I'm Not An Expert, Just Ask My Husband.

I haven't always been fit. I'm not sure I would really consider myself fit now, but I am a hell of a lot closer to it than I have ever been. While making better food choices and starting to work out,  I have attempted to share tidbits of this information with my husband. Being diabetic and a few extra pounds overweight, I assumed he would be interested in my helpful hints. That's why we never assume, because it makes an ass out of you and then I want to hit you with my car. I think that's how the saying goes?

Me: "Wheat bread without all the additives is really great for you. White bread is the devil".
My husband: "Bread is bread."
Me: "Did you know that echinacea helps you get over colds and builds your immune system?"
My husband: "Did you know I like Nyquil and it actually works?"
Me: "Diet soda is white bread's evil cousin. Yeah, worse than the devil. Think about that."
My husband: "You just drank your weight in coffee, but thanks of the update Miss Health." Included eye roll.

I don't have a degree in nutrition and it is true that I have smoked for over fifteen years. While I never claimed to be an expert, I felt that 97% of what I was putting in my body was better than what my husband was shoveling down his throat. He ate fast food every day and washed it down with a gallon of diet soda. He believed that he was never going to get old and that he possessed the same metabolism that kept him fit in high school. Plus he was married, why did he need to look good? (He really said that.) Thanks, dick. While the scale continued on a regular incline, he wasn't planning to let his uneducated wife give him tips on nutrition. Clearly, I knew nothing.
Fast forward to this year and my husband's realization that he was 40 pounds overweight. Due to my deep love for him and the understanding that he was never going to listen to a damn thing I said, I bought him some sessions with a personal trainer. During his first week he joyfully skipped home with information that was interesting only to him.

"I am giving up diet soda. Do you know how bad it is for me? Empty calories, my trainer tells me."
"I am not eating fast food all the time. The calorie count in that stuff is crazy, like 2,000 calories for one meal."
"I need to eat smaller meals all day and focus more on healthy grains, vegetables and lean meats. Can we buy that stuff?" (FYI-That's all I have bought for the last decade.)
"My trainer suggested I take garlic and echinacea for my cold. Were you aware of the health benefits of garlic?"

I wanted to punch a watermelon and his trainer.  Was I aware? Yes, Tweedle Dee, that's what I have been telling you for years. This is not news to me, but I am curious how you have conveniently missed the hundreds of conversations we have had about these exact same issues. Here is where the disconnect comes in for my husband...I am not an expert. I am just a thirty something mom with a massage therapy license and a history of shitty jobs. In his mind, taking nutrition advice from me would be similar to allowing me to pick his line up for this year's fantasy football team. I have only unreliable information. There may be a list of things that I could give him advice on, but I admit to never wanting to find out what those would be. I imagine his list would consist of; scrubbing toilets, refilling dog bowls, shaving legs, wiping baby butts and picking up dog shit in the back yard. Funny, I don't have a degree in any of those either.