How do I talk to my husband about his weight gain?

My husband and I have been married for nine years. When we were newly married, we had the luxury of running after work and hiking on the weekends. We did not have a lot of stress.

Fast-forward to two kids, a home, careers and a life out of balance — and my husband has gained about 60 pounds. I am not judging him, because I completely understand the problem of stress eating, aging and having too little time to work out. I’ll love him no matter what.

My issue is his health. I’m terrified of him having a heart attack or a stroke. He is a smart guy and knows he needs to lose weight, but the problem is that he won’t try. He eats bags of cookies, brownies and fast food. He refuses to go to the doctor, because he says he “needs to lose weight first,” but he won’t make the effort to do so. He hasn’t had a physical in more than seven years.

I cannot bring myself to tell him that he really needs to lose weight, because I don’t want to make him feel worse than I know he already does. I’m guessing it’s partially an emotional issue. It’s getting to the point where something has to change.

How do I address this with him without making him feel ashamed or judged?