When your Spouse Doesn't Join your efforts

[BlancE]

My DH finally decided to try LC a couple of months ago and lost 12 lbs. on a pretty much maintenance level diet. Then the hurricane came and all thoughts of LC were out the window. There are only so many days you can eat grilled meat. I never thought I would say that, but it's true.

He's ready to restart. I need to as well. Maybe we can plan meals together. It's the failure to plan that always gets me.

[SandyHanson]

Good luck with that, Beth. I wish I could get my hubby on the plan. He doesn't really need to lose any weight, but he eats WAY too much sugar, and has had elevated triglycerides in the past, and probably does now.

[Ammy]

GF is a "low fatter"...but often munches on M&M's in the evening...oh, and popcorn during sports.
She also doesn't eat Mammels (meat with fat)...So we often eat different things.

But it works out...she bends a little and I bend a little and usually we end up with 1% fat things like cottage cheese and milk.

[MichelleAkers]

Originally Posted by lczeledoc

Following the PPLP it kind makes you a pariah among your friends/buddies. At work people tend to eat out at least once a week. I hardly ever go out with my co-workers because of the food choices.

Wow -- my experience has been SO different! I eat out with friends on the weekends all the time and have only once had a real menu problem (a Vietnamese "pho" place -- there was literally no dish I could eat more than 3% of). New friends are often solicitious/concerned that because of my low-carb thing I should always choose the restaurant, and I assure them that I love trying new places and I'll be just FINE "anywhere but a pho noodle house." (Well, I guess dim sum would be another exception, come to think of it. But when I decided to go off LC for a day in order to have dim sum, I found that it those carbs were no longer the be-all and end-all I had remembered anyway.)

Really, though -- 'most anywhere has either caesar or chef salad, or various meat/fish/poultry choices. Mexican? Taco salad. Italian? Chicken caesar, no croutons. Thai? Satay. Ethiopian? Spicy beef, green chicken, greens... and ask for a fork. Yeah, so you're supposed to use the injira bread and eat with your hands. They're used to it. You're spending money and leaving a tip. Trust me, my favorite Ethiopian restaurant folks are SO happy to keep the injira and bring me a fork.

One tactic I have found very useful: When ordering I just say, "No potatoes/pasta/rice/bread." I don't suggest that they substitute anything -- but most of the time the waitperson will say, "Would you like extra vegetables?" If the vegie is one I'll eat...not corn, LOL!... I say, absolutely, that'd be great. Somehow letting them make the suggestion waaaaay reduces the complication value and the impression that I'm being difficult/demanding. (And often even if the waitperson doesn't ask, the chef will just do that anyway. They hate sending out half-empty plates.)

-- Michelle (great, now I want Ethiopian food, and can't get there until Saturday -- waaah!)

[SandyHanson]

Originally Posted by MichelleAkers

If the vegie is one I'll eat...not corn, LOL!...

That reminds me - the first time I did low carb and we went to a restaurant, when they asked what kind of potato I wanted, I asked if I could have a double serving of vegetable instead - without asking what it was. My plate came half covered with CORN. And it was the cheap, canned kind, not really all that good. Which, I guess was all right because I was not at all tempted to eat it all!

[Frank Hagan]

Maybe its the restaurants here in California (where "weird diets" are not unusual), but all I have to do is say I'm eating low carb and the waiters/waitresses will start making recommendations. Even places like Chili's ... we just ate there on Sunday with family, and the waiter suggested a salad with grilled chicken, combining two different entrees. With dressing on the side, I just had to avoid the beans and corn in the salad (it was kind of a TexMex thing, I guess). I was impressed the waiter knew the difference between diets because this was definitely NOT a low fat diet ... it had bacon, hard boiled egg and cheese in it.

[Griff]

That's also been my experience. We went to Islands and discovered that they have a "protein platter." At Denny's, they worked with us to substitute meat or veggies for potatoes. If you tell them your results, they often get interested and work to help you out.