QUICK TRICKS TO GET YOUR MAN TO EAT HEALTHER WITHOUT THE NAGGING OR LECTURING Written by Tana Amen, BSN, RN

Nagging and lecturing your man: 150 calories burned. Check. You also asked him to join www.myfitnesspal.com, and he just gave you that look. You asked him to try paleo. After looking it up in the dictionary, he grunted, scratched his belly and reached for the remote.
An ancient Chinese proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” It may be a few steps. But there are things you can do right now that are so simple, so obvious, you’re going to say, “Now why the heck didn’t I think of that?”
First off, stop talking to him about it. One of the best ways to get a man to do something is to have him do it without realizing he is doing it.
Sneaky? Yup!
If you want him to eat that cup of zucchini, chop it in little pieces, and hide it in his favorite dish, or in homemade OMNI approved baked goods.
Slowly make little changes without him noticing. Don’t discuss it. Most men don’t like to discuss things, period. Beef and chicken stews and soups are a haven for a lot of vegetables to hide in. You can get him to eat a whole carrot and a whole tomato without him ever knowing.
Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant found in tomatoes, may be beneficial in the prevention of prostate cancer and reducing tumor growth among men with prostate cancer. In a review of 21 studies, researchers found that men who ate a lot of raw tomato and cooked tomato products were less likely to develop prostate cancer compared with men who rarely ate such foods.
Because lycopene is tightly bound to cell walls, our bodies have a difficult time extracting it from raw tomatoes, therefore, cooked or pureed tomato products such as tomato paste, organic spaghetti sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and organic (sugar free) ketchup may be better options.
Focus on what he will eat. Just make a plate of spaghetti squash pasta, or a bowl of kale and chicken soup, or beef stew with tomato sauce.
Stop asking him if he would like to try “something new.” Just make it. Men are pretty simple creatures, Put it in front of him, and if it looks edible, he will eat it. Okay, let’s say the odds are high that he will.
You may not like spicy foods, but spices are now your new friend. If you can’t get your man to eat that bowl of broccoli for prostate health, sprinkle it with curry, cardamom, or cumin. A little bit of added spice helps any food taste better. Each time you make a side of vegetables, try cooking with a new spice. He won’t notice it if you play your cards right.
Get rid of any “fast food favorites” and find a healthier option. Example, if he likes French fries and a sandwich, swap out the store bought fries with homemade sweet potato fries you bake in the oven. Don’t ask. Just do it. Odds are, he’ll love them. Throw away his Heinz, and replace it with spicy tomato sauce, thickened a little bit with tomato paste, and sweetened just a tad with Stevia.
Sometimes it feels like we’re raising another, really BIG kid when he won’t eat his carrots. I know personally because my husband is the biggest, pickiest kid in my house! Next time cut a medium size carrot in sticks, and spread all-natural almond butter on them. Serve them with his dinner. Vitamin A is fat soluble, so it can store in the body for days on end before being depleted, so we don’t need to eat vitamin A foods every day. If you can get him to eat just a few carrots a week, or even a couple of cups of kale a week, you got him covered in the “A” department.
Stop telling him he needs to eat like you (even if you’re feeding him exactly the same way). You have to think smart, and a little sneaky about this. The same nutrients that are in a salad are in other foods. Organic beans (ham and bean soup), peas, oranges, berries…
Check out this site for a list of nutrients in foods: http://nutritiondata.self.com/.
Men go gaga for wraps, so if you really want him to eat that salad, break it up, and hide them in a coconut wraps. Put in your meat (grilled free range chicken, steak etc.) of choice, avocado or any healthy fat and that salad. What you have on your hands is one delicious wrap.
Goats milk yogurt. It’s music to your ears. Its fingernails going down a chalkboard to his. Next time put the yogurt in a bowl with a little bit of nuts and some organic blueberries (brain candy) and some berry flavored liquid stevia. Mixed together to give him a berry flavored parfait. What he doesn’t know will help him.
Kale is loaded with vitamins A and C. Just one cup is a healthy addition to his diet. This can be easily hidden in, say, a taco salad. It’s weird—many men say they don’t like “salads.” But stick “taco” in front of it, and watch him drool. Celebrate the little things! I have a great recipe on my website at www.tanaamen.com.
Does he love meatloaf? Ohhhhh the places you can hide the vegetables in my turkey or bison meatloaf. Also keep it mind free range turkey, bison, eggs, and tomatoes are all brain boosting foods.
Many people, both men and women, object to eating healthy because of the cost, but if you do it right, eating healthy doesn’t cost that much more. In fact, it costs less than $2.50/ day according to a study done by the Harvard School of Public Health. So if you want to get your man to stop and give pause, say this: “Pay now or pay later with rising health care costs.”
The healthy foods you will be giving him will tip the scale in his favor.
This list is endless. Think outside the box for even more ideas. In the end you should keep in mind that you would, rather live a short life filled with good food, then a long life with gross food.
Oh, if he only knew…
Do you have a friend in need of ideas to help her man eat healthier? E-mail them this page!
If you haven’t checked out The Omni Diet, now is a great time. There are plenty of man recipes that will give you peace of mind.