my oh is doing the diet, I prepare all his meals for him and am his cheerleader but he is an emotional eater and also sees food as a reward how can I help with this without sounding like a nagging mother – any tips would be welcome

Hi cattie, well done to you for supporting your oh. We all, on here, appreciate how much hard work this diet can be, thinking, planning, shopping, cooking and so on. You too will benefit even if you dont have to lose weight or improve an illness. You dont say why your husband is on this particular plan, does he have any underlying problems with his health or just overweight.

There are things that can be had on this diet that I consider treats. For example, a glass of red wine at the weekend. Also I eat 1 square of really dark chocolate (70% or more) every now and then. It rather depends on what he likes to eat and can he control what he eats once he has something – i.e. can he stop eating. For me having succulent roast chicken (not the shop bought chemical stuff) in the fridge to pick on. A small square of cheese every now and then and my favorite is berries. If he is looking for stuff like pastries, cakes, pies etc then limit the amount in the house and make sure there are alternatives to eat. Let us know more about his circumstances and that will decide on whether it would do no harm to have a small treat now and then.

thanks so much for replying, he is type two diabetic, he probably needs to go down about another 2 stone, he has lost 1 stone in recent weeks so is on his way. his blood sugar two hours after eating in the evening is usually around 6 so he has pretty good control and we have been trying to get support on this for the last 5 years ago but our gp doesn’t have time

unfortunately he doesn’t drink wine only beer which I know is the worst thing, he doesn’t drink often but if we have people over to eat or something he will have a couple but that is enough to wreck the diet for a couple of days. he doesn’t have a particularly sweet tooth, the only thing I can think of is jam, things he will go to the fridge for are cheese and sundried tomatoes! he actually has pretty healthy taste but doesn’t feel full easily and as I say turns to the fridge easily if he feels stressed, to be honest just reading that back I see I could pre weigh some cheese so that he only took a small bit, that would be start!

Thanks for the info cattie. It seems he is getting good control and it is important he continues on this path. As for the treats, I think jam is out of the question. Sounds like he eats for reasons of stress but maybe also the habit of turning to the fridge in the evening and his treats might be something he wouldn’t normally turn to. That is the point of a diet, to change of daily eating habits for the better. Remember a treat is just that, something you have now and then to stop you from feeling deprived, have some delicious BDS friendly nibbles available in portion sizes, like a 1oz cube of cheese – but he can only have one now and then, not go back to the fridge 10 minutes later for another piece. What about a bowl of fresh or defrosted frozen berries, vegetable sticks like carrots already prepared. Talking of nagging mothers, my grandchildren wont think to eat fruit or veg but if I cut it up and put it in front of them they do.

I’ve been out at lunchtime and got some more peppers, carrots and celery I will cut some up and put them in a plastic container in the fridge – yes you are right, the fridge is always the first port of call if something happens, like other people reach for a cigarette I suppose. I’m very lucky I don’t have an emotional attachment to food, he knows I’m stressed because I chew the inside of my lip! I just need to be one step ahead with my preparation I suppose, I probably should let him do it himself but I know he wouldn’t weigh stuff and like I say I don’t want to nag! it is lucky he has always eaten healthily (he has a Mediterranean mother) but portion control has been the issue
he does have pretty good control, he had his six monthly blood test recently and we are waiting to see what that says, we hope it might open up dialogue with the gp surgery again if it is good I would love to have support from them as well but it is nice to talk (virtually) to people understand

Cattie, he is so lucky to have you. Tell him to keep away from the sundried tomatoes as they are packed high in calories – someone posted they had a binge on them and didn’t realise. Good luck.