Diet advice! Me not horse, also in Soapbox.

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reindeerlover

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Hi folks, I posted in soapbox but I always post in here so I thought I'd try here too! Anyway, 5 years ago when I first met my OH I was 9 stone or so, size 10. I worked in an office, went to the gym every morning for 1 1/2 hours, had personal trainer every now and then. I ate sensibly most of the time, cooking for myself so most often grabbed something small. I rode my horses after work. I did lots of flirty hair flipping and general Morag wafting (thanks Starzaan!) and bagged him about 4 years ago.

We moved in together 3 1/2 years ago and I had various life changes with jobs etc, he worked away from home and I only saw him at weekends, I ate too much, exercised too little and put on a bit of weight, spiralled a little and I was about 10 stone. I am only 5' 3" so this was quite a bit too much for me. Anyway, now he is back at home for good and I am finding it increasingly difficult and need some help.

He is (obviously) a farrier and he does a very hard, very physical job all day. I am in an office with a canteen and various snack machines. I need to feed him enough calories to get him through the day and keep his energy up but I try to keep the house filled with low fat things for me!

He has LOST weight since he came back and I am now (just) over 10 1/2 stone! I have to use a whip and a chair to manhandle my Morags into a specially constructed harness, tuck my top into my jeans to prevent muffin top and wear big hoodies over the whole outfit to hide my revolting flabbiness. I cannot believe that my poor thoroughbreds are able to carry me at this stage :( and have nightmares about changing rooms.

He likes unhealthy things like white bread, butter, biscuits etc. He must have a proper dinner in the evening- meat, veg and potatoes. He will occasionally eat pasta but still thinks it's not a real meal. He then snacks on crisps and chocolate after dinner. I cannot help but assist him in this and as he's gone all skinny I don't want to try and make him stop!

What can I feed him to make him put on a bit of weight and what can I do to lose my weight despite feeding him up?? Please no "helpful" suggestions like "You're fine the way you are" and "stop eating so much, fatty"..... :o
 
make the meat and 2 veg meals (:p) but just eat more veg (lean meat) and good stuff while he eats the stodgy stuff. and stick with proper portions (get a smaller plate if you must!)

my dad was a farrier, he just had mahoosive portions compared to the rest of us (like half of the shepherds pie when the other half was split between 3 sort of thing)

why do you have to help him eat biscuits and crisps? perhaps pick at popcorn or dried fruit... Im not a snacking person so get stuck here
 
Don't try a quick fix and starve yourself.

I realised the weight had been creeping on, and as my lovely mother said after you hit the other side of 40 its much harder to shift:rolleyes: thanks mum:(

Anyway, I now try and eat a healthy breakfast, porridge or muesli, which keeps me going till lunch time, then have something filling but not too high in cals. Always have a decent tea, but now have much smaller portions, cut the size down gradually and then didnt get hunger pains in the evening.

Have found that if I crave something 'bad' it actually better to eat it than try to be good and eat loads of fruit/nuts, cos I always end up eating the choc as well:(

I haven't been able to increase my exercise levels as I would have liked as my back is really painful atm, so am limited in what can do, but I know the weight is coming off slowly and I think I will be able to keep it off.

Good luck
 
Thanks for that guys- only 31 so hopefully it will be easier for me to shift! I really need a plan for me and a seperate (but not much harder) plan for Farrier as he needs to put some on! I don't have as much time as I used to for going to the gym and I work 9-5 (zzz). I prefer my proper meal at lunch time and eat something light in the evening but if I am cooking meat and veg and potatoes for him then it seems like a waste of time!
 
if you prep it all when you make your meal at lunchtime then just cook his portion at teatime its not a waste of time??
if he eats it all then you cant pick either :p

make his mash with butter and cream- will have extra calories

incidently, does he want to put weight on- a spare tyre/podge is rubbish when your a farrier and bent over all day.
dad used to have a light breakfast, then cups of tea all day with nothing to eat because it made him nasueous and sluggish, and massive meal in the evening to make up for it.
he was never "skinny" though, belt and braces man to hold his trousers up though because they were too big lol :)
 
I've one of those skinny always hungry OHs who needs his meat and 2 veg. Makes life difficult with an almost veggie daughter whose least favourite meal is Sunday roast but also dislikes anything spicy!

Here are my tips
When you cook meat and 2 veg, cook more and plate up a couple of extras and pop in the freezer. This will save you cooking a heavy meal for him every day, simply pop one of his plates in the microwave while you cook yourself a lighter smaller snack or your pasta in quantity and freeze a couple of portions for you to have when he's on the big stuff.
When you dish yours up always use a smaller plate, you'll put less on.
Eat yours as slowly as possible - talk, chew more times or keep getting up to faff with things in the kitchen. If necessary read at the same time. Then you won't be tempted to eat more, as the brain will acknowledge you've been fed before you finish.

Do not ever ever put money in a vending machine - empty your change daily before you go to work. If you must eat in the canteen, have a meal only no puds! But you could take in a lower calorie pasta salad you made from the pasta you cooked last night.

Don't eat any snacks at home, develop a taste for fruit teas - sip these instead of snacking. If he's a mug of tea person, try yours without milk, or try just hit water (I quite like this). When I calculated how much milk I drank with all the tea he has and I have one too it was no wonder I'd put on a bit.
Buy the snacks for him that you least like - I dislike the way crisps stick in the bottom of your teeth and go soggy, so OH always has crisp esp cheese and onion which I loathe anyway as they don't taste of cheese and onion IMO.

Have successfully lost and kept off a stone since this time last year, am going for the gradual approach. Is probably more I've not looked lately but know my jeans are in danger of falling down now without a belt.
 
Agree about the veg!

One great guideline I read was to divide each plate into four: 1/4 meat/protein, 1/4 carbs and 1/2 veg (green, red, yellow but not potatoes). It's also good to push yourself to do the five-a-day thing. I get a fruit and veg box each week from a local farm and mainly eat vegetarian food at home, but it still takes an effort to get five units a day. I think in France they were pushing it up to seven!
 
Right - I've just lost a load of weight. The only way to do it is to eat less calories than you burn (I know, it sounds easy!). Stick to lean meat and loads of veggies in the evening. I've been to a diet club under a doctor's supervision and was told not to eat carbs in the evening as they make you retain fluid overnight. Don't snack with your farrier! If you must nibble - eat fruit or carrot sticks or something like that. You could easily shift the extra weight in a couple of months - don't end up like me with loads and loads to shift!
My motivation was to get another horse and get riding again properly. I know there have been lots of posts on here that say it is ok to ride when you are very overweight, but I don't think it is.
Have a look at www.minimins.com - there's loads of diet advice on there.
 
I allowed my weight to creep up over the last few years and have been dieting. Not sure if it will help, but this was my approach.
I realised a couple of months ago that I had managed to put on about 2 stone over the past few years and that it had to go!
I used Sainsbury's diet website (I didn't join, just used it for the calculations) to workout how many calories I needed to eat to lose weight gradually, kept a note of the calories I was eating each day and didn't go over my allowance. I check the calories in everything I eat and weight the portions. I eat pretty much the same meals as my OH, just less of them, but don't eat any biscuits, crisps, chocolate etc unless I have enough calories left over from my allowance. I've also started cycling and going for a walk at lunchtime instead of sitting in the office. In 8 weeks I've lost 15 pounds (and that includes going on holiday for a week).
I use fruit for snacks, although you still have to watch as the calories mount up.
I haven't found it as hard as I thought I would, although after one particularly bad day I did blow all my calories on 2 pints of cider and a large bowl of cheesy chips! A lot of the eating I was doing was habit rather than necessity. I'd got used to going to the shop lunchtime and buying chocolate or buying those big bags of crisps and eating the whole bag in a day. I honestly don't really miss it and feel so much better for it.
I want to lose another stone, then I'm looking forward to having a few more calories to play with to maintain my weight! I'm in my late 40s now so I realise I need to keep the weight off as it won't get any easier to lose it.

Good luck!

(by the way potatoes aren't such a bad thing - provided you don't add lots of fat they have less calories than pasta and rice!)
 
I've gone in the past 6 months from just over 10 stone to just under 9 stone. To be honest it just takes will power!! My other half has an active job and is always slim and can eat for England - he must have amazing metabolism thats my theory!
I used to eat 2 slices buttered toast in morning, sarnies and crisps etc at lunch and then eat as much at dinner as he would.
I have pretty much cut out all bread - and havent really missed it! I actually feel a lot less bloated and gassy than I did when I ate alot of bread. Dont eat that much dairy either really apart from cheese.
So now, I usually have a banana for breakfast, soup for lunch and a fruit salad type thing and then normal tea - so I have the same as OH but less of it if possible! I no longer eat crisps and cornflakes when he does for supper. And if I'm peckish I have a bio yoghurt.
It works really well for me, I dont really feel hungry until tea time now. Before I never felt hungry which just proves I was eating far too many calories for my burn level.
 
Slimming World!!! I'm a vegi, and live off potato's and pasta...always been podgy and moved into the gob smackingly obese stage last year!! Promoted by photo's of my poor lad trying to heaft me over some XC jumps I nicked a Slimming World diet sheet from my YO (who's now lost around 3 stone on it) and started the diet!! I've now lost 2 stone..working on the 3rd and am eating like the proverbial horse!!! I have pasta and potatos most days and am certainly not ever hungry!!! Best bit is the food is so yummy you OH won't even know it's healthy stuff, all you need to do is add cheese or nice yummy stuff to his and he'll happily eat what you are having.

Agree with Doris, I've cut out bread completely..bloody hell that was hard to do but I feel 100% better, no bloating, no indigestion as I was getting everyday and the pounds are falling off.
 
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