How to fix a picky husband (Or, how to stop a sabatour in his tracks)

This question was posed on a forum that I visit, I thought I would share my answer here just in case it might be helpful to someone else ...

My husband is a picky eater and my meals reflect it. I rarely buy much for fruits and veggies because the only veggie he will eat is broccoli and he's not big on fruit either. It's just the two of us and I always feel like produce will go bad. Plus, when I make supper, I try to cater to his likes (pizza, mac and cheese, stuff like that) and I don't have the will power, funds, or energy to make something healthy for myself. Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

My hubby is picky as well, and now his health is showing it. He has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and his borderline diabetes is no longer borderline.

Here are a couple of tips that I've been using to help us both out that may help you and your hubby.

1) Always make a salad, that way if the dinner isn't as healthy as I would like I can eat a small portion of it and fill up on the salad.

2) though produce going bad is never an issue in my house, frozen is definitely a better choice than none.
Also, when you shop for fresh produce just get one or two apples instead of a whole bag.
A small prepared salad mix instead of the head of lettuce.
A small bag of baby carrots makes munching on them easier than having to peal and cut a regular carrot up first.
Many fruits and veggies can be frozen if you notice that they are beginning to go past their prime. While most need to be blanched first, there are two in particular that require little to no prep in order to freeze.
Bananas can be peeled and cut into marshmallow sized pieces and freeze on a cookie sheet until frozen when you can bag them up. These are great to blend into a smoothie, or pulse in a food processor for several minutes and they turn into a yummy soft serve 'faux ice cream'.
Grapes I just remove from the stem and place in cheap plastic cups in 1-cup portions. These make a perfectly scrumptious snack when you want something sweet and cold - or drop them in your water to keep it cold. which brings me to point #

3) Make sure you are drinking water instead of high calorie sodas and fruit juices - switching will make a HUGE difference. Add sliced fruit (while lemons are the first thing you might think of, you can also add orange or lime wedges, sliced apples or peaches, fresh or frozen berries, etc) or add a single serve packet of crystal light a glass of water.

4) Don't try to force huge changes on your husband or he will rebel, become angry, or try to sabotage your efforts.

5) Try little changes that he probably won't notice.
For instance, try using part lower fat cheese in that mac 'n cheese, or use less cheese, or use lower fat milk, use a whole grain paste (some don't taste that great, try barillo plus, it's whole grain with added fiber and protein and tastes just like regular).
Try making your own pizza using the whole grain, thin crust, prepared crusts. Add less cheese and go lighter on the toppings (opt for canadian bacon instead of pepperoni or fried bacon; opt for leaner ground beef or ground turkey; use more veggies, etc)

6) Start switching out processed grains for more complex carbs, like switching to brown rice, whole grain bread, or that barillo plus pasta I mentioned.

7) Also, try looking up the main dishes he likes and find recipes that are healthier. Then, add some side dishes that are healthier - maybe he will eat them or maybe he wont, but either way you will have something that's healthier to fill up on and won't be eating as much of the 'not as good for you' dish.

And guess what, I've noticed that some changes I've been making for me are starting to rub off on him - he's started adding crystal light to water instead of grabbing a can of soda and I see him adding salad to his dinner plate more and more often. Also, he hasn't said a thing about the zesty italian salad dressing he likes, it's gone from regular to lite and now has officially been at fat free for several months.

HTH