Tips to Get Your Red Meat & Potato Lovin' Man to Eat More Veggies

I was a vegetarian when I met the husband and he was an "everything BUT vegetarian" when we met.  Just let that sink in a moment.

While I didn't eat meat- I also didn't eat a lot of veggies.  My idea of being a vegetarian was eating potatoes and pasta.  So yeah, not good.  The husband on the other hand ate as much red meat as he could and showed NO signs of ever stopping.  Clearly we both needed some work in the diet department.

We continued on this path for several years and I eventually started eating meat again because it was easier to just make one meal for us both than two separate ones.  Let's face it- the husband certainly wasn't going to give up eating meat so my only choice was to start eating it again.

Then the kiddo was born and my view of food changed drastically.  It no longer became about buying and eating what was cheap and tasted good but rather about food that would nourish your body.  I slowly began changing our diet and converting the whole family to a plant based whole foods lifestyle.  But as any wife with a picky husband will tell you- this was a serious struggle for the husband.  He understood the why, his brain knew the logical reasons and the methods behind what I was doing but his heart and his stomach just weren't in it yet.

Fast forward over 7 years later and the husband is now eating completely vegetarian meals at home Monday through Friday as well as at least one vegan dish during the weekday.  In addition, he's making better food choices when eating out and staying away from most fast food options that he used to love.  You can click here to read about how this journey has personally affected his health but for this post- it's all about HOW this has happened.

How do you get your red meat and potato lovin' man to eat a plant based, whole foods diet?  Seriously, how?!?  Below are some tips on how I've accomplished the impossible and they can apply to anyone in your family, not just your husband.

• Acknowledge that this will take time.  Baby steps folks.  It took the husband just over 7 years to get to this point.
• Be patient but don't give up.  Persistence pays off!
• Slowly stop buying and cooking meat.  Since I do all the grocery shopping in our house, I control what comes in and what doesn't.  Take advantage of this and simply stop buying it.
• Introduce one vegetarian meal each week.  As you get into the routine of doing this, I suggest a designated day that is dedicated to going vegetarian- perhaps Meatless Monday? 
• Keep this simple- nothing too weird or unknown.  My suggestions are anything chili based (because what man doesn't love chili?!?) or cheese based.  Cheese or black bean enchiladas are a great 1st vegetarian meal!  Soup also works well.
• Watch some of the documentaries on this list together- if your husband will do so.  Education is key.
• Add veggies to every single dish.  Start with ones your family likes but slowly start experimenting with new veggies.  It's OK to serve two different veggie sides- you can NEVER have enough veg.
• In the beginning, do NOT worry about the meals outside the house.  Focus on what you have ultimate control over and that's the food you are cooking at home.
• Learn how to convert your family's favorite dishes to vegetarian meals.  It is so easy to do!  Simply leave out the meat, add in extras like rice, beans, lentils and learn what items make great substitutions for certain meats.
• Change your dinner plate.  No more meat, starch & veg.  Meat is no longer the star of the show.  In our house it's veg, veg, grains/legumes.  Half the plate is veg and typically the other half has veggies in it.
• Become a fan of the one pot meal.  Cook it all in one pot, serve it in one pot- combine everything and it's more difficult to notice that the dish is missing meat.  Think orzo with veggies, soups, pasta with tomatoes and spinach etc.
• Serve fruit bowls on the side.  The kiddo calls these our "appetizer" bowls and they work perfectly for cut up fruit.  Replace the junk in any meal with a fruit bowl.  Things like chips, fries, tator tots, crackers, pretzels etc and then start reaching for the fruit bowls for snacking instead of that junk food.
• Buy an immersion blender and make a big pot of soup at least once per week.  Soup is by far one of the easiest vegetarian dishes to make and by using your immersion blender, you can add TONS of veggies and then just blend them away into the soup.  Your family will never know!
• Adopt a "2 bite rule".  We've always had this with the kiddo but the concept is simple- you MUST try something and take at least 2 bites.  Why two bites?  Well because usually for the first bite, you're busy moaning and complaining about it and not really paying attention to the flavor.  By the 2nd bite, you've calmed down just a bit to really taste it.  And if after those 2 bites, you don't like it- then you don't have to eat it.
• Pack your husband's lunch.  Lunch time can be difficult for anyone but make a commitment to packing a healthy, "real" food lunch every day.  Check out this previous blog post to learn about how I go about packing the husband's lunch.

The key here is really all about "slow and steady" to win this race.  A few small changes really add up over time and it's MUCH easier for your meat eating husband to deal when it's just a few small things spread out
over time.  Trust me on this one.

I would also like to say that once we tackled the food inside our house, we began working on what we were eating while away from home.  Eventually the husband began making healthier choices all on his own simply because he was used to the way we were eating at home and he felt better.  He was able to feel and see a big difference in his body and this provided much needed encouragement for him to make even bigger changes.

It can be done.  You can convert the meat eating folks in your life to adopt a more humane diet full of rich, whole foods.  If we can do this, you can do this.

Transform Your Health- A Husband's Journey

The last few years have seen us focusing on improving the husband's health.  I'm just going to lay it all out here for you guys and I hope by sharing his story- I can inspire you to make some positive changes.

The husband is a big guy.  You've all seen some of the photos I've shared- he's tall and he's built like a linebacker.  Mmm...yummy.  But what's not so yummy is that several years ago, he was struggling with his weight and really not feeling good about himself.  We've all been there, right?

We sat down and talked about it.  I had successfully lost over 50 pounds prior to our wedding and have maintained the same exact size for our entire marriage.  While I will NEVER be skinny, I'm happy with my size and healthy.  This is where we both wanted the husband to be- happy and healthy.

Healthy- he was not.

During a routine exam for our life insurance application, it was brought to our attention that the husband was not only overweight (ok, yeah...we knew about this one) but at risk for diabetes and had high blood pressure.  Add this to the joint pain, fatigue, sinus problems and eczema/skin issues and you've got a seriously NOT healthy husband.

Wow.

He put on a brave front but I will personally tell you all that I was terrified!  My partner in crime couldn't be this ill already, at this early stage in our lives!  It was an eye opener for sure.  Diabetes is nothing to mess around with you guys and to find out that the husband needed immediate medication for his high blood pressure- yikes!

And so started the transformation.

I feel like we didn't do anything to drastic.  We had already begun our "food journey" and were eating less meat and processed foods but what we were missing was the addition of more fruits and veggies.  Before I go any further- it must be said that I am not a doctor.  Umm...yeah, don't be taking medical advice from me mmkay....But- I am a wife.  I'm good with the Google.  And so I set out to transform my husband from the inside out.

I learned that plant based foods are where it's at!

I learned that the husband needed to stop eating the Taco Bell and other fast food junk on the regular.

I learned that cinnamon will help lower blood pressure.

You guys- I learned SO much good stuff.  And then I simply put it into action.  In truth, the husband was a bit resistant at first.  My man is stubborn!  So I started slow.  Because I want to make this as easy as possible for others in a similar situation, I'm going to just throw out everything we have done in the last few years and I hope that it will help some of you.  Here goes....

• Reduced soda consumption.  The husband was drinking up to 4 cans of regular Coke or Mt. Dew each day.  He's now down to only one.  Some days, he has none.  Sugar is a breeding ground for illness and disease and the amount of sugar in soda is just crazy!  We also started sharing a soda when we eat out.  The husband really enjoys a Coke with his burger but now we share one and when it's gone, it's gone.  NO more free refills mmkay....

• Added a cinnamon supplement to his morning vitamins.  Cinnamon helps lower high blood pressure naturally.  But since the husband will never consume enough that's needed, I simply started adding it into his morning routine.

• Fall in love with smoothies.  Would you believe that up until just a few years ago, I had never made a smoothie?  Seriously, my idea of a smoothie was a margarita.  Ha!  But then I discovered the power of the Green Smoothie and it was all over for us.  The husband LOVES green smoothies!  We now make smoothies several times each week, kiddo included!  We do not add in any sugar but opt for a tiny spoonful of raw, local honey when needed.  For fruit based smoothies, I use plain organic yogurt to reduce sugar consumption even more.  Add in chia seeds and you're in business!

• Started taking Apple Cider Vinegar each morning.  This has helped clear up skin issues, helped with digestion but the biggest improvement the husband has seen is the removal of nasal spray.  You see- he gets horrible sinus infections year round and was told he would need surgery.  He used to spray that chemical cocktail up his nose like there was no tomorrow.  The ACV has eliminated the need for this.  NO nasal spray and NO surgery.

• Less fast food.  Yes, we still eat out but we do our best to make better choices.  The husband even gave up his beloved Taco Bell, something he swore he would never do!  When dining out, we opt for fresher options like Chipotle and if we just want a burger and fries- we typically go to Five Guys.  Ingredients matter.

• Discovered the Kombucha.  I just can't say enough good things about Kombucha.  Google it and you'll see what I'm talking about.  We all (kiddo included!) now drink about 2 bottles each week.  

• Remove the processed foods and cook at home from scratch.  Alright, so I had already started doing this but I made even more of a commitment to completely remove all processed foods from our house.  When you control the ingredients, you control your health.  I now look for ways to add in more fruits and veggies and I almost always immediately reduce the amount of sugar that any recipe calls for.  I've discovered that most recipes truly don't need that much sugar and sugar is bad for our bodies mmkay...

• Adopt a humane diet.  So yeah.  This one might be tough for most folks but the concept is simple.  When eating any animal product, do your best to know where it's come from, how it's lived, how it was raised and cared for, what it ate, if any antibiotics were used....you get my point.  In addition to this, we've begun to eat more vegan friendly at home.  I started with just one vegan dish each week and most times we are at 2 or 3 without even having to try.

• Get off the prescription pills!  Please talk with a medical doctor prior to doing this.  Please.  With that being said, the husband used to take Paxil for anxiety and it has taken almost 5 years to wean him completely off of this toxic stuff.  Head zaps, fatigue, anger, depression- oh my word this stuff is the devil!  Free your body from this chemical crap.  In addition to this, we seek out more natural methods for minor health issues like a cold, body ache or fever.  We no longer run straight to the Rite Aid and stock up on the Nyquil.  It's all about Epsom Salts, essential oils and diet.

• No more chips!  I think for my boys, one of the hardest things was removing the snack foods.  In truth, I didn't think I even bought that much.  But when it was time to get rid of all the Cheetos, Doritos, crackers, pretzels....yeah, that was tough.  My advice- just rip it off like a band aid.  Would you believe we actually had a going away party for the snacks?  Yep, several years ago we invited family over and I filled the table with all our bags of snacks.  We ate it one last time and then that was it.  Adios processed crap!

• Turn the TV off.  We've unplugged quite a bit.  Not completely but we've greatly reduced the amount of tube time around our house.  Last year we got rid of cable and now we find ourselves watching the TV with intention rather then mindless abandon.  Less TV means more active time outside.  It also means more sleep.  Umm...and more sex.  All very beneficial things!

• Go green!  I never used to buy green food.  Seriously- iceberg lettuce was about it and even then it sat in the crisper drawer in the fridge until it turned gooey and brown.  Now, there's SO much green stuff in my fridge and fruit bowls- it's seriously an epidemic around here.  Green is good.  Dark green is better.  Find ways to fit the greens into your diet.  Spinach goes well in pasta, smoothies, eat celery for a snack, a little avocado on toast, kale pesto, top a burrito with dark leafy greens etc.  Along with going green, you should also think about eating the rainbow.  Your plate should have lots of different colors.  It should never be beige.  Ever.

• Pack it in.  I now religiously pack the husband a lunch for work each day.  Even if it means I get up at 5am or I'm packing lunch at midnight, I do it.  Lunches for the husband are hard- his job doesn't make it easy with no access to a microwave or a fridge.  But I do my best to fill his lunch bag with healthy, homemade foods that will sustain him for a 12+ hour day.  In addition to packing the husband his lunch each day, I am also vigilant in packing food for the entire family.  Whenever we take a long drive, go on vacay or even if it's a long day full of homeschool classes, I've got a bag of food packed.  And many times, you'll find us sipping on a Kombucha or a homemade smoothie while driving down the 405.  That's just how we roll....

It's been several years since we first took that exam for our life insurance policy.  Just a few months ago, I called them up and asked if the husband could retake his exam.  I was convinced that his body was healthier today than it was several years ago.  And since we were paying a butt ton more each month to insure his unhealthy body, I wanted to see if we could lower our premium and have him qualify for a better rate.

The results are in!

The changes we've made have made the husband healthier.  He's lost weight.  Like so much weight that I can now wrap my arms completely around him and his wedding ring is slipping off.  He's eliminated the need for his daily blood pressure medication.  Seriously- his blood pressure was scary high just a few years ago and now, he's medication free!  He is still at risk for someday developing diabetes.  So this means we need to focus even more on the sugars.  You guys- this is crucial.  Pay attention to your sugar consumption!  He has the occasional flare up with his eczema but no longer battles it daily.  He sleeps better.  He no longer snores.  Oh My Word- the snoring was insane!  Due to his job, he still suffers from occasional body pain but it was no where near the level it was before.  His back pain is greatly reduced and no longer needs to visit a chiropractor weekly.  He no longer needs surgery to correct his sinus issues.  The list seriously goes on and on....and can I just tell you that our insurance rep was stunned.  Seriously- stunned.  He had never seen a transformation quite like this and was pretty darn impressed.

The changes in his mind and spirit have been equally amazing.  But the bottom line is that he is finally embracing these changes.  He ate lentil pie last night for goodness sakes!  And he LIKED IT!  And yes- his health has improved so much that he qualified for a much lower life insurance rate.  It was the wake up call we needed.

So I say this to all of you in the hopes of offering you hope and encouragement.  It can be done.  You CAN transform your health.  The husband's story is one of success- it can be your story too.