What to eat
roger711
Posts: 22 Member
My 18 year old son was about 250 Lbs at 5' 10" tall, and he finally admitted to me the reason he never went to the beach or the pool with his friends was because he was embarrassed to take his shirt off. So as any father that revelation hurt me. After some conversation about his feelings and my intimate knowledge of food, he agreed to take my advice. Before talking to me he would eat allot of fast food, drink lots of soda, eat with no idea of portion control and get no physical activity. I think what hit home for him is that he went for a physical and was told he was pre-diabetic.
So we agreed that he will listen to me and take my advice and I would help him lost the weight.. I has some rules for him. Here they are. No more fast food. Eat real food. No soda, ever, not even diet. Drink water, at least 8 glasses a day. Take a walk every day. Control your portion sizes. Nothing larger then a deck of cards and fill your plate with fresh veggies. Salad at lunch and dinner with EVOO and lemon or vinegar. No cream dressings. The lettuce has to be dark greens with lots of veggies in the salad and no cheese.
OK, to make a long story short. It is about 2 years later and my son who is 20 now, and weighs 170 Lbs. His blood glucose is now normal. He also admitted to me that when he weighed almost 250 and eating the way he did, he never realized how bad he really felt and now he says he feels great. So much better.
So basically he lost all this weight by laying off fast food, soda and taking a walk.
So we agreed that he will listen to me and take my advice and I would help him lost the weight.. I has some rules for him. Here they are. No more fast food. Eat real food. No soda, ever, not even diet. Drink water, at least 8 glasses a day. Take a walk every day. Control your portion sizes. Nothing larger then a deck of cards and fill your plate with fresh veggies. Salad at lunch and dinner with EVOO and lemon or vinegar. No cream dressings. The lettuce has to be dark greens with lots of veggies in the salad and no cheese.
OK, to make a long story short. It is about 2 years later and my son who is 20 now, and weighs 170 Lbs. His blood glucose is now normal. He also admitted to me that when he weighed almost 250 and eating the way he did, he never realized how bad he really felt and now he says he feels great. So much better.
So basically he lost all this weight by laying off fast food, soda and taking a walk.
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Replies
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Thank you for sharing this story. I am going to share it with my daughter who struggles like I do.
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Deb, thanks for your feedback, it is always appreciated. One thing I noticed with my son is that they have to want to do it. When I tried to get my son to do it, he was very resistant to it. Then one day he came to me because as he put it, he was fed up with his body. Now he is about 170 Lbs. He is so proud of himself. I see his face light up when his friends notice and are like WOW! So I would think it is great for their self esteem also. He said he never realized how bad he felt. till he lost the weight. But it was a journey that took 2 years. But when the weight started coming down it just kept going.
Like I told my son, once you reach your goal weight you can have a little more leeway with your diet. I don't think it's about depriving yourself, I think it's about making smart choices. i am of the school of thought that once you are at your goal weight you can live by the 80/20 rule. That if you do the right thing 80% of the time then the 20% when you don't doesn't impact you so badly. But you still have to follow the rules of portion size. Like, now that my son is at the weight he wants to be at, he takes one day and that is his cheat day. He might have a burger, or pizza, or something like that. I told him that if he is going to have a burger source out the best burger possible. We have a place by me that serves an organic, grass fed burger and it is outstanding. He puts lots of veggies on the burger and has discovered he likes avocado. He gets no cheese or mayo. On pizza many times he will get a white pizza with lots of veggies.
You still have to follow the rules, but you can have a little more freedom as long as the weight doesn't start creeping up on you.
Now, my son uses another program to track what he eats, but it is about having the information. Knowing what your caloric intake is what you burn up, how much water you drink. The 3 main ones for me are tracking protein, carbs, and fats.
Hope this helps.0 -
It does help, Roger. Thanks! 0
