Bentos for Hubbys

[ScullyPA]

My husband has the perception that he eats well, but he doesn't. Usually, he has no lunch, and if he does eat, it is a can of soup or Chef Boyardee or something. I was thinking of getting him a manly bento and starting to make him things. What have people done to get their guys into healthier habits?

[sanriofreak]

Does your DH's work have any kind of, "getting fit" challenge? I know that some employers do this to motivate their employees to become healthier and to lose wt. My DH's work does this. Once a yr, they have a program called, "healthy rewards" and they test your wt, bp, cholesterol, blood sugar and your smoking status. You need to have a certain # of requirements within, "normal" limits and if you have those, you get an extra discount on your health insurance (we pay for health insurance from each of my DH's paychecks). My DH is very competitive, as are many men and he likes to try to make sure that he is as fit as possible each yr when they do the healthy rewards challenge, so he can get the extra discount with each paycheck. I know that some gyms also do stuff like this, by making it a contest. If your DH is a competitive person, this may be something to help motivate him into become more fit and also watching what he eats.

[Ahorsesoul]

My dh thinks he eats healthy too. Peanut butter and butter sandwich along with several Debbie cakes, every day for lunch. He doesn't understand why he has stomach troubles and no energy.

[Lethargic]

My boyfriend ate no breakfast and usually crappy lunch everyday. For him its more of a time issue. He works 12 hours a day 5 days a week. So he doesn't have a lot of time to think about lunch and stuff. He was all for me making him lunches. He just eats whatever I put in it (of course I only put in food he likes). So I make sure to have something from every food group in his lunches. With a nice portion of vegetables that he likes, lean meats, fruit, and things like that. I also try to always add in a little dessert too. Maybe some pocky or a couple pieces of candy.

He really likes the variety he gets from Bento lunches and being able to have lunch everyday even if he cant leave work for a lunch break. And I can feel better knowing that he is atleast getting a little better of a diet since I make two of his meals a day. Now if only I can get that breakfast thing taken care of.

I would say definitely find out what things he likes and work with that. Soup can be a really great lunch, as long as it has some veggies in it. And then adding some other stuff on the side to make it more rounded. Like my boyfriend only likes cooked vegetables, so that's how I prepare them. And I make him give me feedback on new things I put in his lunch so I really know what he likes.

[hippie_mama]

Soup can be really healthy, so he's ahead of the game there at least! You could make a big homemade batch in a crock pot, and then freeze it in single servings to save time and money. That might be the best way to ease him into it. It can be packed into a regular thermos if he's not into the cutesy thermal bento sets.

[Pangolin]

To answer the original question - maybe the easiest thing would be to pack the lunch yourself for him. Or at least make healthier things available to put in his lunch.

Keep in mind that some people get into eating the same thing everday for lunch (because it's easy), and that often turns them off on eating anything (hence the tendency to skip lunch altogether).
I get tired of eating because I'm hungry all the time, and it is a hassle to come up with something interesting every few hours, not to mention the hassle of having to pack all that food.

Breakfast around here is really simple. We rotate through things, but at the moment he drinks an ensure, and has cereal as a snack at work later in the morning. I have an ensure and cheerios (on the side, not together). It's fairly healthy, and not too complicated in the morning when I'm too tired to figure out anything else. Since lunches are just leftovers of dinner the night before, it really means we only have to plan one meal per day, which makes things very easy!

There are plenty of healthy options for lunch or dinner, you just have to work with whatever you both like to eat. We eat a ton of white rice (it is part of dinner at least four nights a week) and usually switch between chicken and beef for proteins. I'll eat fish, but it does nothing as far as making me feel not hungry, so we only have it occasionally.

[kissesmomof4]

I bought my husband one of the plain looking bentos from ichiban kan because if I do not pack something for him he does not eat. That is really bad since he is diabetic He does not like to have a full meal when he works so I am going to pack him healthy snacky type things in it. Things he can eat fast and will keep his blood sugar more steady but won't weigh him down.

[Mr T]

Make him the same healthy stuff that you would eat for yourself, and keep junk food out of the house completely. You can't force us to eat healthier, but we'll think its a great idea if "we do it together."

I'm sure he'll appreciate whatever you make him

[kissesmomof4]

Good point Mr T. We recently went back to a more whole foods diet and the only way I can make it work for the WHOLE family is just not to buy junk. The only junk we have in the house is some frosted flakes, ice cream, and my stock pile of cake mixes I got insanely cheap with coupons. I also keep fruit and cheese cut up so it is easy to have for snack. The produce is actually getting eaten now that I am not keeping other snacks around!

[Lethargic]

I agree with you both. If the crappy food is in the house we are MUCH more likely to eat it. And when its not in the house I don't really crave it very often so I'm obviously not missing much. Unfortunately, my boyfriend thinks that losing weight/getting healthy has more to do with exercise and almost nothing to do with food. So he is all for having soda and chips and stuff in the house. Irritating. Luckily I do the grocery shopping for 5/7 days of the week so I don't buy that stuff. If on the weekend he wants to buy some junk food its up to him.