Where does he put it all?!?

coinxoperated

Hi all! Just having a bit of a wonder!

My and my OH are constantly in a battle about how much he eats. We don't have any big arguments about it, but it is constantly causing us financial issues!

We spend £60 a week on food for just us and a small dog. Every week I HATE shopping because it costs so much. We also buy a whole months fresh meat from the local meat market for £40 and freeze it for dinners, so the £60 a week we spend maybe buys us a couple of extra dinners each week (a cheap pizza or something quick etc).

When I lived on my own I got my spending down to about £15-£20 a week for me and my dog, which included toiletries, cleaning products, dog food, lunches, breakfasts and dinners. I probably spent an extra £2-£3 a week on some chocolate or treats.

My OH just doesn't stop eating. He's very slender and muscular and has a very physically demanding job, so I understand he needs to eat more, but we are really getting to a point where we do a shop on a Monday, and by Wednesday we just have the not-so-nice food. I buy things for my lunches such as a multipack of crisps or chocolate bars and he'll eat them all by Wednesday. He was preparing his lunch the other day and I wondered into the kitchen to discover the following went into his lunch bag....

8 brevita biscuits
1 protein shake
4 bags of crisps
3 wagon wheels
A pasta pot (large...!)
2 ham, cheese lettuce, mayo sandwiches (1 pack of ham per sandwich!!!!!!)

He then came home and ate:

2 bananas
Another protein shake
A bag of crisps
An energy drink
Whatever leftovers he could find
A slice of ham

Then for dinner!:

4 chicken kievs, 2 large jacket potatoes with cheese and beans, veg.

Then!!!!!!!

2 chocolate bars, bag of crisps and then whatever I left of my dinner. He went to bed saying he was hungry!!!

Not only am I worried that he seems to be cutting out all particularly nutritious food and that if he doesn't eat this much, he will lose weight quickly, it's also frustrating that the cost of feeding him is going up by the month.

I've suggested making a HUGE bowl of homemade pasta salad which would work out cheaper, which he'll do maybe once a week. He says he's bored otherwise.

I want him to eat what he needs, I don't want him to feel hungry all day, but this seems insane! Any tips?

P.S I'm currently about 5stone over weight and I'm trying to lose weight and it's maybe making me more annoyed that I'm depriving myself of all these lovely foods, whereas he doesn't appreciate them as treats or have any consequences. I am slightly resentful! :rotfl:

carefullycautious

Has he been wormed recently

pigpen

I live with a human waste disposal too!!

It doesn't sounds like any of the stuff he is eating is very filling though.. crisps and sweets and biscuits and nothing of any substance.. I can eat those until they come of out my ears and never feel full..

Maybe he needs to add breakfats.. porridge or muesli for example which may help alleviate the needs for so much junk at lunch time.. Maybe pasta with extra chicken or bacon or ham at lunch with hummus and crusty bread. Fruit or veggies or boiled eggs or cold cooked meats (chicken drumsticks for example) instead of the sweets junk food.

You would probably find your grocery bill reduces just be getting him to eat healthier stuff.

My OH has muesli with yoghurt for breakfast or 4 weetabix.

Lunch he will have sandwiches, 4 slices of bread with ham and egg and cheese, beans on toast, omelette with chicken and bacon. Dinner we have meat and 2 veg and something potato/pasta/rice based usually, he has double the amount I eat!

Often he will have 4 slices of tuna sandwiches before bed.

In between all that he has sausage rolls, pasties, any left over meat stored in the fridge, fruit etc..

at 6ft 4 and barely 12stone I have no idea where he keeps it, he must have hollow legs!

fluffnutter

£60 a week on food's nothing. But why are you buying expensive crap like brevita biscuits, energy drinks and wagon wheels?

Voyager2002

Get over to the Old Style Moneysaving board!

I must admit that I went into shock when I read about your diet: both because of what it costs and how unhealthy it all is (and it would not be to my taste either, but that is a personal thing). Your idea of making pasta salad is a good one, but get some tips on how to make it delicious.

jayII

Personally, I think if he's hungry, very active and slim, he should eat. He's eating an awful lot of processed and sugary foods but that's his choice. It is unfair of him to eat 'your' treats as well as his, but that can be resolved by having a treat box each. When he runs out he can either go and buy himself more or do without.

Really, you're 'constantly battling' over maybe £10-20 a week extra? Unless you are really on the breadline, I personally wouldn't worry about it unless it was a lot more than £20.

coinxoperated

Can I add that his diet is most certainly not my diet! I'm much healthier and have already lost 2 stone over the last 6 months by cutting most of the rubbish out. I literally have a bag of crisps or a small choccy and a day, nothing more. It really affects my health if I over eat on rubbish, but he seems to be fine on it!

I have tried everything from making him large pasta based lunches, preparing his breakfast in the mornings as I know he's usually rushing, but he is just a human shovel.

I need to worm the dog soon, I might pop a tablet in his protein shake! (That was a joke!!!!)

Does everyone think £60pw on a shopping trip is a lot for two people and a dog? I'm very careful with spends and really appreciate having money rather than anything else as it makes me feel secure, so spending it all on edible things drives me screwy!

19lottie82

First of all I don't think £60 a week or two people and a dog isn't a lot at all.

AND...... How the heck is that all you spend if he eats like that?

Personally I don't think you can nag at him for eating when he's hungry if he's not overweight.
He's a grown up, he earns money to pay for the food he eats.

It does seem slightly excessive but its his decision, and you're not going to get anywhere nagging at him.

coinxoperated

And we really don't have the money to spare. It wouldn't be a problem if we had an infinite amount of cash to spend, but we don't. We earn near minimum wage each and have a car and bills etc which combined with saving a little, leaves very little spare for 'us'. It's something we're trying to change by getting better paid jobs, but it's taking time.

19lottie82

Ps just be glad he makes / brings food from home to work!
Think of the cost if he was buying take out for breakfast / lunch, and snacks from the corner shop

coinxoperated

The truth is, his couldn't afford to eat like this if he was on his own. Our money is 'ours', as bills come out of my wages and his money pays for food and everything else. We don't have individual money and so far it's worked well for us.

We spend the £60pw in shopping, my food / toiletries is about £20 of that. By Thursday we have to do another shop for him for about £30 to 'stock up' as he's eaten everything he brought! So, it's more like £90 a week. Sorry for not making that clear!

Like I said, I don't want him to starve or be hungry, he works hard for us! I was just wondering if others had the same problem and could offer advice maybe on how we could do more filling meals.

He's also terrible at planning his meals, so he just eats and eat t the start of the week and leaves himself nothing by mid-week. In the past I've done a £150 monday shop with LOTS of foods so that he would have enough and it was all gone by Thursday!