipe for success. š
Katie, I just read that thinking I must have posted that comment the other night or something. Word for word what I would have replied to this article. It only makes it worse that I’m a registered dietitian, so you could only imagine the “experiments” I try to get him to eat. I ended that quest quickly to say the least. Having a picky husband doesn’t help either. But it would be better if I had his support most days š
š Shared it with my husband even before reading. And love the comment about how to convey that you hate a dish! Great read. Exactly the fight that goes on at home.
LOL – thanks! Maybe that line will smooth over any future bad meal conversations. š
This is BRILLIANT! And so funny, true and needed! My husband can SO relate to this article and I’m sure many, many others too! Thanks for taking the time to help bridge the gap and get husbands and wives working together as a team. Taking it slow is so key so no one gets overwhelmed. Working as a team makes healthy eating less of a battle and a whole lot more enjoyable for everyone!
Thanks Kelly! Your two points are right on – take it slow and work as a team. Too much at one time is just asking for trouble, lol. Thanks for leaving such an encouraging note!!
After reading the article I thought I would relate my situation with organic, gluten free, and all natural foods in my family’s home. My comments are made with love toward my wife as I hope anyone who reads this will understand. I am a husband with a wife (great cook, great mom, beautiful, loving, and wonderful hottie) who has made the choice for our family to eat many, I did not say ‘all’, but many organic and all-natural foods. We were not a major fast food eating, soda drinking, big sweet eating family to begin with and never have been. Unfortunately, I felt the decision was made without my consent. This caused a lot of tension and hard feelings for quite some time for the both of us, but over time, many many months, I feel and I believe she does too, that we have come to a pretty good compromise. I have found many of her recipes that I like (and some I love), but she also buys some things that I request. I don’t see anything wrong with genetically modified food. Food has been modified since people started growing things to eat. Yes, I agree there are many unhealthy manmade foods too, but there are also unhealthy all natural foods too. I look at it as most things in moderation are fine. Anyway, enough of that. She was very hurt when I did not like what she made. No, I did not ever say I hated her food. I always tried in as nice a fashion to say it just wasn’t what I liked (I always ate some or all of what was on my plate), but that I was very glad to have a wife that cooked for our family and sat down every night to dinner at our table. It didn’t seem to matter how I said it, she still felt upset that I didn’t like her meals. She felt unappreciated. Let me say also that I had always LOVED my wife’s cooking and have always raved about it so it was difficult for me to not like her meals as much as in the past. I am (clearly) not the cook of the household, but I feel if a person (man or woman) is the main cook/food preparer of the household then that person should work with the other adult of the household to come to a good understanding/agreement of what types of food to prepare for family meals. It just seems unfair to force a change of eating habit on a person you love no matter how much you love them without their agreement/consent. As an adult I think I deserve that? Is that wrong? I know she made the change in trying to provide healthier food for our family (we didn’t eat unhealthy before, just not organic/all natural), but I am of the opinion (as are many experts) that food doesn’t have to be organic and all-natural to still be healthy. I hope all the food preparers out there just think about some of the things I’ve said and try to understand how their significant other may feel and try to adjust their meal plans accordingly. It put my wife and I in a very difficult situation that has been tough to work though, but I know I am very fortunate to have her as my wife and I do the best I can to let her know I appreciate all her hard work purchasing, preparing, and cooking our food. Just my situation and two cents. Sorry for any run-on sentences and grammatical errors. I’m not an English teacher. Thanks babe, for loving me and cooking for me (if you read this)!
Thank you AHusband for sharing your manly point of view! I must say, I’m encouraged that you left a note among a mostly female community. Kudos to you!
In regards to your opinion/thoughts, and from the wife’s point of view, it’s really hard to put forth all the effort on a daily basis that goes into shopping/budgeting/preparing/cooking/feeding a family, only to have your meal not liked by the family… especially when one of the goals of the meal – besides being healthy – is to taste good! Whether it’s the 1st or 100th time a husband dislikes a meal, we’re hurt all the same. Perhaps its our nature, I don’t know. But I do know that if you worked for several hours on a project that you thought your boss would be blown away by, but he ended up hating, you’d be pretty bummed too. It’s kinda like that.
When the wife meal plans, I think that’s a great time to offer up suggestions as to what you’d like to see on the menu. That might help make it a bit easier on both parties too.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding GMO/natural/organic, etc. and that includes the husband/wife scenario too. As long as you guys can agree at some sort of common ground and work together, then it’s all good. I think you’re right in that no one should force their opinion on someone else – but at the same time, let it be known that us wives are not trying to change eating habits because we’re messing with your head or like to ruin dinner. We’re looking out for your health! We wives love our husbands, only want the best for them and want them to be around for a really long time. When we read about the dangers of some of your favorite foods, we freak out! We don’t want you to get heart disease or diabetes or anything like that!!
It’s a learning curve for us too sometimes, in trying to prepare things that taste good. Maybe we all need to give our spouses some hugs, say a few “I love you’s” and “I appreciate you’s” more often. Thank you for the suggestion, and the reminder! š
Thank you for sharing, Mr Crumbs. I shared this with my husband only because of your quote, “all you want is something crunchy to snack on and something bubbly to drink.”
Still cracking me up. This must be a common male phenomenon that I was unaware of, since bubbly and crunchy things are frequently sought after in our house.
LOL – that was at the very beginning! I’m honored that you shared because of that line. I bet you’ve stumbled into the kitchen with your husband staring at the cabinets, concentrating really hard on finding something crunchy-enough to replace the non-existent chips, lol.
Thanks so much for this post. My husband works very long hours in a very demanding job so he doesn’t have the time or inclination to research effects of GMOs, pesticides in our produce or the other myriad of things I’m concerned about. The cooking and food shopping are left up to me so the transition for us has been a tough one. He makes remarks about some of the weird things we eat (and he didn’t like the kale salad I made yesterday at all) but we’re making progress. He made a small grocery list for me last week of things he wanted and on that list were Hot pockets(the breakfast kind) and Sour Cream and Onion potato chips. I told him I would make him a quick breakfast for work mornings, not Hot pockets, and I did buy him some Popchips which are a rare treat in our house. I’m very happy with the transition to real and organic food but he is a work in progress.
You’re welcome Brittney! Your compromise with breakfast and the chips is exactly what both husbands and wives need to hear. We (wives) can’t be all pushy and demanding, and they (husbands) should at least consider our point of view. Imagine how much healthier we’d all be if we worked TOGETHER on this, lol!
May I say that I loathe kale? Tried it but nope…daughter loves it so shecan have it :). All of our tastebuds re different.
My poor husband! We’ve always eaten real food. That has never been an issue. But he still liked his junk food. For the past few months, I have been weaning him off the junk. Most days, he goes along, but there are those days when you will find me in the potato chip aisle wrestling his favorite bag of chips away from him. And on that rare occasion, when I give in, you can see the thrill of victory written all over his face. I hope one day we’ll be completely junk free, but until then, I’m thinking I should shop alone.
Aishah, that sounds familiar! My husband loves his “crunchies” and will often sit and eat the whole bag. Its just not fair since he is still in much better shape than me. I now buy him his bag of “crunchies” which is usually the salt and pepper potato chips from Trader Joes and tell him its his only bag for the week. That seems to work. Why are toddlers and husbands so alike!??
Oh gosh – mine too! The man can eat scoops and scoops of ice cream, bags of anything at all and nothing. He gains no pounds. Me, I indulge in one bowl of tortilla chips just once a month (if you know what I mean) and BAM, instant muffin top. LOL! Why are husbands and toddlers so alike… because neither are moms? LOL!
Seriously, great compromise on the one bag/week. We do something similar too, and it works well for us!
I think you’re strategy of shopping alone is a great idea. We’ve had those battles at stores too, and they tend to not end well in my favor. However, what DOES work in my favor is asking him at the start of each month what his requests are. If there’s no mention of crunchies, then he misses out. When he asks later if I picked up any, I politely remind him that he didn’t request any. š
I make my husband do that too!! If its not requested and/or put on the grocery list, I don’t buy it! It works well for us mostly because he seldom thinks to write those things down. Sometimes we “trade” or barter things. Like, he knows I don’t buy processed breakfasts — particularly toaster strudels, which for some reason he loves. So once he be me a box that he could beat me in a bowling game — he got his box. Another time I bartered a box for him taking on the job of bathing both dogs. It makes it a game — and NOT something he is entitled to every time I go grocery shopping…lol.
LOL – that’s so awesome Amanda! What a great way to be creative, and to encourage each other with good habits in a fun way!
In our home my husband is in charge of buying the treats, so most of my grocery shopping is done at the fruit and vege shop where there is also a raw milk vending machine. Something I have realised that compels us to snack unhealthily is watching movies. We don’t have a TV but we do have a computer for my husband and a tablet for me. I waste so much time on You Tube that this morning I asked my husband to hide the tablet and only let me use it on Friday evenings. Let’s hope it works! I have found if I am away from technology I am more likely to be productive at night and go to bed earlier, as the blue light blocks the tiredness and makes me stay awake for way longer than when I am reading a book. As we only eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in our house (only afternoon tea for the young children after childcare two days a week), this will help reduce the amount of unhealthy food we consume. I mean, I always feel guilty giving it to the children and I can’t exactly scoff it in front of them! Here’s to mending and crocheting in the evenings!
This was great to read. Ever since I stopped eating and cooking with sugar my husband has made a habit of bringing home bags of sweets. I keep telling him that it’s an addiction. I’m hoping he’ll be convinced once I start noticeably dropping pounds.
One swap for another, eh? Sugar is a real problem, so we’ve started making half batches of sweets in our house, and trying to use better sweeteners too. I hope you succeed in your weight loss efforts Patricia, and I firmly believe that cutting out sugar will definitely help!
I see nothing wrong with buying food at Whole Foods. They have sales, too!
LOL, he’s just being facetious. We shop at WF occasionally, but he’s playing into the fact that “Whole Paycheck” has a bad rep for being expensive and hoity toity. š
The book and website The Engine 2 Diet have lots of man-friendly vegetable dishes. (created and eaten by actual firefighters)
Ah – I hadn’t heard of that one Jennifer. I’ll have to see if my library has this one. Thanks!
As the husband in this scenario, this article is a nice reminder of what my wife is trying to do and why, and also a great reminder of why I am so glad I married my wife. That said, the article and many of the comments also makes a part of me think: “If my wife treated me with this level of disrespect, things would change or I would leave.”
It’s wonderful for a spouse to be concerned for the health and happiness of his or her partner. I’m all for encouraging good eating habits and discussing better options. My wife does this for me all the time, but she does it without coercion, threats, guilt, or by suddenly throwing out all of my guilty pleasures. I would take that as an insult just as if my sweetheart called me a toddler. To equate an adult that you claim to love and respect, with a child or to treat them as such, implies that they can not be trusted to make responsible decisions. If that’s true, high fructose corn syrup is the least of your problems.
I do not dare dictate to my wife how she should live, or eat, or even comb her hair. She’s a grown woman. She’s a magnificent woman. I respect her right to govern herself. I respect her right to snack on caramel popcorn. She can eat the whole bag if she likes. She doesn’t say a word when I grab a bowl of ice cream at 2:00 in the afternoon… or the morning. But I am overweight and she knows that I’m trying to change that. I want to change partially so I’ll feel better and have more energy, but mainly so that the woman of my dreams can drool over some chiseled abs and will want to be with me as much as I adore being with her.
I’m trying, I really am. But I sometimes drink too much juice. Sometimes I make myself a comically large ice cream cone. I don’t worry about her throwing my waffle cones away, but I do look forward to seeing her genuine smile the next time, when she catches me snacking on a piece of fresh fruit instead of going for that King size Snickers I have squirreled away. I can’t wait to see her beam and kiss me when I tell her that I worked out for an hour even though I was tired from chasing kids around all morning. Sometimes she’ll send me a link to an article about how refined oils do all sorts of nefarious things, and I’m pretty sure she’s trying to tell me something. She treats me with respect and invites me to be more healthy, and I do the same for her, because she is awesome.
I completely agree!! I do want my husband to eat healthy with us. I love him and can’t bare the thought of his unhealthy eating leading him to a heart attack. With that said, he is a grown man, and the head of this household, I can lovingly guide and educate him on why I want him to eat what I want him to eat, but it is not my place to force it on him.
I buy him chips and Debbie cakes all the time. My only request is that he keeps his junk food stashed out of site of the kids. I hope one day, he chooses to eat healthier because he sees it’s best for his health, but I will never force him to eat certain things, because it’s good for him. I will let him decide what’s good for him. Our husbands are not our children. My husband lets me cook what I want and if he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t eat it. Everyone wins, and no one is treated like a child.
Well said Dale, I completely agree. My husband is a grown man and he can choose for himself. He doesn’t care for everything I make, and generally his response to a dinner he doesn’t like is respectful and my feelings aren’t that hurt, slightly bruised but just for a moment. I’ve noticed he has cut down on the crunchy and bubbly snacks, and after his bout of diverticulitis a few weeks ago, he has drastically reduced his consumption of soda as well as fast food. I’m proud of him for making healthier choices, and even though I wish he would get rid of the junk, it is his choice to make, not mine.
I laughed when I saw this article! I’m the health & wellness nerd in the family, constantly reading the latest news on coconut oil or how a certain fruit fights cancer… and totally boring my husband to death. š He appreciates where I’m coming from though and is totally on board with the dangers of pesticides and GMOs (which, by the way, are engineered in a lab, not naturally hybridized as part of nature). He even comes to my defense when justifying our food budget to prioritize organics.
But, Dale, similarly to what you have mentioned in your comment, I would never throw out my husband’s food that he bought. I may go up to him and ask him to consider buying healthier food for my sake and our son’s sake, but I can’t imagine anyone showing anyone else such disrespect by just throwing away something that is theirs! That would be like my husband taking his portion of the dinner I made and dumping it in the trash because he didn’t like it. Or like him taking some make-up (if I ever wore any — ha!) and dumping it in the trash. It’s completely the same thing, esp because cosmetics are entirely unnecessary and actually quite toxic. I would be hurt and *angry.* Well, the boundary is the same and when the tables are turned, he would be hurt and angry too.
Nope, in our family, we treat each other with dignity and love. š He is one awesome hubby!!
i never thought about food until I became ill after a surgery and couldn’t hold anything down. After a diagnosis of gastroparesis.. Which I have overcome naturally with supplements, ferments, and trying to EAT better.. I had/have to learn all about gluten, sugar, grains.. And it’s hard! But I’ve done what I need to do, though I need to learn to cook and make good meals still. Ppl say what NOT to eat, but I need to know what to eat! š my hubby drinks pop non stop, eats cookies for breakfast and fast food. Hardly any veggies… Though he has become better this year š but where do I get ideas on good foods and meals to prepare? He’s a meat and potatoes man… I’ll do it, he needs it.. But I need direction. I spend so much time already trying to help myself. I want him around! And his bilirubin level and cholesterol came back very high, I think pop is his biggest obstacle. He doesn’t like teas, etc. So he can only drink so much water then he’s back on pop. I would be too if I couldn’t find alternatives.. Thanks for the great article! Now show me where I can learn how to make foods he will enjoy, and be healthy š
This may be a little late, but I would take baby steps with him. Have him substitute 1 bottle of pop with one water bottle per day. Then after a week, or a month, switch another one. DON’T make the mistake of switching to diet pop, that is worse than the real thing!!! Just take it a little each day, and it will get easier, for both of you. And read Tiffany’s other posts, she has SOOOO many great ideas on how to do just what you’re asking for. Good luck on your journey, Dona!! <3
You could also try to gradually dilute his soda, with his knowledge, of course. (I agree with the other commenter to steer clear of diet soda! It’s atrocious!!) With my baking sweeteners, I switched sugar to honey, and then over time very gradually lessened the amount of honey by just a tiny bit so our taste buds didn’t notice such a stark difference.
Another thing we did was in our budget. We agreed that the junk food that’s not necessary or healthy would no longer come out of our food budget. That meant we could buy junk if we really wanted it, but it had to come out of our personal spending money. It made us each weigh whether the junk was really worth it.
And another thing that has worked for me in the past is this: Every time I am tempted to spend money on junk, if I can resist the temptation, I get to put that same amount of money (that I just saved) into a jar for something like a vacation or some other savings goal. I got the idea from a commercial about quitting smoking. The lady saved so much money not buying cigarettes for a year that she had enough to go to the Caribbean! When I think of it that way — how much money I am wasting on needless and toxic stuff — it’s a little more motivating for me.
I had gastroparesis too! overcame the same way.. Supplements, ferments, etc. how “funny” to come across that diagnosis on a site not related to that š most ppl have no clue what that GP word is š small world sometimes.. Even smaller when someone has conquered it naturally š
My husband goes along with most of my healthy food choices but every week in my cart of fresh fruits and veggies, whole wheat flour to make my own bread products, and carefully chosen products with no high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils…..is his bag of Doritos. He tears the house apart looking for something to snack on if the doesn’t have them. I would rather buy him the bag of Doritos then have him eat my pound of almonds as a snack. I only wish he would get a grip on the serving size. One bag does not equal one serving lol.
Thank you to Mr. Crumbs and the other Mr.’s that have chimed in here–your information is invaluable. I’m afraid I have kind of forced some of my new lifestyle diet on poor hubby, but at the same time I have not forbidden any of his treats–and he has a lot of them. : ) I don’t nag, I don’t wrestle bad stuff out of his grip, and I don’t give any vibes like I think he is less than an intelligent, hard-working man for not understanding/agreeing readily with my new diet. (Dr. ordered) I even still indulge him with Oreos! (I am an enabler–guilty as charged!) Whenever I prepare meals, they are the “new healthy” versions mostly–but if I used to serve bread or potatoes or rice on the side, I still do for him, though I may be having cauli-rice or other veggies. I try to cook foods that we both will enjoy, but, to be fair, there is a dearth of man-pleaser recipes in this category. I believe if I could find more man-pleaser recipes, that my hubby would come right over. In the meanwhile, to minimize the pain (his taste buds, my brain strain), when I fix something that probably will not be well-received by parties of the second part, I make a me-size portion and prepare him an old standby that I am no longer able to eat–homemade mac and cheese, chipped beef on toast, etc. Then there are easy meals like real spaghetti for him while I have strings of spaghetti squash under that delicious new, veggie (hidden)-laden spaghetti sauce that I learned to make and we both enjoy. Ultimately, it has to be his decision to come over to the healthified lifestyle completely, because this way he will retain his joy, and joy keeps all of us going. I’m so blessed to be married to a thankful man who is a good sport and eats whatever I make, even if I can tell it really is not within his top 100 ideas of good food! Sometimes I have to remind myself to be thick-skinned, but I do very much appreciate my husband’s input about the meals–the good, the bad, the forgotten (I didn’t mean to make him go for 6 months without rice–I just forgot about serving it because I can’t eat it anymore)–his input actually makes my meal-planning easier. Thank you, Mrs. Crumbs, for encouraging Mr. Crumbs to share his point of view. This is my first visit to your website, and I think it’s going to be very, very helpful. Thanks!
Or here’s an idea. How about we all (men included) take the initiative to learn more about nutrition and help spouses more in the kitchen and grocery store?
This comment has been edited per the comment policy.
Judi – Readers are encouraged to share their opinion, but to do so in an encouraging and upbeat manner. If you have concerns about this policy, I encourage you to email me directly.
Love the article.
My solution was a little different.
I started a garden (yes, organic) and my husband willingly helps me with the hardest of the work when he has time. If we grow it, he is much more willing to eat it.
I learned to cook with boxes, cans and processed foods, so I’m having to learn to prepare fresh dishes and the experiments are really just that. Pretty often though, I find ones that really are good so we really don’t miss the old meat and potatoes routine.
He still drinks his evening beer. I brew my kombucha and drink my herbal tea.
Its a marriage, not a competition.
My advice, it aint easy, but its worth it. Anytime you go against the rest of society, it’s going to be tough. The good thing is that with real food, you never starve. You just may have to work your ass off in the kitchen, but unlike dieting, or calorie counting if you are hungry, just eat more real food.
Wife, here. My husband, the fabulous cook, grew up with healthy home-grown food. I was the child raised on junk food. Every. Kind. Of. Junk. Food. With his encouragement over the years it took to crush the addiction to chemicals, I finally made it to the healthy side and lost pounds upon pounds. Every now and then I’ll grab something junk-like – the healthiest version I can find of it, most of the time made by my husband. He figured out the cheese sauce for macaroni! I. LOVE. THAT.
It sounds like you have a great husband Tacara-mi. Keep him and his cheese sauce close! š
okay guys. We have been married 20 years. i do all the budgeting, cooking, and shopping. i also work 60 hpurs a week as an accountant. I prepare meals for the week on the weekend. we eat well. But can be exactly on budget and so proud of myself, have dinners ready to reheat the second my husband comes home, but if it isn’t to his liking he will inevitably go out and get himself pizza, or mcdonalds or whatever. And do the same for lunch if he does not like what I pack him. Make him stuff he likes, girls, or your budget will be blown by your husbands cravings. you cannot change him. you are just setting yourself up for disaster. 20 years of this. Trust me.
Lol thank you for this article. Iām googling this topic at midnight after another night of my husband not wanting a healthy meal even though I cooked one of his favorites because heās ānot hungryā only for him to go to 7-11 and buy a bag of cool ranch Doritos and eat the whole thing. Weāre vegan but that doesnāt stop him avoid the salads he requested when I was going for a shop and instead only eating cookies and chips heās picked up on his own while the sad veggies go bad because I canāt eat two peoples worth. Hoping some day he will actually mean it when he says he wants to āeat healthyā and he wonders why he needs so many naps…
Gabby, this had me rolling! Man do I feel you!!!