Community Chat

[Azcowgirl]

Eating disorders run in my family, so we have unhealthy relationships with food and eat for all kinds of emotional reasons. DH also. He's overweight and a lifetime yo yo dieter, and I've never been overweight, just obsessed with never gaining.

DH is always talking about where to go eat, what he had to eat today, lost three pounds, gained four pounds.....we are quite the pair . Me slender and obsessed, he overweight and obsessed.

[LyndaGee]

I had an uncle like that.  His wife, my aunt was an excellent cook.  We'd often go to their home for Thanksgiving when I was growing up.  Around 7:00 pm, after everybody had eaten a wonderful feast and there were plenty of leftovers, he'd comment: "I feel like ordering a pizza" or "I could go for a good fish dinner."  !  Later in life, he develped Type-Two Diabetes and had to cut back.  Poor fella - That was rough for him.

[Trinity11]

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@SunValley wrote:

@Trinity11 that was interesting, and helpful, information. The husband in the OP is one extreme where he wants to buy, eat, and cook constantly. Then there are others who become so obsessed with healthy eating they harangue and lecture others who do not conform. I know two people like that. One, a coworker, was ordering a sandwich over the phone for pickup and proceeded to lecture the worker on every bad choice printed on the take out menu, broken down by item, its nutritional value, and how it harmed the body. The other, a relative, made every holiday meal a nightmare. I have to laugh at that pizza commercial where the salad eater dictates everything. It happens!

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I am no one to talk.....I had a heart attack in June and am recovering. My addiction was sugar. I would get restless and irritable without it until I learned about sugar addiction and how it is more addictive than cocaine. A day without sugar for me was wrought with depression. What it was doing to me I had no idea. I was very thin but clearly there was a lot more going on than I knew.

I don't think my diet or anyone else's is perfect nor can it "cure" anything. However, if the OP's husband is ravenous all day, it isn't his fault. The medical community has failed a lot of us who deal with food issues. They aren't particularly interested in nutrition and often blame the patient if they are struggling with their weight. I really believe in years to come, we will find out much more about the human body and how the one size fits all approach to nutrition was clearly lacking.

Off my soapbox.....

[game-on]

@chiclet....(((hugs))).....I hope he has his affairs in order.... sadly I think he is headed for a heart attack.  I think the only thing you can do is be honest with him.  Do not reward bad behavior.... back away when he is talking about food.... walk away.  Tell him that you dont want to make YOUR birthday about food.... be honest, but gentle.  Sometimes we have to get up on our high horses to get our point across.  Best wishes. 

[chrystaltree]

It sounds like your husband has an eating disorder.  Sadly, in our fat hating society; all attention regarding eating disorders goes to bulimics and those suffering with anorexia nervosa.  There's sympathy for them.  However, at the other end of the spectrum, there are people like your husband.  They can't stop themselves from eating, they have no control over the situation but people like him get not attention and even doctors don't diagnose or care for them properly.  There are also endocrine disorders and brain disorders that cause people to eat uncontrollably.  Obviously, you pcp is useless.  A "you'll kill yourself" lecture isn't going to help your husband and it might even make the situation worse.  So, assuming that your husband wants lose weight or even just stop gaining weight; he might not,  In which case, he doesn't have a problem.  But if he is, I would suggest that you begin by making him an appointment with a bariatrics specialist.  That is doctor who specializes in obesity.  Most doctors don't know anything at all about morbid obesity.  He needs a specialist to assess him and make the necessary referrals so that he can get the care and treatment he so badly needs.  I cannot stress enough that your husband's situation is not normal overeating.  There something going on with him either emotionally or metabolically or physically.  The man cannot just "stop". 

[Burnsite]

aubegirl, I suggest he see a nutritionist about food offerings that are delicious but that fill him up a bit better. 

Honestly, medicine from your family doctor might help as well to calm his appetite.  It does not sound like a normal hunger.  At this level of craving, medicines might be helpful, either to help him metabolize his food or to curb his hunger. 

I love food, love to cook, and watch the cooking channel, too, but this does not sound as if it is healthy for your husband.

[Trinity11]

@chicletUncontrolled diabetes may also be the root of his excessive hunger. This is from a website about diabetes.....

In uncontrolled diabetes where blood glucose levels remain abnormally high (hyperglycemia), glucose from the blood cannot enter the cells - due to either a lack of insulin or insulin resistance - so the body can’t convert the food you eat into energy.

This lack of energy causes an increase in hunger.

Simply eating will not get rid of the hungry feeling of polyphagia in people with uncontrolled diabetes, as this will just add to the already high blood glucose levels. The best way to lower blood glucose levels is to exercise as this can help to stimulate insulin production and reduce blood sugar levels.

[sidsmom]

Yes, food can cure illnesses.

It's wrong if anyone tells you otherwise.

You get heart disease, diabetes & other modern day illnesses

by eating the wrong food, so it makes sense that NOT eating the 

wrong food would cure/prevent.   It's not rocket science.

Yes, you can cure diabetes.

A low fat whole foods plant based diet.

Google Dr. John McDougall for more info.

I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have regarding this simple & cheap way of eating.  Clean plant food in the purest form.   Again, it's not rocket science. 

And for eating addictions?  Again, eliminating the holy trinity of 

food addiction, salt, oil, sugar, will calm down the frantic behavior 

of addiction.  

[Trinity11]

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@sidsmom wrote:

Yes, food can cure illnesses.

It's wrong if anyone tells you otherwise.

You get heart disease, diabetes & other modern day illnesses

by eating the wrong food, so it makes sense that NOT eating the 

wrong food would cure/prevent.   It's not rocket science.

Yes, you can cure diabetes.

A low fat whole foods plant based diet.

Google Dr. John McDougall for more info.

I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have regarding this simple & cheap way of eating.  Clean plant food in the purest form.   Again, it's not rocket science. 

And for eating addictions?  Again, eliminating the holy trinity of 

food addiction, salt, oil, sugar, will calm down the frantic behavior 

of addiction.  

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If this worked then why does he tell his patients not to check their blood sugars? He has a video of a young man with 300 blood sugars and he isn't alarmed. Carbohydrates raise blood sugars. It's simple science and any diabetic with the purchase of a glucometer will tell you that.

I tried the no fat, plant based diet with grains and my triglycerides became dangerously elevated. My A1C went to 7.5 from a low of 5.1. I really believed that vegan eating may help my heart and instead it left me in a dangerous state of health.

The one size fits all way of dieting does not work. It is a fallacy to say that a plant based diet cures diabetes.

[ECBG]

He really needs behavior mod.  Definately a real problem.

Was he like this when you were dating?  When he was a child?

Many severly overweight people have a portion control issue as well as eating what they want because "they like it".  They'll get several plates of all white/yellow choices of which 99% are starches.

I rarely eat at buffets because most of what they serve is starches.