Happily, there's been an amicable agreement in our household for decades. It's an agreement to mitigate our penchant for comfort food - don't buy it!

This very worthy agreement is because we completely lack any willpower! How on earth can one "save" some sticky date pudding for the next day!?

Now we are happy to satisfy our cravings with generous amounts of fresh or stewed fruits and occasionally, we use homemade stewed fruits as a conserve.

And coupled with healthy cooking methods the results: All healthy weights - I, a mere 53kgs.

However, friends have long been aware that when they "pop in" they will receive no more than a tea, coffee or drink. If we specifically invite them over, the household rule is temporarily breached and we gleefully "pig out."

The agreement is also breached if we eat at restaurants of course - we're not that stoic!

*She even sometimes begs me to have a dessert so she can justify having one herself.*

Hehe, I love it :)

.

Primarily we are of course all responsible for our own weight or what we put in our mouths. However, I guess I can see it could be more difficult, but not impossible, in a house where there was a great variance in food preferences. It would just need a greater resolve and extra planning.

My experience is that if you cook healthy scrumptious food the boring old fatty takeaway loses its gleam even for the most hardened fried food addict.

It's called anything in moderation. Also of course, don't stock your cupboards with the unhealthy options. I have diabetic over weight partner who has always eaten better than I do and yet I fight to keep the weight off (at least his beer consumption is dropping off now too lol).

One can have smaller portions when eating with your partner, and drinking water to help you keep more full. A lot of the time when people feel they are hungry, it is dehydration. Try drinking water first and if you're still hungry then have something to eat. Simple.
Another tip, an apple is just as good at 'waking you up' in the morning as a coffee (if you are caffeine conscious, it is worth a try).

I could blame my partner for eating wrongly but no one force feeds me. It is self discipline and having a lot of fresh produce in the house. It is time to get your body moving more. And it is worth it to feel good for the summer.

Come on JW, I doubt that it has anything to do with the lack or otherwise of a y chromosome. I'm sure I've got a Y chromosome and I've never been shy of looking after my health.

I think the reasons that men are less likely to police their health than women have to do with the work pressures that are put on them, combined with the risk-taking bravado that characterises many male social groupings - the sort of thing that turns drinking from a social occupation into a competitive sport. So you don't want to appear a sissy by being too picky about the risky behaviour you undertake, it might lower your score.

Another reason is that doctors are always running late, and tend to be most available during work hours. A combination of factors that means men are less likely to go to see one. I combat at least one of them by ringing up 30 minutes before my appointment to see how late the doctor is running. Makes the visit a little more manageable.

JW

"What is it about men and the way so many of them neglect their health?"

I've often pondered the same question. I'm sure there are many exceptions here on OLO, but generally speaking in my experience I agree that it is usually women who are more interested in looking after their health than men.

A few possibilities as to why this is so come to mind. In themselves they are each far too simplistic but when considered as a whole some of them at least have some credibility I think. It will be largely up to male posters I guess to let us know whether or not there is anything here of substance.

- Men intuitively dislike being told what to do and what not to do. An inbuilt stubborn resistance seems to kick in in response!

- Men often haven't done the same amount of reading on health issues and as such don't have the same level of awareness.

- From puberty, women become more tuned to the rhythms of their bodies. Menstruating, childbirth, breast feeding and menopause all add to this greater sense of the connectiveness between how we nurture our bodies and how they respond.

- Personal vanity is more societally ingrained into women and watching what they eat in order to maintain a desired body weight is something most learn to do from a young age.

- Looking after ones health is viewed by many men as 'wimpy' and something real men don't bother themselves over.

- Men have a less realistic estimation of their own invincibility and often believe that if they are physically active it doesn't really matter too much what they eat or drink.

- Traditionally, alcohol consumption is societally ingrained into men to a greater degree than it is in women. By the time men realise the damaging effect it is having on their health, it is often too late and too difficult for many of them to respond as they need to.