5 Ways To Help Your Husband Eat Better (When He Eats Like a Cop)

I really admire how hard my husband works.

It doesn’t matter what job it is. If there’s something that needs to be done, he does it to the best of his ability. He genuinely takes pride in his work and wants to do a good job.

Honestly, his work ethic tends to blow mine out of the water.

The downside to this work ethic, however, is it often means his work comes before anything else – including his health.

Even now that he works a job with normal hours with a hypothetical lunch break, he rarely takes it because he just wants to get his work done.

My goal this year has been to clean up my eating and get into a better exercise regimen so I can be healthier and more confident. I’ve done pretty well so far (yay!), but it made me realize how crappy my husband’s diet is. Yikes.

I mean, he actually enjoys vegetables, and he’ll eat pretty much whatever I make for dinner (even if it’s hours later), so pickiness isn’t an issue: the issue is time.

You can probably relate. That whole donut-eating-cop stereotype has a lot to do with police officers not really having time to sit and have a relaxed mealtime. They’re usually downing energy drinks and whatever food they can eat in a hurry before they’re needed again.

Plus, they’re stressed out – which means lots of comfort food 😉 Which I get.

But naturally, this means they tend to eat a lot more pre-packaged, processed, and/or drive-through food. No bueno.

So, what are some ways you can help your husband to eat healthier, even when they have a crazy schedule?

5 Ways To Help Your Husband Eat Better

Make use of easy-to-eat snacks

While fresh fruits and vegetables are ideal, they’re hard to swing sometimes. Instead, make use of easy to pack/eat things your husband can have on hand, like:

Granola/protein bars
Bananas
Dried fruit (my husband loves dried pineapple and banana chips)
Freeze-dried fruit (and veggies – have you ever tried okra chips? They’re wonderful.)
These no-bake energy bites

Also, don’t underestimate canned soups/chilis. They’re easy to eat, filling, and healthier and cheaper than the drive through 😉

Try meal replacement shakes

My husband loves Carnation Instant Breakfasts. They’re the only way he’ll actually eat breakfast in the morning.

My only beef with them is that they have a lot of sugar. We’ve tried others, but he keeps coming back to those ones – which, if he’ll at least eat something, I’ll take.

Personally, I’m a fan of Orgain Organic Protein for meal replacement/protein shake needs. It’s delicious and mixes well in a shaker bottle.

I love the chocolate flavor, especially when I add a little PB2 to the mix.

To make meal replacement shakes even more convenient, you could also purchase something like Boost or Slimfast that are pre-mixed. They’re easy to keep in the car (depending on the weather) to be prepared for whenever a shift gets too crazy to sit down and eat.

Know your drive-through options

Sometimes going to the drive through is unavoidable – whether it’s a long shift, hanging out with friends after work, or just picking up food for the family if they’ve had a long day.

I found a list of healthy fast food options from popular fast food places a few weeks ago, which is super useful!

Make at home meals as healthy as possible

If your husband is anything like mine, there’s a good chance he doesn’t eat much apart from meals at home because he just gets too busy. So make those meals count! Try to make them as healthy as you can (but make them good, too) . Make sure to include fruits and vegetables as much as possible.

The hands-down best way I’ve found to make a home-cooked meal a reality is FreezEasy. It’s a program that allows you to create a freezer meal plan for two weeks, then gives you the labels and step-by-step instructions to get them completed in an hour.

It’s life-changing, especially when you have little ones around.

You can give it a try here 🙂

Work on your own health.

Whenever I’m good about eating right and working out more, my husband gets motivated to do the same.

Plus, I’m the one who grocery shops – so if I buy healthy food, that’s all we have around the house. So he’s kinda forced to eat better.

Note: Don’t go too crazy buying only health food for the house – sometimes a box of Pop Tarts is the compromise you need to make everyone a little more sane 😉

Working in law enforcement has a lot of dangers – eating crappy doesn’t have to be one of them.

5 Ways To Help Your Husband Eat Better (When He Eats Like a Cop)