Spouse Angry with Whole30 Decision, Need Help!

[Swirling]

My husband are on Day 1 of the Whole30 and I couldn't be more excited.  Each of us can use this for different reasons and I cannot wait to start feeling the benefits of cleaner eating!

My husband is doing this to support me and deep down knows he needs it.  The problem already is that he is not a veggie lover and feels HIGHLY constricted out of the gates.  I can be a good cheerleader for about 48 hours and then will most likely lose it.  I continue to point out the many wonderful things we CAN eat and that our son will benefit from our learning's as well, we just need to get through the 1st few days together.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated on how to get over the anger hump with him!

[Carlaccini]

Make sure he is eating enough overall.  Make sure his portion sizes match his size.  So his palm sized portion might not be equal to your palm sized portion. 

 

What veggies does he like?  Start there.

 

If he is game - make him part of the recipe choosing, grocery shopping expeditions.  

Challenge him to try one new veggie a week. Ask him to pick it out himself. And try to find a recipe / way of enjoying said veggie.  Make him part of that choice.

 

For instance I recently picked up some Kohlrabi - I had never had it before - but I saw what looked to be a beautiful bunch at a farmer's market.  Me and my SO thoroughly enjoyed it - I will definitely buy it again.  It kind tastes like a cross between a broccoli and a turnip.  

 

Also please note that ANY vegetable, seasoned and tossed in fat and roasted in the oven will be magical.  It is a completely different taste profile than plain old steamed or boiled vegetables.

[Seafarer]

Does he want to do it, for himself, or is he just humoring you? If he feels like he has been backed into a corner, and then you actually manage a full 30 days of keeping him backed into that corner, then this is just one of many humps you are going to have.

 

My husband doesn't do W30, but he is supportive & respectful, and will generally eat what I am eating. He is watching me, knows I am reaping benefits, has started asking questions, has cleaned up a lot of his habits, but if I had tried convincing him to do exactly what I am doing? And then had to cheer-lead him for the next 30 days while I am floundering around myself? Nooooooooooooo thank you.

 

And yes, I am finding yummy veg recipe for my meat-eater. And yes, there are lots things he doesn't like, so I just make more of the things he does.... or if he likes one of the vegs I made but not the other, I just trade portions with him. Yes, I accommodate. But I don't hold him to an exact W30. Surprisingly, he sticks with me 95% of the time. The price for that other 5%? Peace. Mine. Very valuable!

 

And Carlaccini's suggestion on the roasted vegs? Every single one has been a winner with my meat-eater!

[ultrarunnergirl]

Seconding Carla: Roast most of your veggies. Cube and toss with melted fat and salt. These are really, really tasty and beat steamed by a mile.

 

Velvety Butternut Squash, Melissa Joulwan's recipe. Make this every week. Never met anyone who didn't rave about it!

 

Make lots of food that seem like regular food he's used to eating. Think roasts in the oven with potatoes, carrots, etc, grilled chicken, meatballs and tomato sauce, fried potatoes. No need to do all the fancy stuff like cauliflower rice if he's going to be disappointed it's not exactly the same.

[kruddock]

You could try a hearty soup with lots of veggies in it. If you make it a creamy blended soup and add meat to it, he'll probably like that, my husband does. My husband has completed a Whole30 with me and he didn't cheat once and never complained, but you should expect that he will tell you if he doesn't like something and you just try not to take it personally. For example my husband doesn't like the taste of vinegar, so I just try not to cook with vinegar or with such a small amount that you can't taste it. Now he's right into it and looking forward to doing a second Whole30 with me. I just had to make sure I started things off with tasty recipes and there are lots of them available. The best thing is to try and convert something he already likes into a Whole30 version, you just need to be a little creative and the forums are the best place to ask advice on that. Good luck!