Help! I think my husband is becoming Crazy about his calories!!

My husband believes he can't eat over 1000 calories. He only weighs 178 and he is 5' 10.  I try to tell him that by eating that few of calories he is risking his health.  He works out, he runs about 2 miles a day and does some strength training. How can i make him understand this is not the way to go about his "Healthy" new lifestyle??? Thanks.

I think you should print off some health pages displaying what he should and shouldnt eat, e.g. what is best to eat for health and how many calories he actually should be eating. (My parents did this for me when i wasnt eating much of anything, it made me sit up and listen)

http://whfoods.org/ try this sit too for healthy recipes and health foods. I hope he listens good luck :)

Thanks so much for that info, that is very helpful, but he is stubborn I just hope he realizes how silly he is being. Thanks again!! 

If he is particularly stubborn or obbsessive about the amount he eats, he may well be anorexic. It happens to males. If he refuses to eat more after you show him proof that such restriction is unhealthy, he is almost certainly anorexic.

thanks for your reply, I am starting to believe that myself, he just started this insane thought that if he doesnt eat that much that he will lose a lot of weight.  I try to tell him he is actually at a good weight, he can eat and maintain where he is at.  20 years of gaining weight isnt going to go away in 2 weeks, yikes!!  He doesnt work much in the winter time so he does have extra time to exercise, but I think this not eating thing is consuming his life more than me wanting to eat is consuming mine (if that makes any sense).  

I was the exact same at 15 i started off being 5'7 and 144lbs to being 98lbs, if he doesnt recieve a painful wake up call then this could be him.

Maybe he doesnt have anorexia YET but it is very easy to get addicted to weightloss and the number on the scale. Also a weighing scale is a BAD thing to have thus why i dont weigh or keep one anymore, its better to judge by clothes. From what you have said he sounds like he is at a very good weight and could even gain a couple if he wanted too!

I had a friend who did the exact same! he would eat nothing then around 8pm he'd eat a 1000 calorie pizza or some other meal and that would be it! Later i learned he was anorexic.

Maybe your husband should consult a nutritionist?

On the other side of the coin, he could just be ignorant in his way of thinking...like MINE.  He is 6'3 1/2 and weighs 280 and is on the diet with me.  He barely eats all day and then comes home and eats my "diet dinner" that I have prepared.  I keep telling him he is not eating enough calories (he is allowed 1000 more than me), but he has lost 10 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks.  Men!  And I know it is not because he is obsessed, his mind just tells him to "restrict".

Tell him to read this

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/article/q_an d_a.html

Also, have him check out the Expert articles in the CC+ Library. 

what's going to happen is, he'll cause some bizarre metabolic changes that will stall his weight loss.  In addition, he'll have to eat less to maintain at a higher weight. 

When someone buys into the "all you have to do to lose is eat less" mindset, it's hard to change their minds.  The first time somebody told me to eat more I thought they were nuts.  But I took that advice and now I can lose weight eating more than when I was on a starvation diet.

Original Post by cnjjeanmard:

On the other side of the coin, he could just be ignorant in his way of thinking...like MINE.  He is 6'3 1/2 and weighs 280 and is on the diet with me.  He barely eats all day and then comes home and eats my "diet dinner" that I have prepared.  I keep telling him he is not eating enough calories (he is allowed 1000 more than me), but he has lost 10 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks.  Men!  And I know it is not because he is obsessed, his mind just tells him to "restrict".

 The truth is at 280, it's probably not the worst thing in the world to drop 3 lbs a week at first. He's going to have to start eating more though, because otherwise it eventually will become a health risk, or he'll just lose ALL his muscle mass, like I did.

Also unless he's on 24/7 surveillance, are you sure he's not eating more than you think?