Dinner Banter

Dale likes to eat. He’s a bigger guy, not fat, just tall and built pretty thick. He thinks that he has to have dessert or something sweet after every meal. Well, his dad had high blood pressure and cholesterol and he is known to have high blood pressure from time to time. His cholesterol was too high at the last check as well. It is no secret that we are getting older and things like medication for preventable diseases is possibly in our future. I have already made several changes to my diet and a huge change around living a healthy life a while back. Dale on the other hand is not so motivated to give up the foods that taste so good to him. He is and has always been active though. Thank goodness for that!


Lately, I’ve been trying to incorporate healthier items in our meals. One switch I thought I got away with was whole grain spaghetti. I made spaghetti last Thursday, according to Dale. I have no idea if that is right or not nor do I care. I thought it turned out just fine. I bought more whole grain spaghetti again to have ready for nights I needed an extremely quick meal. One of those nights came last night.

Dale: You know I love you, right?  You know I will always love you and that will never change, right?

Don’t melt in envy over my husband thinking he is so tremendously sweet and thoughtful just yet. This is a set-up, folks! He was carrying his plate to his seat. I didn’t answer him because I knew what was coming next. So, he repeated his words until I answered his questions.

Me: "Yes, Dale, I know you love me." Said in the most annoyed tone ever.

Dale: Ok, this is bull shit. Whole grain pasta? Don’t ever fix this again. You fixed this last Thursday and I wanted to gag, but thought I’d be nice about it thinking you would never fix it again.

Me: You didn’t say anything about not liking it. How would I know?

Dale: It is gritty and tastes like shit.

Me: You have to eat more healthy, Dale and I’m...

Dale: Eating healthy? This is not healthy. It tastes like shit and pisses me off, which raises my blood pressure and THAT is NOT healthy.

I think he was extremely proud of his reasoning.

All I can do is shake my head at the ridiculousness of his thinking.

He makes me laugh. For the record, this is normal banter in our house, ask our family and friends, it is no way abusive nor do I take offense to his lack of respect for the woman that feeds his ass.

I’ve also been brainwashing the boys to try to limit their sugar intake. Waylon now asks me how many grams of sugar are in everything I pick up. It is a good reminder. He sees me looking at labels and ingredients and knows what I’m looking for. Something I never used to pay attention to. That kid loves sweets as much as I do and will hide in his room or the pantry to get his fix.

Around summer time they were getting a little ridiculous with their juice and popsicle demands so I started explaining what was in those items and several others. Now they are accustomed to only getting one glass of juice and the rest of the night it is water. They take that answer rather well now days.

When Halloween rolled around with all of its candy goodness it was a good time to see if all that brainwashing would pay off. I explained several times that they would not just get to stuff themselves with candy but there would be a limit. Each time they asked for extra pieces I would ask them, “What does candy have in it?” They would so disappointedly answer me as they hung their heads and whispered, “sugar”.  "What does sugar do to you?" With the poutiest lip ever, “makes you unhealthy”.

This may not be the way you would choose to teach your kids to eat better, but it has really worked for me, yes, brainwashing. They know that if they pick a cereal with double digit sugar content, it isn’t an option. They pretty much know what they can choose from nowadays and what is off the table, literally. We are doing our best to teach moderation, what is healthy and unhealthy, and still trying to respect others that don’t practice what we practice. They like to tell their daddy that when he drinks a pop he will get unhealthy. The boys have been on board much more than their daddy.

There are times I can’t get full and when my need for chocolate is no longer a craving, but a necessity, I will make sure my body gets what it is asking for. Other times I try to do my best at keeping it as healthy as possible.

With all that being said, Happy Turkey Day! I will be eating until I am satisfied, not uncomfortably full, and most likely I will eat more than one piece of dessert, but you know where you are going to find me at 4:30am Monday morning right? Right… running in the cold.


Are you and your spouse on the same page as far as how you eat?

How do you teach your kids to eat in moderation and keep it as healthy as possible?