eating as a hobby? How do I break this?

[mightyh]

I REALLY enjoy food... and eating out is sort of one of my hobbies, along with cooking. So now, when I am desperate to lose some weight, how do I fend off my sweet husband's "Do you want to go out and get some frozen custard?"

He's trying to be nice and choose something mildly healthy--he's watching his weight, too--but I have a hard time saying no even when I know I need to. Like when I'm not even hungry, but am okaying it as a social thing... like a social drinker/smoker, I guess :/ Yikes.

What can I do to help me stick to my plan and control my calorie intake? Any ideas?

I am so weak....

[food girl]

I am certainly not saying this is the case, but sometimes very sweet husbands, friends and co-workers can sabotage weight loss efforts! Husbands especially, some subconsciously worry that if wifey loses weight she might be more attractive and run off with UPS man. Friends are afraid that you will ditch them for skinny friends ... you get the picture. I think Oprah talks about this in her book.

Eating for fun is a hard habit to break because cooking and eating ARE fun.

[jd]

mightyh, I can relate! I like to eat, and when I decided once and for all to shed some size, my SO was of little support - he would encourage me to eat, as in wanting to be the 'good guy' - the one that didn't make me eat what I didn't want to (does that make sense?!).

I'm not sure what finally snapped to make me stop eating so much, I think it was the decision to join weight watchers. But, I decided to keep food and cooking as my hobby, but only cooking from healthy recipes. As in a previous post, restaurants are my stumbling block, but otherwise, I'm enjoying this new focus on food. The ww plan gives me another goal (points per day) and the weigh-ins help too.

As for the SO support - for me, it took some intervention. I talked about what I was doing and my goals with his sister, and she gave him a talking to (without my knowledge)! When I asked about his change of attitude, he admitted to the source.

Good luck to you, it is a challenge, but is definitely worth while.

[Jen]

I had the same problem for a long time - no matter how many times I said it, my husband just didn't seem to take my weight loss efforts seriously. The change for me was joining ww - I think he finally understands how much I want this. (That, and he sees the extra $$ I pay them and wants me to lose faster!) He keeps telling me how proud he is of me for sticking to it, especially in difficult situations. I've even found nacho chips stuck in the hall closet...he hid them so I wouldn't find them and be tempted!! I too find restaurant eating the hardest, and we have always used food as our "treats". It's really hard to find something else to fill the gap.