My boyfriend is the sweetest, most wonderful man in the world - and I'm not just saying that, you can ask anybody. He completely supports me in this way of eating, even if he doesn't always understand why I can't have one thing but not the other. He never tempts me, never gets frustrated, and all I have to say is, "Honey, I can't eat that." And he makes it go away.

Yesterday, he messaged me at work telling me that he wanted to spoil me when I got home. So I get home to find fresh flowers and a dinner cooking. He didn't know I couldn't eat the roasted corn ("but it's a vegetable? You can eat those, right???") and I tried not to watch as he poured teriyakki sauce all over the chicken as it was grilling (I'd checked the label out the other day - not great, but not too bad), and oh yes, tons of grilled veggies that I CAN eat.

Then, so excited, he goes to the freezer and pulls out a giant, home-made frozen daquiri! He had that cute "lookwhatimadeforyouallbymyself" smile. He'd made it with flavoured vodka and every single piece of fruit he could buy.

Oh man. I had to say, "honey, I can't have that!" I felt sooooo bad. He just shrugged and poured it down the sink.

You are not a bad girlfriend!! He just has to learn what you can and can't eat!! Don't fret, if he just shrugged and poured it out, then it didn't bother him!! Just stick to your guns and you will be fine!

Hopefully you made sure he knew how much you appriciated the gesture if nothing else

Nope... you are not a bad girlfriend... you are a HORRIBLE girlfriend OMG!! He should be showered with gifts and worshipped. All that work he did. Shame on you. I say you send him for an all-boys weekend (strippers and booze of course) and when he comes back somehow make sure he gets a large screen TV with a new satellite system subscribed to all the sports packages. It's the least you can do. Kidding really... but anyone that tries so hard is amazing so just let them know. Sometimes just letting someone know how much a little thing meant to you ends up meaning the world to them.



Cheers

Claudius, I'll pass that on.

Oh I showered him with praise - he went to so much effort and it was all I could do not to just drink the damned daquiri. I mean, he cut & blended all that fruit by hand!!! It *killed* me to have to say no! But he knows how much I appreciated it. And he completely understood.

I wish I could get him to at least read a little bit of DANDR so he'd have a better understanding of why I have to avoid certain things - he gets the no bread, pasta, potatos etc. Very slowly however - when I kept falling off / on the wagon, he'd not make a comment at me chowing down on fries, but if I ate pasta, he ask, "I thought you couldn't have that?". So now he understands a little more, but I really threw him with the no corn & no fruits!

He's about 30 pounds underweight and never even thinks about what he eats (when he remembers to do so), so I guess this is really a completely alien concept to him.

Ya gotta love that guy! What a gem!

And just for the record, corn isn't a vegetable--it's a grain, so you might want to let him in on that. Corn is one thing I do really miss. We always got our corn from the field, blanched it, cut it off the cob and froze it. YUM!! I'll be so glad to get to maintenance so I can have a little bit once in a while.

My suggestion:
Explain to him how insulin works (trust me you will look really smart and stuff). Explain to him that what you are doing is a "short term" step to get to point in your life that will ultimately make you feel and look better. What is a few months out of your life to achieve this incredible goal. If he is the type to never really look at what he eats... I suggest making a bet with him that you can make him feal and look so much better in a short time IF he is willing to listen to you and try a different approach.


The hardest thing to explain to someone is just how counter intuitive this lifestyle really is. Fat is good... refined crappy carbs are not LOL. He will watch you physically change in front of his very eyes -- trust me I have half my office on low carb diets after I lost 60 lbs.

Otherwise I was kidding about the large screen tv and sports package. However the strippers and booze are a good thing as long as he has low carb beer that is.

Don't worry...I'm a bad wife! Today is our anniversary and my husband wanted to take me out to dinner. Well, the restaurant isn't the most condusive to our WOE, so I told him that I would just make dinner. I've worked too hard to let myself be tempted.

But I am not all bad...he gets to watch the Stanley Cup Finals tonight. I'll just hang out with him for a while and then go visit my boyfriend, TIVO!

Maybe as a future precaution you could have some *really* long lists stuck on the fridge. You know, a 'Yes I can eat lots of these' 'These are in moderation for special occasions' and 'Definite No No's' and maybe a note at the bottom of it all for him to check with you about anything not on the lists. Try and make it really easy for this darling prince charming :-)

cheers
maxa

I am a software developer. My brain is currently full, to overflowing, with NotesFactory API and UndoManagers. There is room for no more unless it is squashed in in a particular fashion. I understand insulin stuff in concept, but as soon as I cram it into my brain, it falls out of my ear. Perhaps if I develop an algorythem for it, it will stick where it should.

All I know is if I eat certain stuff I feel better, and other stuff makes me mushy. He *gets* this and completely supports me; even if I can only explain it after 3 glasses of wine.

I do wish he'd make an effort to eat healthier - he's underweight, as I said, AND he's begun to race motorcycles - this takes an incredible toll on his body. He's got the perfect racer's form - tall, slim and muscular, but he needs to be bigger. He just doesn't eat much, and half of it is crap. It's *somewhat* better now as he'll often eat what I eat - plus a potato with everything. However he's also in the IT industry (we like to get our geek on) and he travelles a lot. Crappy convention food, fast food, busy schedule... He always comes home 5 lbs lighter and it takes me a whole week to get it back on him. (use milkshakes, high fat-protien items, etc).

And no, I am not financing a weekend for him at bouncy bars so forget it. It's bad enough I have to watch his crazy self on a racing bike.

Thanks for the kind words; would be great if I could challenge him to eat better. Will continue to think of ways to do it. He just doesn't *think* about food!

Be glad that's all you had to deal with. I have two male housemates that are always grilling me on what I can and can't have...you can have mayo? You can have peanut butter (low carb)? Don't tortillas have carbs (low carb again)? I guess I should be happy for the carb police, but basically they just don't know what the hell they're talking about most of the time. Nevermind that I watch them intake carbs like they're going off the market tomorrow.
Count your blessings! You got a good one if he's making an effort to understand your lifestyle! ;O)

becca

Show him a few pictures of the hot women on this site and tell him that you want curves like them and Atkins is going to help you do it. Print out a list of foods you can have and stick it to the refrigerator. Give him oral sex and he will know how much you really appreciate his efforts.

I just show my fiance pictures of some guys who have lost 40 lbs and have strong chest and flat abs and now she is reading the book right along side of me even tho she doesnt want to do atkins with me she is helping me out allot. She does make it hard for me by bringing home Soda made with splenda and Low Carb chips. I wont eat or drink any of it out of fear it will mess me up.

Suzanne ... I am a software developer as well and my hubby was a freestyle ramp rider (BMX). Kind of simliar.

My hubby did the same EXACT same thing initially. Now tho ... he knows what I can have and always concentrates on fixing me a good steak and some roasted veggies. Or he fixes my fav ... fajitas.

Just give him time and keep him informed. Plus ... maybe you should do something special for him?

Personally, I would have had a few sips of the drink. The entire Atkins WOE is based on learning to eat healthier, and do it forever. I don't think he expected folks to NEVER have cake...NEVER have a drink...NEVER have fries or pizza. These are things that are meant to be enjoyed on rare occasions, but we have grown accustomed to living off of them. We're just re-training ourselves.

ummmmm....I would have done the same, but I would have sipped the daiquiri becuase it's not often you get a daiquiri