Spouse support page 2

[Artichoke]

I have type 2 diabetes and went low carb to improve my health in 2010 and Primal this year. My OH is not on board with the low carb, he wants his carbs. However, he was more than happy to go organic.

This means he eats organic Weetabix, organic pizza, organic beef lasagne and cottage pie ready meals when he wants them and though he's eating carbs, it's a reduced amount and he's not ingesting additives.

We eat breakfast and lunch separately Monday-Friday, dinners are always low carb. Sundays are often a roast and Saturday lunch is when he tends to want his own carbier organic stuff.

[sbhikes]

Lean meat, chicken or fish with a side of sweet potato or root veggies, green veggies, salad and how can anybody complain about that? That's what CW wants you to eat and it's pretty darn delicious. If there's a night for spaghetti or curry or whatever, pour your sauce over a sweet potato, zucchini noodles or riced cauliflower. Or heck, pour your sauce over a hamburger patty.

[JackieKessler]

My family eats SAD, and I'm primal. So there's compromise. I made the taco bowl recipe that Mark posted here a couple of weeks ago, and my family ate the main dish but put theirs into prefabbed taco shells that I bought. End result was they loved what they ate and I loved what I ate. Once in a while, my family will try an entire dinner that's primal, but we usually compromise by having a primal main and various sides -- some primal, some SAD.

[jennf]

One thing you can do is to make a big pot of something primal that can freeze easily. Not for this purpose, but I periodically make a triple batch of beanless chili and freeze it in individual portions for a quick dinner. If you have something like that on hand and your wife wants to make a recipe that really can't be primalized, you can just pop it in the microwave and you're ready to go, without having to make a big deal out of it.

Although hubby and I are both primal, we eat different desserts from each other every night. If you want to share in the ritual without eating the crap, just substitue in something yummy for yourself, like fruit and coconut milk, or almond butter and coconut oil, or an apple and some cheese. That way she's not eating by herself, but you're not eating unhealthy just to keep yourself from feeling bad.

[Silky]

I'm primal, hubby is not. I have the meat and extra salad. He has the meat and extra carbs. We don't usually have dessert, but if we do it is fruit and yoghurt. He's in the kitchen cooking steak at this moment! His will be with potato, mine won't. I'll have half a glass of red wine, he'll finish the bottle! Everyone is happy.

[brighthorse]

My wife supports me in that I am the cook and grocery shopper. She has no choice.
She doesnt support my new active lifestyle at all and seems to be jealous of my now fit body.
On the 4th after I rode in a horse back riding lesson, I went mountain biking then swimming. Me and one of my buds were fucking around teasing each other and my wife says "don't even think of doing an Ironwoman" WTF!

[abstractpersona]

Always look for the most simple eay to solve problems. For this particular problem...
- Eat a bigger breakfast and lunch, so you don't have to eat dinner with her.
- As for desserts, if you have trouble saying no, suggest a paleo dessert like whipped cream and fresh stawberries (slice strawberries then shake them in a tuppware with a pinch of sugar, which makes a stawberry sauce). It only takes 5 minutes to make and its healthy. She can eat that on top of a moist brownie if she likes... you can also make coconut banana cream pie... lots of healthy paleo desserts out there that won't stall your progress, and that will make your wife's sweet tooth happy.

[SoccerGrok]

I think there needs to be a line drawn between participating and interfering. I've been living with my boyfriend for 2 years, and the last year was Primal. Though he doesn't eat that way himself, he doesn't bitch about dinner not having any biscuits or pasta or anything. On the other hand, if he wanted some, I don't really care.

You don't usually have to make completely separate dinners unless she insists on fettucine alfredo every night, and then she can make it herself. We eat things like burger patties (he has it with a bun, I don't) or broccoli beef (sauces on the side, no rice for me), steak (which just is what it is) or chicken breasts with some different seasonings and veggies on the side (no biscuit or anything for me). It's not all that hard.

It's really easy to say you're eating crap because your partner is. I've done it myself. But it's really your own damn fault.

Well spoken, well said!

[Goldie]

Dinner is the only meal that hubby and I eat together. I'm primal, he's a carb-o-holic. (We might eat lunch together, but we each prepare what we want.)

Dinner is almost always grilled meat or fish, which hubby makes. While he's grilling, I make salad and/or veg; occasionally I'll bake sweet potatoes. If he wants anything extra, he helps himself (although he usually doesn't). Then a little later in the evening he's getting his carbs with ice cream, chips, etc.

He is slowly coming around to primal. We were in a situation the other day where the least offensive place to eat was Subway. I got my sub, ate the innards, and threw away the bread. He ate only half of the bread. He's the knd of guy that I can't nag; he's stubborn and will dig in his heels. I just tell him why I eat like I do (with references to the research that backs it up), and let him make his own choices.

[SAdams]

I have a very similar problem with my husband. He works out of town 20 days a month so is only home for 10. I make sure his food (ramen noodles, frozen pizza and popcorn) are in the house when he is home but keep the house clean of those things when he is gone. It is quit hard when he is here to stick to the diet because if I make Ribs he wants ramen (this actually happend last valentines day). I couldn't imagine having to do this every day. I would suggest making more of the meals.