Getting Your Husband to Eat Healthier: Practical Tips That Work

Raise your hand if you wish your spouse cared as much about healthy eating, natural living, or parenting approaches as you do.

That used to be my story for nearly a decade — until things changed. Today, on the 10-year anniversary of my work helping families stay healthy without losing their minds at Kitchen Stewardship, I’m sharing a conversation with my husband about how he came along on this journey. I’ve learned how to help my husband choose healthier habits, and his perspective may help you do the same.

How to Get Your Husband on Board with Healthy Eating

Now we’re fully aligned, and it’s a wonderful place to be. It didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t without bumps, but over the past ten years we learned to maintain respect, help each other learn, and celebrate how far we’ve come.

• From Hamburger Helper and daily soda to adding greens to eggs and saying, “I never need to eat fast food again.”
• The amusing tale of the day he secretly bought his own cereal.
• Why we use the word “shift” and how incremental change made a real difference for us.
• What “boiling the husband” means and why that slow approach helped our family adopt real food.
• How observing Lent and doing something for another person can be a powerful motivator for habit change.
• My husband’s health story — dramatic triglyceride improvements, our Crohn’s Disease experiences, and a major, joyful announcement we’re sharing publicly for the first time since last fall.
• Reasons we became a bit skeptical of quick medical fixes after some frustrating experiences.
• A big transformation around sugar: “Sweet used to be fun and great, and now I don’t enjoy it as much.” If you want a loved one to reach that point, watching this conversation with them could help.
• And a role reversal on fitness — my husband is now the one nudging me to be more active.

Can’t view the video? Watch “Getting Your Spouse on Board with Healthy Eating” on YouTube via the embedded player above.

If you don’t have time to watch the whole interview, here are the highlights and time-stamped notes.

How to Get My Husband to Eat Healthier — Video Time Stamps

Interviewing My Husband About Healthy Eating

• 0:28 — Listeners suggested I interview my husband Kris for the Healthy Parenting Connector series. Over the past decade we’ve both changed a lot and today he shares his perspective on our family’s shifts.
• 1:21 — Over 13 years of parenting we moved from convenience foods, bottled dressings, and daily soda to a home focused on whole foods and regular activity. We’re not perfect, but the progress is real.

• 2:07 — Kris remembers the early changes vividly. Getting rid of Hamburger Helper was symbolic: it represented a move from packaged convenience to cooking from scratch. At the time, Hamburger Helper was a go-to meal Kris could prepare to help with dinner.
• 3:24 — Breakfast was a big shift. We used to stock up on dozens of cereal boxes on sale; that saved money but didn’t support long-term health.
• 4:18 — Visiting a raw milk farm sparked curiosity and conversation about food sources and quality.

Our Healthy Eating Shift: Ten Years Later

• 5:28 — It took about ten years for Kris to be fully on board. Today we notice the same things and sometimes he resists processed sweets even more than I do.
• 6:03 — There were moments of compromise — like when cereal would reappear in the pantry — but we navigated those transitions together.

You had made the decision. I hadn’t made the decision. So it took me a little while to come around and I wasn’t ready yet. -Kris Kimball

• 6:57 — Milestones like giving up soda came gradually. One strategy Kris used was giving something up for Lent each year; the spiritual practice provided added motivation and eventually led to permanent change.
• 8:27 — Personality matters when making changes. Kris needed an all-or-nothing approach to quit soda, and knowing that about him made success more likely.
• 10:04 — Quitting soda produced measurable health improvements; seeing triglyceride numbers fall was a strong motivator.
• 11:03 — Years ago a doctor alternated between recommending “low fat” and “low carb” diets and suggested an unsustainably low calorie target. That experience made us more critical about one-size-fits-all medical advice.
• 12:07 — Completing a Whole30 was a turning point where Kris took ownership of his health choices.
• 12:29 — Doing a health challenge during Lent worked well for Kris because it tied change to something larger than himself, making it easier to stick with the goal.

Do you want to see your grandkids? Yes? Well, what’s important? Your health! – Katie Kimball

• 13:19 — By the time he attempted a Whole30, we had already reduced carbs and grains, so the finite timeline made the goal feel achievable.
• 13:55 — The first time we gave up grains it was revolutionary. Kris was experiencing Crohn’s symptoms then, so we were motivated to try significant dietary changes.

Dietary Changes and Their Impact on Health

• 14:51 — Kris faced a Crohn’s flare after years of remission. Prescription medications didn’t help his diarrhea, but within two days of removing grains, legumes, and dairy, his symptoms improved dramatically.
• 16:42 — Our first grain- and dairy-free experiment revealed a likely gluten sensitivity. Around that time I was making more sourdough and we shifted how we thought about bread at home.
• 17:09 — For years I talked; it took the right book to shift Kris’s perspective. Sometimes hearing advice from a new source makes a difference.
• 18:45 — Today Kris makes many healthy choices independently, without prompting.

• 20:15 — Sugar and fast food are two areas where our tastes and habits changed the most. We made gradual shifts to reduce sugar and retrain our palates.

Sweet used to be fun and great, and now I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t enjoy it anymore. -Kris Kimball

• 21:37 — Fast food moved from frequent convenience to an occasional treat. Kris noticed he felt worse after eating it and decided it wasn’t worth it anymore, which also created teachable moments for our kids.

Getting My Husband to Eat Healthier

Change Doesn’t Happen Overnight

• 23:13 — Our views evolved through gradual, intentional steps. Significant health changes often require time and patience.
• 24:22 — I once wrote about “How to Boil a Husband,” a phrase Kris coined to describe gently guiding a partner toward better food choices over time.
• 26:43 — Fitness flipped roles a bit — Kris has become the one encouraging routines and workouts.
• 27:30 — Kris hated running as a kid but later completed a “couch to 5K,” then a 10K. He now uses home workouts and guided videos to stay active.
• 30:10 — Scheduling workouts helps Kris stay consistent. For now I do yoga and walks, and he’s encouraging me to do more structured exercise.
• 31:16 — We close with encouragement for anyone trying to lead family change: patience, empathy, and small wins matter.
• 34:46 — The interview ends with a few real-life moments demonstrating how decisions get made in our home.

Resources Mentioned

• The Calorie Myth by Jonathan Bailor
• How to Boil a Husband (post on Kitchen Stewardship)
• Couch to 5K (beginner running program)
• Whole30 resources on Kitchen Stewardship

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