How to Make Hubbies Happy Part II

They always say that "the surest way to a man's heart is through his stomach", and we all know that that is pretty much correct. However, it is so hard nowadays to figure out what to make, eat, and stay away from, because we all just gain weight, diet, and then just not eat.

I just finished a really good book called "Eat Right 4 Your Type", which is basically a theory put forth by a Natural Doctor, Peter D'Adamo, about how people with different blood types react to certain types of food (there is a process called "aglutination" which plays a key roll in the way everyone reacts). It's very well researched, and having studied nutrition for ions, it makes a lot of sense to me. The proof is in the pudding, however, and when I found that implementing Dr. D'Adamo's suggestions in my husband's diet (he's the guinea pig), he really has thrived on it! Being a type "O", he requires more animal derived protein than the other types, and in larger quantities, etc. (it's much more complicated than that, so that was just an example). My blood type is on the rather pansy-ish, vegetarian side, but I won't go there.

Previously, my DH had lost a lot of weight doing the "Atkin's Diet", which I was very, very at odds with (the Atkin's diet doesn't make much sense healthwise), but after putting Dr. D'Adamo's theories into practice, I DO see how my husband did well with Atkins, while I would never do well with it at all. It does seem to explain how some people do well with one diet, while others don't see any results at all, yet change the diet, and they do wonders.

Anyway. My point is, that one of the ways the Good Wife can make her hubby happy, is by paying attention to his nutrition. Don't just feed him anything to get him full, or send him with a bunch of processed snackies to work (to keep him happy). Ultimately, when your hubby isn't healthy, he won't be happy. Maybe he will wrinkle his nose to the substitution of cottage cheese for pringles in his lunch box, but after you implement changes in the diet, and explain that if he loves you, he will follow them, he will ultimately realize how much better he feels, and won't want to eat anything that will then make him feel bad.

My husband was raised eating meat and potatoes every night, a canned veggie once in a while, "healthy" frosted flakes for breakfasts, and school lunches (which in his time, were anything BUT healthy). He subsequently hated anything that wasn't loaded with salt and preservatives, wasn't sugary or caffeinated, or so greasy that he could oil the locks with the empty bag, but he was fortunate enough to go on a nice trip to Europe for a couple of semesters during his college years, and found out what food is really like! When he came back, he wanted to marry a woman who knew real food, and bumped into little old farm girl me. Although it's tough to break old habits, he put his wifey in charge of the kitchen, and lets me direct his eating. Wives should take this responsibility very seriously. Even if we're in a hurry all the time, we need to resist the temptation to buy all of those "convenient" and brightly packaged, and wow, "on sale too", foods at the grocery stores. Not only is it cheaper to make our own meals, but you get more satisfaction out of making your family's food, and your whole family is healthier because of it.

Here are some interesting links:

Organic Valley

Dr. D'Adamo's Site

The Benefits of Cooking at Home