Please help my mom!!

pinbotchick

Your post caught my eye. Congrats to you for helping your mom. I'm glad that she is recording food - that's the first step. Easy things that helped me get started:

1) weighing all food to be more accurate on portion size.

2) trying to follow food guide and getting 6 to 8 servings of fruits and veges a day.

3) after time, working to eat "cleaner"

4) adding exercise and understanding that it does not have to be sweatfest ( high intensity). My mom (who is 63) and I have started doing 30 min of ex a day. We take slow walks and do DVDs. Leslie Sansone has some great low impact walking DVDs.

5) get a friend or two to make her accountable with ex. I find I'm more likely to do it if I have an appt with someone.

6) make sure to log with the BLT method - if you bite it, lick it or taste it then record it.

7) expect slow weight loss (1/2 to 1 pound a week) and take measurements. Slow and steady wins the race and will stay off.

8) don't do anything drastic (low carb, cabbage diet, etc). My plan is to eat like a plan to eat for the rest of my life so that when I reach my goal weight there won't be a change so that I'll keep the weight off.

Good luck to both of you. My mom doesn't log food but has been listening to me talk about concepts I've learned from MFP. She has lost 20 pounds!!! It can be done at any age.

Bamcanada

Hey there! This is actually Jay but I'm bumping the thread for my mom so she can see what everyone is posting. helpin her out a little with the site.:bigsmile:

Jay_83

A little update:
My mom was in the city again this weekend, and I had a chance to look at her food journal that she kept for me.(proud of her for doing that by the way!!!) I noticed that she would eat wayyyyyy under her calories one day and the next she would eat wayyyyyy over her calories. So my starting suggesting to my mom was to start balancing her days calories better, to be a little more consistant. I'm figuring that her body is thinkin 'what the heck are you doin to me' and is a little confused. It wants to keep as much calories as possible from her high calorie days to make up for her low calorie days. Thats how I took it anyway.
She is eating one minute oatmeal every morning, with a little bit of brown sugar and half a cup of milk, so we got her onto a good start with that. It's the days where mom goes to visit my grandma are when she is wayyy over her calories, so I suggested that she take her lunch with her instead of eating out.
I understood with living in a small town with not very many options for fresh produce, she tends to cook a chicken at the beginning of the week or make homemade cabbage soup and then her and dad eat that for the rest of the week. lol. I know its a little difficult that way. But I did get her to buy lemons for her water, avacado for her good fats and Mrs. Dash instead of the salt. Trying to get a little variation into her meals.
Good news is: Mom lost 0.3 pounds since her last week when I weighed her in. Weight loss is weight loss so Good job Mom!!!!!:bigsmile:

sroseber

Way to go "Mom"! :bigsmile:

Jay_83

:bigsmile: Update on my momma:
She is recording her meals now . . . on msn. lol:bigsmile: She types them in and i log them in on mfp for her. She is doing great with that! She finds it very hard to eat her 1600 calorie intake per day but she is getting closer. I told her if she is having problems eating that much, to eat more of a nut and dried fruit mixture, you dont have to eat as much for a larger calorie intake.

I see her being more aware of the food she is eating. We were at my parents house for a little bit this past weekend, and instead of ice cream, she served us frozen yogurt. Small steps make all the difference I think. I see she is drinking more water than juice now. I told her about not drinking so much apple and pear juice b/c they are mostly sugar water. Mom sure is all about the tomato juice tho, so yah mom!!! and I see the Mrs. Dash sitting on the table and no salt shaker in sight.

She is also exercising more, more stationary bike and walking around town.

She is still trying to figure out her hormones, I suggested she go to a doctor in the city here that would know of more recent developments with hormone therapy. we will see how that goes.
I havent weighed her in since the last time, but this weekend I will b/c she will be in the city for a bridal shower. We will see how she does. Thanks for everyones support!!:flowerforyou:

July24Lioness

One key thing that stuck out with me is that her hormones are out of whack....I was having alot of weight gain due to hormones and i had to get the root of that problem found out so that the fluctuating and all that would cease...I still have to lose the weight now but I had to have a hysterectomy and then I take hormone pills which level all that extra stuff out and I do see a change....So i would suggest she go to her PCP to see if there is an underlying problem that exist.....

My mom had a hysterectomy when she was about 45 . . . and has been on the same hormone patch ever since. But now recently the patch isnt made anymore so her doctor is helping her search for a different method. He suggest going off the hormone patch/pill all together. That was just last week. She did have weight problems before all this tho, BUT she did say that when she switched hormone methods she gained more weight. So maybe we'll see how her body reacts without any hormones??? Thanks!

It could different hormones other than the "female" hormones causing this issue.........

Such as Thyroid, Pituitary, Adrenals, Hypothalamus <<<<all of these glands secrete hormones that keep the body in balance.

She should get a thorough physical done with some extensive blood work done.

Jay_83

My Momma lost 3 pounds at her last weigh in!!!!:bigsmile: She is seeing the changes and is thrilled.

Thanks for everyone's support!:flowerforyou:

Chenoachem

My Momma lost 3 pounds at her last weigh in!!!!:bigsmile: She is seeing the changes and is thrilled.

Thanks for everyone's support!:flowerforyou:

That awesome. Seeing the results is the best motivation to keep going. You can tell her we are proud. :flowerforyou: