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A Tale of Cheesy Enchiladas and Tears

A Tale of Cheesy Enchiladas and Tears

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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17 Comments

  1. Katie

    Hi Lisa! I’m glad you two made up! I can relate to this. My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 7 years so he’s seen me at my heaviest and been along for the ride of my trying to lose weight and eat healthier, but he doesn’t fully get it. He’s a really tall naturally thin guy and he thinks losing weight is super simple, you eat healthy and work out and the weight falls off. UMMMM NO! Haha it’s a daily struggle and I have to tell him that often as he’s chowing down on thousands of calories while I’m enjoying my tiny portion of whatever we’re eating. It’s tough sometimes, but in the end I’m very thankful I have him to help push my in working out and be my shoulder to cry on when I need it.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I think it’s a VERY common struggle between couples. Men can often eat bigger portions and not gain; and when they decide to lose the weight it seems to melt off their bodies with little effort. It’s a STRUGGLE for me. I work REALLY hard to lose and keep the weight off and I have to be mindful of my portions and how many calories I eat.

      It wasn’t a big fight or anything and it was resolved quickly. I shared the story because I think it’s a lot more common between couples than people talk about.

  2. Dina

    This is the worst, and even if a significant other is also trying to loose weight it’s still not easy. My husband and I have completely different trigger foods which can be problematic. (Cookies/sweets are no big deal for him and he doesn’t quite get that chocolate needs to be hidden and my will power is not great.) My husband and I are on weight watchers. Since he’s a man, taller, and has more weight to loose than I do, he can eat 2x as much as I can. He sometimes forgets that pasta for dinner for me is really hard. Or cheese. God damned cheese! And while I love him, he’s never had to struggle with his weight until about 10 years ago. So he grew up eating full fat food and things that are “diet” food taste “bad”. So he scoffs at lower calorie foods – example: I have a great lower fat recipe for mac & cheese. But when I make it, he’ll often say “Oh. That’s not how my mom used to make it. This is good…but…” Yeesh.

    Sorry for rambling, but I’ve been there!!!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Not rambling! I think this is VERY common! Thanks for sharing your story. It’s great that you guys are both on Weight Watchers together. Hopefully he can support you in your efforts, too, even if it’s not as much of a struggle for him.

      It’s hard. It adds another issue to relationships something. Food shouldn’t be a war. And most of the time, it isn’t in our house. Most of the time I CAN eat a little bit more of “this and that” and not worry about the scale so much. Just lately…lately it’s an issue for me.

  3. Roz@weightingfor50

    Hi Lisa, I understand the frustration. I also don’t know many couples who don’t have the occasional arguement like this. Sounds to me that you two have a very healthy relationship, it was resolved quickly, and its behind you. Have a great Tues.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Yes, it was forgotten shortly after it!

  4. Jill

    I am glad all is resolved! I also think the “argument” was normal and handled very well by the both of you. My husband is VERY supportive of my eating habits. I just know if he said something about not having fun over food I would FLIP out! I am impressed how well you voiced what you needed from him. I think it was perfect. AND… isn’t making up fun?!?!?!? 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      THanks Jill! 🙂

      That’s great that your hubby is supportive. Tell him I said “good job!” 🙂

  5. Deb

    My bf and I have this issue too. Lately I’ve been doing 2 different things to cope with it, since I cook 90% of the dinner meals in the house, and dinner is the only meal we eat together every day.

    If he wants something I know will not be good for me, I either make two different dinners, sharing the veggie sides and whatnot, or eat smaller portions of what he wanted, go to the gym, work it all off, and have a snack of some sort of fruit (really fond of raisins lately) when I get home.

    Either way, it seems to be working as finally after the holidays I am starting to lose again! I was worried for a little bit!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’m glad you guys figured a system that works for you. We don’t want to cook separate meals so we usually compromise and eat healthy things. Again, this isn’t an issue most of the time–just once in awhile!

      1. Deb

        I didn’t want to do separate meals either at first, then I realized we have totally different tastes in food, so it made even more sense to try it. He hates spicy, I love it. I like to eat vegetarian sometimes, he has to have meat. I could eat chicken almost every time, but he gets bored with it. And there’s some nights I just want to make a big salad and call it good, while he’s not much of a salad eater. lol

        Most of the time, like you said, we can manage to agree. But sometimes… heh. Not so much.

        1. Lisa Eirene

          It sounds like you guys do have very different food habits. I’m glad it works for you! And I agree, sometimes a big salad is all I want too.

          Michael and I have pretty similar food tastes except I crave sugar and he craves salty.

  6. cindylu

    I don’t have conflicts like this since I do most of the cooking. Food doesn’t stress me out that much. I’d be much more stressed if I couldn’t afford something to eat rather than the fact that I had plenty of food, but it was just too calorie laden for me. In the grand scheme of problems and things to be stressed about it, it’s small for me. I know maintaining takes a lot of diligence, but peace of mind/not being stressed is part of my overall health and I value that too.

  7. sugarmagnolia70

    I”m glad that you got this resolved, but I’m sorry you had to go through it! I’m sure you are so conscious of everything, which totally impresses me, Lisa!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Sometimes it’s not a big deal and most of the time I just let it go. It was just a perfect storm, I guess. 🙂

  8. Miz

    You are such a GIFT.
    I adore you will share how you struggle still too and how NORMAL (ok like us :)) you are.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thank you, Carla! I am SO normal, you have no idea. 🙂 I am glad that sharing my story made me seem more real.

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