How Can I Get Fit When He Eats Like This?

Body Transformation While Married to a Nutritional Opposite

Consistently eating a healthy diet for greater health and body transformation in today’s world where tempting food is often available can be challenging even for the most dedicated fitness enthusiast. The difficulty of succeeding with the supportive eating habit can grow exponentially when your spouse or housemate is not quite on board with healthy eating. Although staying the course while facing daily temptation is hard, it is possible and it is definitely worth it. Here are three tips to staying the course despite your surroundings.

Tip #1: Talk to your spouse or housemate about your reasons for changing your eating habits.
Sometimes when someone we are close to changes, it can be uncomfortable and evoke worries about whether or not the relationship will remain intact. It is important to identify and share your motivation with your partner. In most cases, your driving force is far deeper than fitting into a certain size or outfit. Tap into the raw, emotional reasons why you want to change. Someone who sincerely cares about you is very likely to be supportive of your changes if they know what you are fixing by changing your lifestyle. Your spouse may not think it is important for you to drop a dress size but if he knows that your lack of follow through with your fitness goals is building a habit of avoiding rather than overcoming challenges, he may be less likely to bring you food treats as his display of love for you.

Tip #2: Make a plan that includes splurges and then stay true to your plan. If you don’t respect your plan, don’t expect anyone else to do it for you.
Part of your initial discussion with your partner can include sharing exactly what your plan includes and when you are free to splurge. Knowing when you will have time for a more relaxed nutrition approach can help your spouse know that your new goal doesn’t completely eliminate any food related events you used to enjoy together. While many coaches will advise that you just replace the food related events with events that don’t involve food, this switch may not be immediately feasible- especially if your spouse doesn’t have a fitness goal of their own. Finally, once you set your plan and state your intentions…STICK TO YOUR GUNS! If you want your partner to respect your nutrition decisions, you must be the first to respect those decisions. If you are all talk and no follow through, your partner will not take you seriously and may still suggest unsupportive foods and events due to your inconsistency.

Tip #3: Designate a spot for the unsupportive food in your house and then stay clear.
A complete kitchen sweep in which you throw away all of the unsupportive foods in your house may not be feasible if those foods belong to someone else in the house. You can however, move all of the unsupportive food to a designated area so that you don’t have to reach past them multiple times a day. You can explain how having this separate area helps you stay on track and then stay out of the stash.

This is one Fit Club member's unsupportive food designated area. It is in an obscure part of the pantry that she can easily ignore. Hopefully soon, her family will be following her example and this food can be tossed never to return again.

Bonus Tip: Don't nag. Don't judge. Don't be a drag.

Your decision to change should be about you! Lead by example but don't nag him to change just because you have finally seen the light. Don't make smart comments about what he is eating. Finally don't walk around somber and sad just because you no longer randomly indulge in unsupportive foods like your partner. Your change is supposed to be for a better you so be excited about the journey and the benefits. Your spouse will probably not be supportive if your healthy lifestyle change causes you to be in a sour mood all the time.

In summary, you can successfully transform your eating, health, and body even if you live with someone who doesn’t share the same desire. Sharing your motivation with them and then leading by example just may win them over to the fitness lifestyle as well!