Marriage & Meals.

As most of you already know I am a newlywed, 10/13/12 I married my long-time love Colin.  Now we all have heard the horror stories of "letting ourselves go" after marriage.  So let's discuss....

My husband (God love him) and I are alike in several ways we are runners, outgoing, and blonde.  Now let's illustrate the ways in which we are opposite, oh lord I could go on all day...He is a night person while I'm an early riser.  I need things to be done yesterday & with Colin there is always tomorrow.  He works in finance and I am in healthcare.  I mean the list could go on for days, but the biggest opposite I'll address today is eating.  We have lived together for over 2 years and I still find mealtime to be a struggle, and in talking with a plethora of my other newlywed friends I find I am not the only one with this issue.

I was raised by a single mom with 1 sister...seriously a house of all women is an understatement.  While Colin was very much raised in the All-American family, like I'm talking they sat down and ate dinner together every night.  Unreal to me, who spent most of my evenings between theater or dance grabbing something on the go.  So I'm sure you can all imagine that meshing these 2 opposite lifestyles was tough, but not only that let's state the obvious in that Colin is a man & I am a woman.  And men prefer meals (like real meals with meat & stuff), while women tend to graze.  Seriously I am the epitome of a "grazer" as Colin likes to refer to me.  Let's just state for the record that Harry has taken after me and will graze, seriously he's the weirdest lab ever.  However, being raised with all women around I never learned these basic meal fundamentals which establish real differences between men & women.

I am definitely the world's pickiest & strangest eater, however I don't let my burden stand in Colin's way of enjoying anything & everything.  We frequently make meals that are based off my love to graze & then Colin will make some extra meat, chicken or fish on the side to satisfy his gender.  For example one of my favorite things to graze on is leftover veggies & rice, I'll have that with a side of cheese (per usual) & Colin will whip himself up some protein for the side dish.  Earlier this week Colin cooked a batch of MahiMahi for himself & salmon for me that way we can enjoy the same side dishes, but not be grossed out by one another's main course.  Chicken is my nemesis (unless fried of course), but if Colin feels like chicken he makes it for lunches or I substitute a different main entree.  Hell, there are many nights when I eat what I want, and he eats what he wants.  As impractical as it may seem, it works for us & our waistlines.  Each week there's a grocery list on the counter & we can each add to it so when I head to the grocery Colin's manly requests are not forgotten.  Colin, as our head chef, is willing to adapt to my ridiculous grazing habits & health concerns, cooking us both healthy options we will be happy with.

Now ladies & gentleman I am not condemning either sex for their eating habits, I am merely here to discuss how we can mesh the 2 and not have either party go off the deep end.  My suggestion is why mesh at all?  Continue to eat as you would eat if the other person was not around, women stick to your portion sizes & grazing habits, men go ahead & have the all-american meat & potatoes.  Sure it's easier to make the exact same meal for both of you, but in all honesty there is definitely a middle ground.  It's when you try to change your pre-programmed eating compass and adopt someone else's that the calories & subsequent weight can pile on.  Don't let your partner's habits bring those scale numbers up, stick to your guns eat what you want, when you want, & be practical about the quantities.  Then, weight-maintenance will be easy as pie....(yuck another food that I detest!)