Hi! This is actually my first post here. PLEASE forgive this rant. I've been following this forum for about a month now, when I first began contemplating LCing. After weeks of research, reading, and prepping my cupboards I'm feeling ready to start Atkins. I've been trying to get my husband on board....which is proving far more difficult than I had ever imagined. I guess I could just do this on my own, but I really think that this is a smart way of living/eating for our whole family, and to be honest, I desperately need his support with this. This is my first time "dieting"....following a specific diet plan to get weight loss results. Plus, I would like this to be a way of life for me that won't have me making two different meals every night, never eating what the rest of the family eats, and still buying all the carbs we're all addicted to - but having to have all the willpower necessary to not eat them...with them staring me in my face just seems insurmountable.

My husband is a very lean/muscular, active man, with a high metabolism who has always been able to just eat whatever he wants and not even think about it once that food has passed his lips. He has a hard time putting ON weight, works in an active environment, and luckily has genes that make him tall and lean. So far it seems that our two kids (DD is 3 and DS is 18 months) have been blessed with both his body type and metabolic rate. They are both low on the charts for weight, high for height, and eat like monsters. I, on the other hand, have had weight problems since we got married, since I adopted his terrible eating habits once we were all settled into life together. Things got even worse with my first pregnancy, when I put on far more weight than I ever expected. Regardless of all of this, I feel like I need him in my court - but he's totally against LCing. He just keeps saying "there's nothing wrong with carbs" and "carbs = energy", blah, blah, blah. He won't do any reading about it, despite my giving him the books, talking to him, or showing him webpages.

I really feel like I NEED to start LCing. In general we keep healthy foods in the house, since it's important to me to feed the kids in a nutritionally balanced way. I've been desperately trying to lose weight myself, but I'm just stuck. I exercise regularly, but can't seem to get off more than 10 or 15 lbs before the majority of it comes back. The only thing I can figure out that makes sense and that's left still to cut is the carbs (and I'm guilty for late night snacking..... so that's got to go too). And currently, we eat far too many carbs. My husband is a firm believer in the idea that dinner should revolve around a giant portion of meat, with a pile of mashed potatoes or other carb (perogies are one of his faves!), and a little side of veg or small bowl of salad. Oh, and don't forget the bread. At every meal. I think that this is awful for all of us.

So....what do I do? My husband doesn't think forcing the kids to LC is fair or right. In fact he's adamant about it....he thinks I'll be putting them on a diet, and can't see that I'm trying to accept a long-term way of life. I can't get him to understand that its not about ELIMINATING ALL carbs, its about reducing them (albeit by a lot) for long term balance and physical health. Do I just cook what follows my meal plans and he can choose to eat it or not? I'm really adamant about trying this, and part of me thinks that once he sees what it's about, and what kinds of food (ie. so much protein - his favorite) we'll be eating, as well as how much better he'll feel, there won't be an issue. But, who knows. I really don't want to do anything to instill resentment or bitterness between us. This is really the first time we've inherently disagreed about something so fundamental to our family. Perhaps it won't be a big deal at all, since he doesn't eat breakfast or lunch at home. So, he'll only have to deal with it for dinner each day. I just don't know....

Have any of you encountered this with your significant others? How did it go? I'm anxious to get started, but nervous that his lack of support and disagreement about feeding the kids in this way will sabotage my efforts, and I'll end up right where I'm at now.....overweight, worried about the health of my family, and disappointed

Thanks in advance!