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Dieting is hard when someone puts in your cart chips and Oreos

Emily Campbell

It’s about six weeks into my diet and I’ve lost about eight pounds so far. If you’ve been following my blog, you know that ever since my post about rock climbing, I’ve been trying to work on my “farms” (fat arms) as well as other fatty gross areas.

So far my boyfriend Awesome (not his real name) has been totally down with working out but as far as dieting with me, that’s been a no-go. To be fair, he doesn’t need to lose any weight and his work schedule is awful (it’s 11:36 p.m. and he just walked in the door after working since 8:30 a.m.) so fast food for him is sometimes just the easiest and quickest option.

I want him to diet with me for three reasons:

  1. It’s healthier.
  2. It’s easier to follow a diet when you have a partner holding you accountable.
  3. I would rather make the same dinner for two people rather than two dinners.

Plus dieting is – for lack of a better phrase – hard as shit.

I’ll admit that some healthy foods taste amazing but most of them, to me anyway, taste like I am trying to chew a grass-covered dirt ball. Anyone who says they don’t enjoy an occasional fast food binge is either tastebud-less, a robot, or at the very least, a dirty liar. For example, I am a sucker for McDonald’s double cheeseburgers, 7-11 hot dogs, and Krispy Kreme donuts. Unfortunately, those items have almost zero nutritional value and instantly bond to my nearest fat pocket.

Either way, after a lot of cajoling from me and a guilt trip from a friend of his, Awesome decided to diet with me. We started by going grocery shopping together. The first obstacle we faced was the fried chicken and potato wedges stand in the front of the Walmart. Claiming starvation, Awesome looked at me first with puppy dog eyes, then with pouty eyes and finally with angry eyes as I continuously denied him potato wedges (even though I wanted them as badly as he did!).

During the trip, for which I had a strict list, I suddenly found the following items added to my cart: a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, a package of Oreos, whipped cream, “buttery” crescent rolls, and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Slowly but surely, my diet grocery list was crumbling under the weight of Awesome’s sweet tooth.

I did manage to grab some apples and bananas and prevent a tub of French onion dip from working its way into the cart in two small victories. I also saw him pick up several items and actually read the labels, and got him to agree to eat most of the healthier dinners I planned for the week. It’s the small victories that count really.

So I let him get the potato wedges. I mean, for God’s sake, the guy agreed to eat turkey bacon instead of regular. Isn’t that a crime in some countries?