My husband came to me with an interesting proposal on Monday. It was a direct result of many conversations we have had over the last six months. We have been feuding about some lifestyle changes that are greatly impacting me and my progress with regard to diet and exercise. For the last five years my husband has been encouraging me to get a handle on my weight problem. Having gained over one hundred pounds since we met, I would say that has been some good advice. But a funny thing happened when I started down the road to recovery...HE fell off the wagon so to speak.
He has been nothing but a couch potato all winter long. Actually, the problem dates back to late summer/early fall. He has been spending an enormous amount of time in front of the TV. Not just watching it, but also eating in front of it. Dinner has been moved off the dining room table to downstairs. Eating has gone from the standard meal times to all-night long. And the mindless eating is at an all-time high. The weekends seem to be the worse. In particular, Sundays. Sundays, which in this house were lovingly referred to as Fat-Cat Sunday- a term of endearment to describe a leisurely afternoon where we sleep in, have a late breakfast, read the paper, and usually take a day off from the gym, has now been re-named by me Fat-Ass Sunday. It quickly went from a day of leisure, to a day of gluttony, mostly embarked on by my husband.
He wakes up, drifts downstairs, and parks himself in front of the TV most, if not, the entire day. Football was the original excuse, but given we are in March that excuse has long expired. He will sit there and drink beer and eat and eat and eat, Homer Simpson style. When I say eat, I mean, a bag of chips, a chocolate bar, a handful of Starburst, a bag of peanuts, two or three pieces of nuked pizza, a pint of ice cream, a piece of cheese, another piece of cheese, a soda, a piece of cake, a plate of leftovers...the list goes on and on. The entire time I am stuck in the same room trying to make it through the day on my healthy supper and wrestling with whether or not I can afford to have a mini-bag of popcorn later that evening.
I have told him on several occasions that if this behavior keeps up, I'm not going to be able to spend time with him because I think it's really shitty that I am on a diet and he's going to sit in front of my face and literally consume every piece of food in the house, non-stop. I will distance myself sooner than be sucked into something that is only going to make me fatter. Then, I get to wake up Monday morning and clean it all up! I am tired of the fact that every Monday morning my kitchen looks like a frat party took place the night before. I am sooo disappointed that I did not think to take a picture for you! Let me see if I can create a visual. Imagine a kitchen island with about six or seven dirty plates on it (cause God knows he has to take a clean plate every time he eats something). I suggested a feed bag this past Sunday! Now pan over to my kitchen sink and there is an equal amount of dirty glasses because, well, hey it's Fat-Ass Sunday so we can't put those in the dishwasher! Then there is a stack of empty beer bottles on the counter patiently waiting to make it to the recycle can. There is at least one bowl of peanut shells, several cheese wrappers, an empty pizza box, an empty ice cream container, and a variety of other food odds and ends. This sure doesn't make for a good snapshot of someone who is on a diet and writing a weight-loss blog!
The straw that broke the camel's back is when this behavior started to bleed into the rest of the week. I had pointed out the number of hours working on the house, exercising, reading, and socializing that had been exchanged for television viewing, but he was in denial. If you recall, I had mentioned that we had gone a rather long period of time without television. I still argue that it was the smartest thing we've ever done! In September, my best friend moved to Chicago and left us with a very nice TV. My husband immediately ordered satellite service with only one condition proposed by me- that it doesn't become the central focus of our lives. I enjoy TV, but I am not into mindless television programing. I'm not gonna sleep in front of it, eat in front of it, and live my life in front of it. There are far too many things in life you can do that are way superior to watching bad reality shows and depressing news reports.
He started things off with a bang and spent hours programming his remotes and his viewing lists the first day it arrived. I thought, well he's excited and we haven't had it in awhile so I understand it's a new toy right now- figuring eventually the novelty would ware off. Couple with that several hours spent in front of the TV playing video games, and you really have a recipe for complacency disaster! My warnings and overall disapproval fell on death ears. Until this past Monday. He came to me and said, "I've gained fifteen pounds since September." I said, "uh...are you expecting me to be surprised...being fat and lazy is pretty synonymous with watching TV- I mean they don't coin the terms 'beer gut' and 'couch potato' for no reason!"
Now one thing I love about my husband is his ability and willingness to change. Not everybody has that. He is able to recognize faults within himself and has the motivation to want to correct things. He shared strategies that include everything from returning to our usual sit-down meals at the dinner table, to being sure that he has exercised and done some chores before settling in at night to watch television. The most important impact to me??? The end of Fat-Ass Sunday! He also apologized for being so counterproductive to my weight-loss efforts. I tried to just accept the apology and the changes with as little argument as possible because I am done blaming others for my weight problem. I said "I am responsible for my own body, but I do believe I have enough hurdles to climb without you contributing one more...while I am proud of the twenty+ pounds I have lost, I do feel like it could have been 50+ by now if not for so many obstacles." I also said, "life is about decisions- ask yourself if you want to look back on your thirty-something life and say, I spent the best years of my life parked in front of the TV when I could have been out there enjoying so much more?!"
"If It weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all." -Joey Adams
"Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other." -Ann Landers
"TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen: the average American family doesn't have time for it!" -Author unknown, NY Times 1939
He has been nothing but a couch potato all winter long. Actually, the problem dates back to late summer/early fall. He has been spending an enormous amount of time in front of the TV. Not just watching it, but also eating in front of it. Dinner has been moved off the dining room table to downstairs. Eating has gone from the standard meal times to all-night long. And the mindless eating is at an all-time high. The weekends seem to be the worse. In particular, Sundays. Sundays, which in this house were lovingly referred to as Fat-Cat Sunday- a term of endearment to describe a leisurely afternoon where we sleep in, have a late breakfast, read the paper, and usually take a day off from the gym, has now been re-named by me Fat-Ass Sunday. It quickly went from a day of leisure, to a day of gluttony, mostly embarked on by my husband.
He wakes up, drifts downstairs, and parks himself in front of the TV most, if not, the entire day. Football was the original excuse, but given we are in March that excuse has long expired. He will sit there and drink beer and eat and eat and eat, Homer Simpson style. When I say eat, I mean, a bag of chips, a chocolate bar, a handful of Starburst, a bag of peanuts, two or three pieces of nuked pizza, a pint of ice cream, a piece of cheese, another piece of cheese, a soda, a piece of cake, a plate of leftovers...the list goes on and on. The entire time I am stuck in the same room trying to make it through the day on my healthy supper and wrestling with whether or not I can afford to have a mini-bag of popcorn later that evening.
I have told him on several occasions that if this behavior keeps up, I'm not going to be able to spend time with him because I think it's really shitty that I am on a diet and he's going to sit in front of my face and literally consume every piece of food in the house, non-stop. I will distance myself sooner than be sucked into something that is only going to make me fatter. Then, I get to wake up Monday morning and clean it all up! I am tired of the fact that every Monday morning my kitchen looks like a frat party took place the night before. I am sooo disappointed that I did not think to take a picture for you! Let me see if I can create a visual. Imagine a kitchen island with about six or seven dirty plates on it (cause God knows he has to take a clean plate every time he eats something). I suggested a feed bag this past Sunday! Now pan over to my kitchen sink and there is an equal amount of dirty glasses because, well, hey it's Fat-Ass Sunday so we can't put those in the dishwasher! Then there is a stack of empty beer bottles on the counter patiently waiting to make it to the recycle can. There is at least one bowl of peanut shells, several cheese wrappers, an empty pizza box, an empty ice cream container, and a variety of other food odds and ends. This sure doesn't make for a good snapshot of someone who is on a diet and writing a weight-loss blog!
The straw that broke the camel's back is when this behavior started to bleed into the rest of the week. I had pointed out the number of hours working on the house, exercising, reading, and socializing that had been exchanged for television viewing, but he was in denial. If you recall, I had mentioned that we had gone a rather long period of time without television. I still argue that it was the smartest thing we've ever done! In September, my best friend moved to Chicago and left us with a very nice TV. My husband immediately ordered satellite service with only one condition proposed by me- that it doesn't become the central focus of our lives. I enjoy TV, but I am not into mindless television programing. I'm not gonna sleep in front of it, eat in front of it, and live my life in front of it. There are far too many things in life you can do that are way superior to watching bad reality shows and depressing news reports.
He started things off with a bang and spent hours programming his remotes and his viewing lists the first day it arrived. I thought, well he's excited and we haven't had it in awhile so I understand it's a new toy right now- figuring eventually the novelty would ware off. Couple with that several hours spent in front of the TV playing video games, and you really have a recipe for complacency disaster! My warnings and overall disapproval fell on death ears. Until this past Monday. He came to me and said, "I've gained fifteen pounds since September." I said, "uh...are you expecting me to be surprised...being fat and lazy is pretty synonymous with watching TV- I mean they don't coin the terms 'beer gut' and 'couch potato' for no reason!"
Now one thing I love about my husband is his ability and willingness to change. Not everybody has that. He is able to recognize faults within himself and has the motivation to want to correct things. He shared strategies that include everything from returning to our usual sit-down meals at the dinner table, to being sure that he has exercised and done some chores before settling in at night to watch television. The most important impact to me??? The end of Fat-Ass Sunday! He also apologized for being so counterproductive to my weight-loss efforts. I tried to just accept the apology and the changes with as little argument as possible because I am done blaming others for my weight problem. I said "I am responsible for my own body, but I do believe I have enough hurdles to climb without you contributing one more...while I am proud of the twenty+ pounds I have lost, I do feel like it could have been 50+ by now if not for so many obstacles." I also said, "life is about decisions- ask yourself if you want to look back on your thirty-something life and say, I spent the best years of my life parked in front of the TV when I could have been out there enjoying so much more?!"
"If It weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all." -Joey Adams
"Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other." -Ann Landers
"TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen: the average American family doesn't have time for it!" -Author unknown, NY Times 1939
Where did "Fat Ass Sunday" come from? LOL. Hmmmmm......
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he's getting back on track and thus being more supportive of you :)
That's the cleaned up "new & improved" version cause you don't wanna know what I've been calling it! This blog is rated PG.
ReplyDelete