Helping parents lose weight

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  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    Since you're all adults, it's perfectly acceptable to tell them that you're concerned for their health, especially your dad's diabetes, and ask them if there's anything you can do to help (cooking classes, books, introducing them to MFP, whatever). After that, take your cues from them. If they express interest in anything, run with it. Turn it into a family activity (would they be interested in doing an activity, like hiking, walking 5ks, going to the zoo on a regular basis? That might be a different approach, and possibly more fun). If they're resistant or irritated with you, let it go. Forcing the issue is only going to make it worse.
  • lthames0810
    lthames0810 Posts: 722 Member
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    I don't know how old your parents are, but the best nutrition advice for the elderly may be somewhat different than the common wisdom shared on MFP. Someone in their eighties may require less calories than is customarily recommended and their macros may need to be different. I'm trying to find a dietician that specializes in elder care for my mother.
  • suzan06
    suzan06 Posts: 218 Member
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    The diabetes stands out to me. Get them to a diabetes education group, or one-on-one diabetes counseling. Insurance may cover it, if not a lot of bigger grocery store chains offer it for cheap.

    My mom is a diabetes educator (an RN) and her department also has dieticians. They do individual appointments with a bit of a CBT feel, as well as cooking classes for patients and spouses, etc.

    The bad news is that all the eating out is definitely bad. The good news is that even if they don't cook, there are healthier foods with better portions that they can buy- they just have to make better choices than a bag of chips.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Hubby and I are empty nesters, and we eat out a lot. It's not for lack of skill, education, or knowledge, but from an abundance of time and a need to socialize. We find it easier to lose weight the weeks we eat more at home, but every once in a while we gotta break out of the compound.

    Better choices can be made when eating out. Salt is probably the hardest to control. I love the Wendy's half order salads, very well balanced macro-wise. At fancier digs I only eat half my order and take out the rest.
  • LastingChanges
    LastingChanges Posts: 390 Member
    edited November 2015
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    I guess it depends on your relationship with your parents. If you have in the past had conversations about weight loss, health concerns, and diet changes then I don't see what is wrong with guiding them or motivating them. Especially since OP stated the parents do have some interest in it since they read books about it. It seems like implementing a healthy lifestyle is where they are struggling.

    In a wife/husband relationship it is more of a touchy subject, if you get your significant other a cook book/exercise class they might mistake it for you judging their appearance which can affect your relationship. This is not the same as a child/parent relationship.

    I've seen local businesses that do home deliveries of healthy meals every couple of days. You can search if you have something similar in your area and talk to you parents to see if that is something they would be interested in.

    I feel like with my parents it would be too difficult for them to use MFP, like counting calories and recording it would frustrate them at this point in their lives.

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I've already told my daughter that she won't be in charge of me in the nursing home. She fusses too much.
  • LastingChanges
    LastingChanges Posts: 390 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    I've already told my daughter that she won't be in charge of me in the nursing home. She fusses too much.

    I am sure you have fussed the same about her :)
  • m2marsh
    m2marsh Posts: 25 Member
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    tomatoey wrote: »
    Not Nutrisystem. I get why you want to try that, but it's not going to help them long-term or even in the very short term, like past 2 meals. (and although it's been OMG over 25 years since I tried it [fyi I was a young teenager. A *normal weight* teenager!] the food pouches were nasty. If it's the same, they'll probably just get what they usually get instead because that probably tastes better) .

    Other than that, whatever they get excited about, if it's not totally wacky, support it. They have to take a lead on it, can't just come from you. In my opinion, "totally wacky" would be:

    - a very low calorie diet (less than 1200 calories by my definition) without supervision or medical reason
    - food like Nutrisystem. Or only shakes and ice 3x a day
    - diets that veer WAY WAY WAY off from whatever your country's food guide says for food content - I'm talking stuff like fruitarianism

    But if they want to go for vegan or low carb or paleo or gluten free or candida diet or whatever, doesn't matter, in my opinion, as long as most nutrients are hit and it's not too low-cal and they're into it.

    Even something like 21 day fix is fine imo if it helps them get a grip on portions and eating some veg and fruit and they feel like paying the money.

    If I were to pick a program for people who needed a lot of hand holding, it'd be Weight Watchers. Balanced diet, established system, good results for people, social support, etc.

    MFP would be ideal, but it's for self-directed people. I don't think that *only* very self-directed people deserve to lose weight and be healthy. WW is fine.

    (You can talk them into calorie counting later, this could be an encouraging start.)

    I lost 45 pounds being on Nutrisystem for 6 months. That was 8 years ago, and I'm still maintaining my weight. The food has improved immensely in 25 years (is it fair to trash a program when your experience is THAT old?). I know TONS of senior citizens on NS right now who are successfully losing. And I know a bunch that are maintaining.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    I've already told my daughter that she won't be in charge of me in the nursing home. She fusses too much.

    My mom said the same thing to me :'(

    She's generally cheerful, but grumpy when feeling unwell, hates it when I try to do nice things. ("I'll tell you when I want a pillow, just please leave me alone...")
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    m2marsh wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    Not Nutrisystem. I get why you want to try that, but it's not going to help them long-term or even in the very short term, like past 2 meals. (and although it's been OMG over 25 years since I tried it [fyi I was a young teenager. A *normal weight* teenager!] the food pouches were nasty. If it's the same, they'll probably just get what they usually get instead because that probably tastes better) .

    Other than that, whatever they get excited about, if it's not totally wacky, support it. They have to take a lead on it, can't just come from you. In my opinion, "totally wacky" would be:

    - a very low calorie diet (less than 1200 calories by my definition) without supervision or medical reason
    - food like Nutrisystem. Or only shakes and ice 3x a day
    - diets that veer WAY WAY WAY off from whatever your country's food guide says for food content - I'm talking stuff like fruitarianism

    But if they want to go for vegan or low carb or paleo or gluten free or candida diet or whatever, doesn't matter, in my opinion, as long as most nutrients are hit and it's not too low-cal and they're into it.

    Even something like 21 day fix is fine imo if it helps them get a grip on portions and eating some veg and fruit and they feel like paying the money.

    If I were to pick a program for people who needed a lot of hand holding, it'd be Weight Watchers. Balanced diet, established system, good results for people, social support, etc.

    MFP would be ideal, but it's for self-directed people. I don't think that *only* very self-directed people deserve to lose weight and be healthy. WW is fine.

    (You can talk them into calorie counting later, this could be an encouraging start.)

    I lost 45 pounds being on Nutrisystem for 6 months. That was 8 years ago, and I'm still maintaining my weight. The food has improved immensely in 25 years (is it fair to trash a program when your experience is THAT old?). I know TONS of senior citizens on NS right now who are successfully losing. And I know a bunch that are maintaining.

    Well, if it worked for you, who am I to say, you're right.

    Re bolded, probably not. The stuff at the time was in bags you had to boil. (Not trying to be rude, but I once tried my dog's food - she wouldn't eat it, I was curious and very very young - and I would say that the NS food I ate and my dog's food tasted about the same. I hope it's better now!

  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    catscats222 wrote: »
    i wonder if old people in nursing homes just pretend not to remember who you are -
    what? you don't want me to eat pie? who are you?

    I know that's meant to be a joke but dementia is pretty much the unfunniest thing ever.

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