Beware the free meal

     Ever since my chef started working at the new restaurant he has brought home something to eat for himself every night. For some reason he prefers to eat it at home when shift is done because he's an overachiever and can't stop long enough to refuel.  He complains that every time he brings something home I take a bite. How can you seriously expect me NOT to take a bite out of his food. It's the only time I get to taste his cooking aside from the one night he has energy to cook for us at home.  Needless to say I feel no guilt at all and continue to do this. Every so often he will come home and be too tired to eat what he's brought home. In my book that means it is up for grabs!!! Many times I end up bringing it to work for lunch the next day or eat it immediately.
     The problem with all of this however is that I'm doing this when he comes home late at night. As we all know we shouldn't eat too close to bed because your body stores it immediately yada yada. Yeah, I get that and probably should stop. The biggest deterrent that I have to stop eating so late are the horrible dreams. Experts aren't kidding when they say eating just before bed can affect your sleep. I have learned that I can have half a club sandwich and sleep fairly well. Nachos or buffalo tenders, forget it. I will wake up sweating dreaming that my children were eaten by sharks during an alien invasion. Reminds me of when I was pregnant.
     The other problem that I noticed is that my weight loss that was going so well over the last year stopped. I haven't started gaining yet but in looking at what I'm stealing off his plate probably isn't helping.  Fries, nachos, burger, wrap, panini. The list goes one. However this is just before a major menu change.  The selections will be far more healthy when the menu changes.  Seeing that before he started working here I rarely ate fried food I am sabotaging everything I have accomplished health-wise in the last year.
     The solutions? Here are a few.

1. Go to bed before he comes home.
2. Drink so much water that by the time he gets home I'm too full to eat.
3. Brush my teeth just before he comes home, I mean the works, pre wash, brush, mouthwash, flossing, whitening treatment so that when he comes home I don't want to ruin my teeth.
4.  Pretend my hands are broken so that I can't begin that hand to mouth action that I am an expert at.
5.  Tell myself I wasn't craving that particular thing anyway.

This is an ongoing battle I will curb one take home box at a time. Tell me if you're the spouse of a chef who's experiencing the same struggle!