Does your spouse also follow?

[TheGreenBird]

I really don't want to push my beliefs on my husband b/c I hate people like that, though I do want him to be healthy, so it's a hard compromise! Anyway, he's a total meat (and cheese) eater. I don't think I could ever get him to go all the way vegan, but incorporating some veggie meals for us both is important b/c I don't want to have to cook two meals every day (or more likely, cook mine and make the poor guy make his own separate meal each night, plus he's an amazing cook and I'd drool over the food he'd make that I "can't" eat).

So if your household is divided like this - how do you handle it? Any recipes that your meat eating spouse loves?

[lamazemama]

I am thankful that my dh is on board.

His Dad had a quintuple bypass about 14 years ago (despite being a 30 year veteran runner and always being thin!) and that is a strong motivator for my dh. His dad was and still is a big meat eater (although he no longer eats red meat).

So my DH happily eats this way. When he is at work they sometimes have food for a meeting or party (usually pizza or cake or something) and he will eat it, but 95% of the time he is eating well.

Now if I could just get him to exercise more....

[Rob]

My experience has been that someone will change only when they are ready to make a change. It may take years - a decade or more. Maybe never. The easiest way to co-exist is to make meals where you can add the meat separately 'after-the-fact', such as meatballs with spaghetti or a piece of meat in addition to the starches and vegetables that you would normally serve. Lead by example and don't nag. You should not feel badly about having your husband fix his own meal once in awhile if you are having a great vegan meal and he insists on having meat. He will be a bit grumpy but he needs to find out that he will indeed live if he has a meal without meat on occasion.

[SactoBob]

Neal Barnard, MD, is one of our heroes. In some of his talks, he discusses how his mother eventually adopted a vegan diet for medical reasons. He said that both of his parents are now vegans, but only one of them knows it.

If you have to, you could supplement your meals for hubby with some of the fake meat and dairy products which are not optimal or even recommended, but available and better than SAD. This might help you.

My own wife adopted this lifestyle enthusiastically when it became obvious that I needed to do this. You might discuss the issue with your spouse and be surprised. Many guys only care that there is tasty food on the table, and have no special craving for meat or dairy or oil.

Although I have benefited greatly, so has my wife. Although she never quite reached 200 pounds, she was always struggling with her weight and counting her weight watcher points. Now she is very trim and weighs in the low 130's (at 5'11") by eating all she wants, and has solved some health issues that were troubling her too, especially leg cramps at night. Here is a recent picture of her I took and posted here as an example of her turnaround. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 1475468791

She also dug up an old photo that shows where she was some years ago and gave me permission to link to it also. I'll have to dig that up - it's somewhere. But anyhow, if you can view the facebook picture, you will see that she is very trim and looks healthy. Like me, she would not go back to our old ways of eating even if we knew that it wouldn't make a difference in our health or feelings of happiness that we have from this lifestyle.

BTW, I strongly recommend the menus in Caldwell Esselstyn's book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. The cookbook section is by far our favorite. Everything is delicious, even to guests, and the recipes always work and are mostly simple. The Chile recipe is a staple for us, and guys seem to really like it.

Who knows, if you bought the book and left it out, he might even read the book itself.

[TheGreenBird]

Thanks so much everyone.
Bob - you wife does look amazing! I am going to check out that book with the great recipes you recommended.

I don't want to sound like DH isn't supportive because he really is, and he doesn't mind cooking for himself at all - it's me who hates eating two different things and having totally separate 'eating lives'. We used to cook a lot together and enjoy eating (probably part of the problem and how I got here ) so when I go on a plan that is totally different than the way he eats, I hate the feeling. But I know I need to and our son is following in my footsteps (by his own choice) anyway, so that is good.

DH had been really supportive this week on first week back to a vegan lifestyle. He's been eating some of the recipes I've made and I amm trying to come up with things that we will both like. Tonight I made homemade black beans soup and brown rice. He threatened to make a hot dog with it, but didn't end up doing that. ha

[merriweather]

My thin husband , who never ate a bean, loved chocolate, just said, Ok, I'll do it with you. Did not expect that.
But we have been having fun with all the ideas. In fact , I was sort of tired of cooking, and now am excited about it again.
That said, there are lots of ways to invite friends and family in.
Stir fries, the carnivore can add meat. But may not want to.
Smothered potatoes
Oh, just keep checking in here, you will be surprised how many ideas you get. And remember every little bit helps. So if hubby is not 100 he is still better off.

[circle city vegan]

My dh talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk so to speak. I don't want to sound negative because on the whole he eats what I buy and cook. He eats the veg I have on the table as he passes by. But when he goes to the grocery for any reason, he brings back the dreaded animal products. I looked in my fridge yesterday and (ick!) there were a dozen eggs staring back at me! I know it's a passive agressive move but I won't cook them and if he leaves them in there for more than a week and a half, I'll throw them away or feed them to the dog. That's just how I roll (and the dog loves it!).

[Tazi752000]

Some good basics that don't really need meat are Chili, Spaghetti with lots of veggies, curried vegetable dishes over rice and a huge variety of vegetable soups and salads. Just keep feeding him vegetable dishes and ignore the fact they don't have meat unless he specifically asks for something meat based.

[LauraVeg]

My husband is a great guy. He was raised on meat and potatoes and thinks the McDougall diet is nuts, but he will eat anything I put in front of him without complaint (well, except for the horrible tuna casserole I made once back in 1980 - smelled so bad it went straight into the garbage!). When I was low carbing, he happily ate the bacon and eggs I made every day for breakfast. And now, believe it or not, he's just as happy with a rice cake topped with mashed banana and blueberries. He also enjoys my black bean and sweet potato chili, and burritos made with corn tortillas, fatfree refried beans, brown rice and salsa. He still likes lamb chops and chicken wings every so often, though, and his favorite restaurants are steakhouses and BBQ joints.

I believe that once I have stuck to McDougall long enough for him to see results, he will follow suit. He's a smart guy and has developed a bit of a gut that I know he'd like to lose. The problem is, I haven't been faithful enough yet to show him that it's worthwhile.