59: My Husband and I Don't Eat Exactly the Same

Do you struggle with eating healthy because your significant other wants to eat differently?

Maybe your housemates love having cookies and pizza and tacos and pasta and beer in the house.

When it's time for dinner, you feel like you need to eat what they want because making two different meals is a lot to ask. 

You'd love to eat healthy, but it just doesn't seem like it will ever work out because there are just too many tempting foods around.

I totally get it! My husband and I eat differently, and now it's fine!

I am going to give you 4 things that help me eat how I want to eat without feeling tempted by others' foods, without having to make 2 separate meals, and without feeling gross at the end of the meal!

Thingy 1: When it comes to meals, decide what's important to YOU.

It's important to me to feel good at the end of a meal. In my head and in my body.

It's important to me to not feel gross at the end of a meal. In my head and in my body.

It's important to me to enjoy the experience of eating. Not get in a fight with my husband. Not get in a fight with myself. The meal should be an enjoyable experience.

Thingy 2: Prioritize plants and protein.

I've done so many complicated diets with counting and measuring and obsessing, but they never really translated into simple meals habits I could do anywhere.

So I created a system for self-care around meals!

Prioritizing plants and protein is something you can do anywhere.

Every fast food place has plants and protein if you decide to look for them.

Every interstate has an exit with a Walmart or a gas station that has packaged salad and packaged chicken breast if you decide to look for them.

Every grocery store has plants and protein if you decide to look for them.

Every fridge has plants and protein if you decde to look for them.

You can make the decision to always include plants and protein with every meal you're going to eat.

And when you decide to make the bulk of your meals plants and protein, you get to feel good in your head and good in your body!

When my husband and I make dinner, we both know that there needs to be plants and protein. Communication is key in relationships, right?

Your partner is not a mind-reader, so unless you tell them what is important to you, how would they know?

Thingy 3: Stop thinking of processed foods as "bad foods" and allow yourself to practice eating them in a way that feels good/not gross.

This was tremendously helpful for me! I used to be afraid of sugar in salad dressing, and I had a meltdown at restaurant about it once. I also once spit out a vegetable mix because it had corn in it, and corn isn't paleo!

Ugh, so dumb.

Listen, there are foods that aren't as nutrient-dense as spinach and broccoli, but never allowing yourself to eat them usually ends up in your overdoing it and eating all of them later on!

Ok, so our meals always have plants and protein. And then there is probably something else there too. The processed fun food! 

Last night, we had tacos! I made a giant salad with taco toppings (plants and protein) and then had 1 taco (processed fun food) and it was great!

On Fridays, we usually order pizza. We make a salad (plants and protein) and then I'll have a few slices of pizza (processed fun food).

These foods are never going anywhere. I am always allowed to eat them. I just always choose to eat them in a way that feels good and not gross!

Thingy 4: Let go of how others eat/drink and focus on how you want to eat/drink.

Above you stated what was important to you. Maybe something along the lines of feeling good/not gross?

Cool. So it doesn't matter if your partner grabs a third taco. What foods and amounts of food will help you feel good/not gross?

It doesn't matter if your friends decide to have a fourth glass of wine. What amount of alcohol will help you feel good/not gross at the end of the night?

Seriosuly, what's important to you? You have to do the things that are important to you, and that does mean letting go others expectations. It does mean not succumbing to peer pressure.

I've gone to so many parties and had 1 drink and stopped or just had sparkling water.

I've gone to restaurants and had 2 slices of pizza with a salad and then stopped.

You have to decide to let go of what "everyone is doing" and decide to do the thing that is important to you.

Curious, when you were in grade school, did you have D.A.R.E? It was a program about drug awarness and how to say no to drugs. (90s kid here!) It's like all the stuff we learned in elementary school, we have to learn how to create boundaries and uphold the boundaries in the moment and not just do what others want you to do.

I like feeling good at the end of a meal. I make decisions that help me feel good.

It took a lot of trial and error to get here, and I hope you can get here too!

p.s. Just as I was finishing this part, my aunt called me to let me know she is dropping off stuffed shells for us! This used to cause a huge amount of anxiety for me because I wouldn't know how many calories was in the meal or maybe there were ingredients that weren't paleo. Or I was afraid I'd eat all of it in one sitting and feel gross. Ugh. Seriously- When people gave me food as gifts, I'd be pissed at them!

And now I'm like, "Ok cool! I don't have to make dinner! So we will have a salad and stuffed shells or we will have roasted veggies and stuffed shells. We'll figure it out!"

4 things that help me eat how I want to eat without feeling tempted by others' foods, without having to make 2 separate meals, and without feeling gross at the end of the meal:

Thingy 1: When it comes to meals, decide what's important to YOU.

Thingy 2: Prioritize plants and protein.

Thingy 3: Stop thinking of processed foods as "bad foods" and allow yourself to practice eating them in a way that feels good/not gross.

Thingy 4: Let go of how others eat/drink and focus on how you want to eat/drink.

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xo,

Jaclyn