20 year old male

skylerblue4

Hello friends -

My 20 year old son has asked me to help him and give him direction on weight loss and becoming more fit. He is 5'8" and maybe 230 lbs. I am so thrilled that he finally asked but I'm not sure how to direct him without overwhelming him or scaring him off! He has pretty bad eating habits, lots of carbs, so I know change will be very difficult at first. I don't know how many calories he should have per day.

Any general advise anyone has would be SO appreciated!

Thank you!
SB

kimny72

If he sets up an account here, puts in his stats, and chooses a reasonable weight loss pace, MFP will give him a calorie goal.

To avoid overwhelm, all he needs to do to start is log and hit his calorie goal. As he gets used to eating a lower volume of food, he can start worrying about more details.

Considering his obese status, he could probably be fine losing 2 lbs per week, but if he wants to start slow, 1 lb per week is perfectly reasonable too.

Here is a thread that might help:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

FWIW, there's nothing wrong with carbs as a part of a calorie appropriate diet, and it would be great if he's able to just start taking short walks whenever he can.

IMHO it's really important that he set up his own account and take responsibility for how he can get moving in the right direction, I firmly believe taking responsibility for our actions and decisions and what changes that results in is key. It's awesome that he felt comfortable coming to you for help!

Terytha

If I could I would pay a dude to fly around the world with a banner that says CARBS ARE NOT BAD.

Some health conditions make them bad for some people but barring that, he simply needs to eat less calories than he burns. If you think logging and stuff will scare him off, have him start by cutting his portion sizes and walking more and see where that takes him.

middlehaitch

Totally agree with this. (Below)

Your son is an adult and needs to take control of his own health.

Support him by showing him how to log correctly using a food scale and accurate entries (based on the USDA data base and food packaging).

If you are cooking his dinner let him weigh his own portions.

There is a learning curve for logging and finding a good nutrient balance at the beginning, it would be doing him a disservice if you didn’t have him doing it himself. He wouldn’t be as prepared for long term success and maintenance.

Support him if he chooses to exercise. Encourage him to do both strength and cardio, but mainly to find something he likes and will do.

It sounds like you have a great relationship, work with that.

kimny72 wrote: »

If he sets up an account here, puts in his stats, and chooses a reasonable weight loss pace, MFP will give him a calorie goal.

To avoid overwhelm, all he needs to do to start is log and hit his calorie goal. As he gets used to eating a lower volume of food, he can start worrying about more details.

Considering his obese status, he could probably be fine losing 2 lbs per week, but if he wants to start slow, 1 lb per week is perfectly reasonable too.

Here is a thread that might help:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

FWIW, there's nothing wrong with carbs as a part of a calorie appropriate diet, and it would be great if he's able to just start taking short walks whenever he can.

IMHO it's really important that he set up his own account and take responsibility for how he can get moving in the right direction, I firmly believe taking responsibility for our actions and decisions and what changes that results in is key. It's awesome that he felt comfortable coming to you for help!

Cheers, h.