I need some honest input .....
 

This is not really the forum I would like to use, but I have no other, so here goes:

My husband who is very active physically has no interest in eating a real supper. He likes fruit and cereal for breakfast and a sandwich and fruit lunch, but his taste for dinner has changed completely over the past six months and it is worrying me. Tonight I made Shrimp Pasta, he picked at it. He did eat a small salad and he will have some ice cream later, but evening meal times are turning into a nightmare. His doctor sees no problem with his weight and no problem with him not eating a big evening meal.

What do you think ................

I think this is a natural progression for many people. I don’t like a large evening meal myself anymore.

I don't see the problem. His diet is better than mine and you say he is active and in good health.

Why are you turning the meals into a nightmare? Are you not willing to let him make his own decisions about what he eats?

So what do you like to eat in the evening? I am at a loss, plus I can always eat which makes it worse.

Two things really change as we age.......Metabolism & taste buds.

Our sense of smell and taste change as you age. Between the ages of 40 and 50, the number of taste buds decreases, and the rest begin to shrink, losing mass vital to their operation. After age 60, you may begin to lose the ability to distinguish the taste of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter foods.

Nothing new here............just happens a lot.

I would LOVE to let him make his own decisions, but every single day he asks me "so what gourmet delight are we having tonight". To me, that does not sound like he is making his own decision! He is expecting me to conjure up something incredible in the kitchen and put it before him, which I try to do, and then he tells me he is not hungry.

Fix food that you want to eat and let the man fix food that he wants to eat. We men like to make our own decisions.

Thanks .......... he has, indeed, lost his sense of smell and taste. He really does like sweet foods. Loves scones with loads of butter.

I wish he would, but he does not know where the kitchen is, or the dish washer, or the laundry!!!! Spoiled brat man. His Mother spoiled him and now I have continued the practice.

Honestly I force myself to eat dinner for my husband because I would rather just eat something light as he does.

I need some honest input .....
 

Many nights I make a regular meal and just eat less than my husband does. Sometimes he cooks. Sometimes we just make snacks. Sometimes we go out and I will get an appetizer or take half the meal home. For me, it’s not taste buds changing. It’s that I sleep better with a lighter evening meal.

Keeping in mind I am not a doctor, there are many reasons why a person’s appetite declines. Decline in sense of smell, depression, dental problems, change in medication, etc. While it’s good that the doctor has checked him, you have lived with him for (how many years?), so you know him very well.

Keep an eye on him, and in the meantime, make sure that what he *does* eat has plenty of healthy calories. If it seems as if he is losing weight, follow up with his doctor. As long as his activity level doesn’t decline, as pbkmaine suggests, perhaps it’s a natural progression due to age. He’s lucky he has you to keep an eye on him.

If he asks that, just describe the food you are fixing for yourself.

Sometimes I ask my wife what she wants to fix for dinner and she says "Popcorn". So I either eat popcorn or I go out for Egg Foo Yung or I fix something else.

After 47 years of marriage, this is the happiest time of our lives.

Thank you to everyone who made suggestions, I really do appreciate it. I will try just telling him what I am going to eat and asking him what he would like. No, we don't eat out too much because there is nothing on the menu that he wants!

He was wined and dined all his working life, and it very difficult for me to get a handle on these changes in him.

I think his eating habits are very healthy. Eating a large meal for dinner is not a good thing. I try to eat 6 or 7 times a day, and avoid large meals. If I go out to dinner, I may order a large steak, eat half of it, and take the rest home for the next day.